Backroom Baz: Dan‘s big week rubbing shoulders with scandal

After a week facing down corruption allegations, Dan Andrews may not be smiling about some photos doing the rounds at Spring St.

Former Merri-bek councillor Milad El-Halabi with Premier Daniel Andrews.

After a week facing down corruption allegations, Baz reckons Daniel Andrews would be none too pleased about some photos doing the rounds at Spring St.

They show him up close and personal with former Merri-bek councillor Milad El-Halabi who was this week committed to stand trial alongside his wife and daughter on allegations they interfered with postal ballots in the lead-up to the council’s 2020 election.

A series of photos show million-dollar Milad (he’s worth many, many millions according to sources) rubbing shoulders with a host of high-level ALP figures, including former Andrews government president Nazih Elasmar and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles.

Now, Baz is not suggesting any wrongdoing by Mr El-Halabi in any way. Those matters are for a court to work out. But at the end of a week in which he had to bat away his own corruption concerns, there’s no doubt Andrews would rather not be so closely linked to anyone set to stand on charges of interfering with an election.

Former Merri-bek councillor Milad El-Halabi with former Andrews government president Nazih Elasmar.

Not a prayer

Christians, say your prayers, because a push to scrap the word of the Lord in parliament has been revived.

The long-running fight over removing the Lord’s Prayer from the start of sitting days has been reignited after a new push from Legalise Cannabis, Victorian Greens and the Animal Justice Party.

The prayer is currently read at the start of every parliamentary session but in recent years calls have grown louder to have it replaced or scrapped entirely. The move has previously prompted a backlash from Catholic and Anglican archbishops but Labor committed that if re-elected it would workshop a potential replacement or a new way of starting sitting days.

Legalise Cannabis’s David Ettershank revisited the contentious issue in question time this week, prompting Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes to say the government remained committed to reviewing the practice. But she also flagged any changes would likely have to be agreed upon by the upper and lower house. Heaven help the person who gets stuck with finding a solution to that problem!

Left, right, up and out

There was plenty of jostling for votes and factional moves at play with elections in full swing for delegates to the coming Victorian Labor state conference and Melbourne FEA executive.

But Baz was left scratching his head by an email that fell on his desk by a former socialist left convener who wrote to members offering some voting advice and, in the same email, advised members he had accepted a position as a ministerial adviser “and therefore must resign from all Party and factional positions ... which I hereby resign from, effective immediately.”

Huh? Baz thought the disclaimer might be too little too late and perhaps too clever by half, given the requirements around ministerial staff staying clear of party work. Baz checked to be safe and was assured the junior staffer resigned before commencing his new role.

Near miss

With elections for delegates for the coming Victorian Labor state conference and for the Melbourne FEA Executive in full swing, there’s plenty of jostling for votes and factional moves at play.

But Baz was left scratching his head by an email that fell on his desk by a former Socialist Left convener who wrote to members offering some friendly advice about how to vote, and who for. In the very same email, he advised members he had recently accepted a position as a ministerial adviser and was “required to abide by the Ministerial Staff Code of Conduct, and therefore must resign from all Party and factional positions. This includes my position as Local Left Convenor, which I hereby resign from, effective immediately.”

Huh? Baz thought the disclaimer might be too little, too late, and perhaps a bit too clever by half, given the requirements around ministerial staff staying well clear of party work. Baz checked in just to be safe, and was assured the junior staffer resigned before commencing his new role.

Baz has lost count of how many times Lizzie Blandthorn has been pulled up for failing to answer questions asked of her in parliament. Picture: AAP

Gold medal for evasion

Being a keen observer of Question Time, Baz often becomes frustrated with the ministerial inability to answer a question. Is it conferred on MPs when they’re sworn into the job?

But is Minister for Child Protection and Family Services Lizzie Blandthorn, the fifth Child Protection Minister in less than a year, taking things to a new level?

Baz has lost count of how many times Blandthorn has been pulled up by the parliamentary umpire of the upper house, dear President Shaun Leane, for failing to answer questions asked of her.

From Baz’s seat, it appears to be more than any other Minister. And that’s certainly the view of her shadow, Matt Bach, who’s not too pleased about his questions going unanswered.

Or the four-word answer he copped to one of his questions last week (which Baz was told was later changed to make it a little longer.)

“Labor has gone through five different Child Protection Ministers in 16 months, and vulnerable children are dying in record numbers,” Bach told Baz quite seriously.

“This embattled Minister needs to stop shirking her responsibilities. She owes it to the 10,000 children in the system who are vulnerable and need our support.

“On every measure, Victoria’s childcare system is in crisis. This Minister wins the gold medal for evasion.”

Hate on her sleeves

Typically when an MP uses “unparliamentary language” they are asked to withdraw their comment. But Animal Justice’s Georgie Purcell flipped that idea on its head this week by rocking up to Spring St in an outfit that detailed some of the abusive comments she receives online.

The move was part of a statement about International Women’s Day and was so popular Purcell was spotted posing for photos with people from all sides of politics. The outfit had to be swapped out for the rest of the sitting day because the comments were, of course, unparliamentary.

Overheard

“You all will be ejected if you speak, or move, or so much as twitch,” — No nonsense Speaker Maree Edwards lays down the law during Question Time.

Guess who?

Which former Labor minister has had their old office turned into a meeting room for the Greens?

Originally published as Backroom Baz: Dan‘s big week rubbing shoulders with scandal