What is Operation Daintree? How did it unfold? Who are the key players? What did it find?

The findings of a major probe into Daniel Andrews’ government have been released. Here we explain how the investigation unfolded and who the key players were.

Victoria’s corruption watchdog, the Independent Broad-based Anti Corruption Commission (IBAC), has released a damning report following a secret probe into the Andrews government, known as Operation Daintree.

The special report has raised serious questions about the Premier’s credibility and the behaviour of his office and staff. But how did the investigation begin, what happened and who was involved?

What is Operation Daintree?

Operation Daintree was a secret investigation into how improper influence compromised a $1.2 million contract awarded to the Health Education Federation, a division of the Health Workers Union, by Andrews Government advisers.

The contract gave the Labor-affiliated union the tick of a approval to run occupational violence and aggression training for health workers.

How did the investigation unfold?

On October 23, 2018, Daniel Andrews announced an election commitment for occupational violence and aggression training for 1,000 frontline health services staff.

The training was to be delivered in partnership with the Health Workers Union.

On May 30, 2019, a complaint from an anonymous source alleging the $1.2 million contract awarded to the HEF in October 2018 constituted serious corruption sparked an anti-corruption inquiry.

The whistleblower alleged:

A competitive procurement process had not been followed.

The project was awarded to a newly formed single provider that:

Had no relevant experience at the time of engagement

Was not a registered training organisation

Was not financially established and thereby posed a risk of non-delivery

Did not have sound governance arrangements

Was not on the approved training register and would have been unlikely to qualify for inclusion.

And that a partial upfront payment was approved prior to delivery of any training despite the finance division of DHHS advising against this.

Between August and September 2019, the HEF delivered the pilot program and received poor feedback.

Despite advice from the DHHS that it should be delayed, on October 30, 2019, Health Minister Jenny Mikakos’ office directed the DHHS that the training program would be delivered in December 2019.

HEF’s training was undertaken by 83 of the planned 575 staff when it ceased in March 2020 due to the Covid pandemic.

“The quality of the training was poor. In total, $335,000 of the $1.2 million contract was actually paid to HEF,” stated IBAC.

Ms Mikakos resigned from parliament on September 26, 2020, in the wake of Mr Andrews’ testimony to the hotel quarantine inquiry, in which he blamed her for the failed program.

In December 2020, Ms Hennessy also quit her role as Attorney-General, citing “family reasons”.

At the time, Ms Hennessy was being investigated over allegations of “serious corrupt conduct”.

The Inquiry

The inquiry involved the grilling of 13 witnesses behind closed doors, including Premier Daniel Andrews, former health ministers Jenny Mikakos and Jill Hennessy, political staff and union officials.

A total of 19 summonses to produce documents and analysis of 25 terabytes of electronic data were involved in IBAC’s investigation.

In his evidence to IBAC, Mr Andrews claimed the union’s influence on “the political fortunes of [his] government was minuscule”.

The probe was the fourth corruption probe Mr Andrews has been personally linked to.

The three other investigations include Operation Watts, a probe into allegations of branch-stacking, Operation Richmond, an inquiry into Labor’s dealings with the United Firefighters Union during Andrews’ first term and Operation Sandon, which examined allegations of corrupt lands deals.

What did the investigation find?

The investigation substantiated:

The factual allegations in the original complaint.

The suspicion that a ministerial adviser working the Health Minister’s office pressured DHHS staff to award the contract to the HEF.

That an adviser in the office of the subsequent Health Minister and an Adviser in the office of the Premier intruded into DHHS’ management of the contract “in ways favourable to the HEF and against the public interest.”

On Wednesday, IBAC Acting Commissioner Stephen Farrow said Operation Daintree uncovered breaches of duties and obligations of ministers, ministerial advisers and senior public servants.

“Our investigation showed that the HWU was given privileged access and favourable treatment in its access to ministerial offices.

The proposal from HEF raised a conflict between the government’s interest in procuring the most suitable supplier for the training and the governing party’s interest in assisting an affiliated union. This conflict of interest was not properly managed or declared.

“Advisers in the Premier’s Private Office and the Minister for Health’s office also interfered in the management of the HEF contract to obstruct consideration of its termination and to ensure it continued.

“The DHHS awarded the contract to HEF without a competitive procurement process due to senior staff in the department believing it was the minister’s and government’s preference, and because of ongoing pressure from both the Minister for Health’s Adviser and Secretary of the union.

“This conduct by senior public servants falls short of the required Victorian public sector standards.”