The Victorian politicians embroiled in scandal in 2023
Victorian federal politicians landed themselves in hot water on more than one occasion in 2023. See the top six moments that had everyone talking.
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A week is a long time in politics, so the saying goes, and a lot has happened this year with Victorian federal politicians finding themselves in hot water.
The Herald Sun recaps the top six events that got everyone talking.
DAVID VAN
The “little-known” Victorian senator made headlines in June after Lidia Thorpe, accused him of sexually assaulting her in a fiery outburst in the Upper House.
Senator Van, who unequivocally denied the allegations, was making a speech about how the parliament should set the standard of behaviour for the rest of Australia when Senator Thorpe began yelling and interrupting him.
Senator Thorpe said: “I’m feeling really uncomfortable when a perpetrator is speaking about violence”.
The next day, she doubled down on the bombshell claims as former Queensland Liberal National Party Senator Amanda Stoker also alleged Senator Van “squeezed her bottom twice” at a social gathering in a parliamentary office in late 2020.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton swiftly kicked Senator Van out of the Liberal partyroom after revealing “serious, credible allegations” were raised with him, which he referred to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service for investigation.
The party then suspended all “organisational resources and support” for Senator Van, who maintained his innocence, as pressure mounted on him to resign from the parliament and Victorian Liberal Party.
Three days after the initial allegations, he resigned from the Victorian branch to sit on the crossbench, relinquishing his committee roles.
The move, which resulted in a $12,000 pay cut from his taxpayer-funded salary, was a blow for the Liberals because they lost a representative in the Upper House.
Senator Van, who proceeded to take medical leave from the parliament, returned in August after the Herald Sun revealed he allegedly touched another woman’s bottom in 2018 before entering politics, which he denied.
He also came under scrutiny over the use of taxpayer-funded travel entitlements, and inappropriate behaviour during a defence force parliamentary program.
The independent senator in late November confirmed the investigation into sexual harassment allegations made against him remained ongoing, as he struck a deal with the Albanese government on the new Murray Darling Basin Plan.
LIDIA THORPE
Senator Lidia Thorpe, who is known for being outspoken, had a tumultuous start to the year quitting the Greens in February over the party’s position on the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Later that month, she controversially blocked Sydney’s Mardi Gras parade after lying down on the ground in front of a float to protest against police violence.
Senator Thorpe was removed from the parade by police but not arrested.
In March, Peter Dutton accused her of wasting police resources after she was pushed by an officer after she tried to disrupt a controversial anti-transgender rally with British campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen on the lawns outside of Parliament House in Canberra.
“You are not welcome here!” Senator Thorpe, who was draped in an Aboriginal flag, yelled before darting towards Ms Keen.
Senator Thorpe was then blocked by a security guard, shoved away by the police officer, and fell to the ground.
As police attempted to help her up, Senator Thorpe struggled to free herself while screaming “Let me go”.
In April, she was handed a lifetime ban from Maxine’s Gentlemen’s Club after she unleashed a tirade of insults on a group of men that was captured on video.
The incident sparked politicians from across the political aisle to raise concerns about her behaviour as a member of parliament, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urging her to get “some support”.
But in June, her outburst in the chamber led to an investigation into Senator David Van’s conduct after she accused him of sexual assault – which he denies.
She used her platform as an independent to advocate for the Blak Sovereign Movement in the lead-up to the October referendum in which she was subjected to death threats.
Senator Thorpe accused the Australian Federal Police of failing to protect her after was targeted by neo-Nazis in a public video that showed a masked man burning an Aboriginal flag.
DR MONIQUE RYAN AND SALLY RUGG
Teal MP Dr Monique Ryan, who unseated Josh Frydenberg in the seat of prestigious seat of Kooyong, was taken to court by her chief of staff Sally Rugg.
The activist turned political staffer claimed she was sacked for refusing to work “unreasonable hours”, with her legal team saying Dr Ryan had publicly acknowledged that staff were working 70 hours a week.
Explosive allegations emerged during the legal showdown, with Ms Rugg claiming Dr Ryan said: “I want to be the prime minister one day, and I need to know my staff are prepared to work hard for me”.
Dr Ryan said the remark was a joke.
Documents filed by the pair to the court also revealed that Ms Rugg flew on a commercial plane from Canberra to Melbourne despite testing positive for Covid.
Dr Ryan, who was a stickler for mask wearing to stop the transmission of Covid, issued Ms Rugg a written warning saying the conduct had not only placed the public and their team at “risk” but was “morally wrong” and could cause reputational damage.
Ms Rugg also pursued the Commonwealth for alleged breaches of the Fair Work Act and pointed the finger at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision to reduce staff allocations.
An in-principle settlement on the unfair dismissal case was reached in May, with Ms Rugg reportedly agreeing to accept about $100,000 to end the matter.
This was despite hopes it would be a test case for “every Australian worker experiencing exploitation” because of a contractual obligation to perform undefined “reasonable additional hours’.
CATHERINE KING
Infrastructure and Transport Minister Catherine King came under fire for blocking a Qatar Airways request for more flights into Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
Reasons given for the decision – which continued to restrict desperately needed competition in the aviation sector — included it not being in Australia’s national interest and human rights issues.
But the influence of Australian airlines Qantas and Virgin came under the microscope as Australians continue to pay through the nose for airfares.
A Senate probe into the debacle heard that airfares could have dropped by up to 10 per cent if the Qatar Airways bid hadn’t been rejected.
But the heat on Ms King didn’t stop there, with her later cancelling 50 road and rail projects nationwide as part of her drawn out review of the $120bn infrastructure pipeline.
Victoria had 12 projects cancelled, including Geelong Fast Rail, as the government tried to rein in $33bn worth of cost blowouts across the 10-year program.
While the money for the cancelled projects will remain in the state to help them address soaring construction costs amid labour and supply shortages, this hasn’t stopped the jurisdictions from accusing the federal government of shifting the blame on to them.
This tension is set to continue into 2024, with funding for projects along major road corridors lumped together and 36 projects nationwide needing to be rescoped.
The government is also appointing a mediator to resolve a standoff between the Victorian government and Melbourne Airport over the future of the Melbourne Airport Rail Link.
RICHARD MARLES
As Aussies struggle to keep up with cost of living pressures, all eyes turned on Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles after figures revealed he’d spent an eye watering $3.6m on taxpayer-funded VIP flights since taking office.
The figures prompted the Coalition and the Greens to team up to demand the Labor government release flight logs and costs in a bit to increase transparency over charter flights.
For more than two years details of special purpose flights were not made public, with freedom of information requests probing the trips also rejected.
Under the Morrison government, the Defence Department rejected requests saying the information was being prepared for tabling in parliament.
But security concerns and a review of the guidelines governing how politicians use special purpose flights, conducted in consultation with the Australian Federal Police and Finance Department continued to delay the release.
In October, Defence Department officials told a Senate estimates hearing that hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of flights were incorrectly attributed to politicians, including Mr Marles, in an embarrassing data bungle.
The government released the updated figures five days before Christmas, with Mr Marles spend revised down to $2.4m.
LIBERAL PARTY
If the Liberals were hoping to bolster their numbers in Victoria after damning losses at the May 2022 election they’re already starting behind following several blows this year.
The first came when Aston MP Alan Tudge quit the parliament in February, sparking an April Fool’s Day by-election.
The Liberal Party held the seat on a 2.8 per cent margin after a 7.3 per cent swing against the embattled MP at the election.
But Labor candidate Mary Doyle won the seat in Melbourne’s outer east, beating Liberal candidate Roshena Campbell.
The historic win marked the first time in a century that a sitting government has won a seat from the opposition at a by-election.
With the Liberal brand already in tatters, damning allegations that Senator David Van had sexually harassed four women – which he denies – led to the party losing representation in the Upper House after he was exiled from the party and moved to the crossbench.
Last month, a preselection battle in the seat Monash led to veteran MP Russell Broadbent dramatically quitting the Victorian Liberal Party after businesswoman Mary Aldred was preselected for the rural seat covering parts of Gippsland.
This means the party now holds only six of 39 lower house seats in the state.
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