VEC refers Matthew Guy, Mitch Catlin probe to state’s anti-corruption watchdog
Lawyers for the Liberal Party have sent a cease and desist notice to the Victorian Electoral Commission over its handling of an probe into a party donor scandal.
Victoria
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The Victorian Electoral Commission has been accused of interfering in the state election over its handling of an investigation into the Liberal Party donor scandal.
Liberal Party lawyers on Friday sent a cease and desist notice to the VEC insisting it stop any further public commentary about the matter.
It also wants the VEC’s director of communication and engagement, Sue Lang, stood down pending an investigation into comments she made about the investigation.
On Thursday the VEC referred an investigation involving Opposition Leader Matthew Guy and his former chief of staff, Mitch Catlin, to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.
Mr Catlin resigned in August following revelations he asked a party donor to donate more than $100,000 to his private business.
The proposed contract would have seen Mr Catlin’s Catchy Media Marketing and Management company paid more than $8000 each month by the donor, in addition to his taxpayer-funded salary.
An email leak revealed the mooted arrangement.
Electoral Commissioner Warwick Gately said this week the commission had “exhausted its attempts” to fully investigate the issue, an alleged breach of funding and disclosure laws.
The VEC also said it had not received full cooperation from those involved in the investigation and flagged this was contrary to public statements.
Mr Guy’s office has insisted he has fully cooperated with the probe to date.
But on radio on Friday morning Ms Lang insisted the VEC had “received no satisfactory response from anybody.”
Liberal Party state director Sam McQuestin said the VEC’s actions constituted a serious, deliberate and unprecedented interference in the Victorian State Election.
He demanded the VEC commission a full external and independent review of its handling of the donor investigation, including the timing of the referral to IBAC.
“I am deeply concerned that through its actions the VEC has compromised its own independence and damaged public trust in the electoral process,” he said.
On Friday morning, Mr Guy hit back at claims he lied about cooperating with the VEC in the wake of its probe into his former chief of staff.
Mr Guy said: “I have totally complied to the full extent of the law. I will to anyone else who asks, I’ve done nothing wrong.
“This is the first I’ve heard of anything to the contrary”.
“I’m not going to go into correspondence of he said, she said — that would be utterly inappropriate. But what I’ve been been requested, I’ve provided.”
Mr Guy said he hadn’t had “any direct contact” with the VEC and that his lawyers had passed on all requested documents to the electoral commission.
He added he was not asked to be interviewed by the VEC and has not been contacted by IBAC.
“No one has contacted me directly,” he said.
“I’m not going to go into correspondence which I’m unaware of.”
Mr Guy refused to divulge what material the VEC requested and whether that included the contents of his hotmail account.
“I’m not going to go into correspondence between myself and external agents — that would be unfair, given that it’s been referred,” he said.
“The whole thing is just unfair to ask me on matters of correspondence I’m not aware of.
“There may be a whole lot of material that could be prejudicial to not just myself but to others and that’s not fair.”
Earlier, Ms Lang said the electoral commission had not received satisfactory responses from those involved in its investigation.
“All the key players involved in that issue were invited to respond to questions,” Ms Lang told Neil Mitchell’s 3AW program on Friday.
“We received no satisfactory response from anybody.”
The VEC said it had not received full cooperation from those involved in the investigation and flagged this was contrary to public statements.
“While the VEC is not in a position to allege wrongdoing based on the allegations it has sought to investigate, the possibility of offences against the Act—including under section 218B—have also not been able to be discounted,” the statement said.
Earlier this week it was revealed the VEC would not be able to complete its probe until after the election.
The Opposition Leader on Thursday said he had not been contacted by either IBAC or the VEC in regards to questions over the donation scandal involving his former chief of staff Mitch Catlin.
“There’s no allegations there of wrongdoing, unlike what you’re seeing from the state government,” he said.
“I’m more than willing and happy to cooperate with anyone. I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Mr Guy said he received no prior warning from the VEC that the matter would be referred to the corruption watchdog.
He denied the VEC’s claim that “despite public statements to the contrary, the VEC has not received full cooperation from those connected to its investigation”.
It’s unclear who the VEC is explicitly referring to in its statement, although Mr Guy has made public statements on the matter, while Mr Catlin has maintained his silence.
Mr Guy hit back when he was asked if he had lied about having fully cooperated with the VEC’s probe.
“I’ve provided everything that was asked of me. I’ve done that once, I’ll do it again if need be,” Mr Guy said at a regional media conference.
“Everything I had, I’ve provided. As far as I’m concerned you can’t provide things that don’t exist.
“They asked for the information I had and I have provided it.
“If other people associated with that haven’t, then that’s not a question for me.”
Mr Guy said that information was provided “weeks ago”, but repeatedly refused to answer questions about whether the VEC had been in touch since to seek further information.
Mr Guy said he had only briefly spoken to Mr Catlin since the matter was first aired, but said he hadn’t discussed the investigation.
Asked if he had read the VEC’s statement on Thursday morning, Mr Guy said: “No, I haven’t read it in depth. I skimmed it.”
Pressed as to why he would only skim a statement involving serious allegations about his office, Mr Guy said: “It’s not terribly long. It doesn’t require two hours of study”.
Mr Guy said Victorian voters could still have faith in his party, despite both major parties now being embroiled in referrals to the corruption watchdog.
“There’s a difference to a reference and five, not one, but five active investigations into the current government,” he said.
“That’s unprecedented and so I say to Victorians – you do have a choice.”
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