Victorian MP expenses scandal: Don Nardella won’t answer allowance questions

UPDATE: FOUL-mouthed Melton MP Don Nardella has been shamed into cutting off a lucrative allowance but is still refusing to pay back more than $100,000 and apologise.

Melton MP Don Nardella has been forced to quit the parliamentary Labor Party over his use of taxpayer-funded expenses. Picture: David Crosling

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FOUL-mouthed Melton MP Don Nardella has been shamed into cutting off a lucrative allowance to live by the seaside, but is still refusing to pay back more than $100,000 and apologise.

Mr Nardella was booted out of the parliamentary Labor Party on Tuesday for not returning cash he claimed to live in the seaside town of Ocean Grove while representing his constituents in the outer western suburbs.

The former deputy speaker is now facing allegations that his primary residence in Ocean Grove was a caravan on the foreshore. He has also refused to answer questions about whether he claimed the allowance while living in Ballarat.

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Melton MP Don Nardella. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Premier Daniel Andrews points to Opposition Leader Matthew Guy during Question Time. Picture: David Crosling

Premier Daniel Andrews would not comment on the allegations on Tuesday, leading to Opposition Leader Matthew Guy accusing him of “covering up” what could be “a matter of serious fraud”.

Mr Guy called on Victoria Police to investigate whether Mr Nardella and former Speaker Telmo Languiller — who also claimed the allowance but paid back the money — should be charged with “any matters of criminality”.

In a day of drama, ugly confrontations played out in the Legislative Assembly as Colin Brooks was chosen as new Speaker. Several MPs were ejected from the chamber as they shouted abuse.

Earlier an angry Mr Nardella said “f--- off” and “go away” when he was approached by the Herald Sun in parliament.

Parliament resumed today for the first time since MP Don Nardella was forced to quit the parliamentary Labor Party. Picture: David Crosling

Don Nardella prior to voting for a new speaker. Picture: Nicole Garmston

A separate approach outside the Legislative Assembly later in the day resulted in Mr Nardella telling a reporter: “I’m not shaking your hand. You can go and get f---ed.”

But in a recent interview with a Melton newspaper, published on Tuesday, Mr Nardella said he did not need to apologise because he had not “tried to put the wool over your eyes”.

He said he moved to Ocean Grove after a “really hard” breakup. Mr Nardella said he would stop claiming it but “it’s not a situation where ... I need to apologise”.

“We need to be accountable and I’m happy to be accountable but there also needs to be truth and reality to the situation,” he said.

He was hauled into a crisis meeting with Mr Andrews on Tuesday, where the Premier asked him to resign because he refused to pay back the money he claimed from the allowance meant for regional MPs. Mr Andrews said questions about the Melton MP’s use of entitlements were “fundamentally a matter for the audit committee”.

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