'Hire me and get into parliament': the preference whisperer's message

When Glenn Druery gathered a ragtag bunch of aspiring politicians together at an Albert Park hotel in August, his message was clear: if they wanted a seat in the Victorian upper house, they should hire him.

“None of you are going to get a quota,” the self-styled "preference whisperer" told the activists from mainly unknown political parties.

Glenn Druery, addressing a meeting of minor political parties in August.Credit: Joe Armao

“Some of you think you will, but none of you can.”

In what we now know were prescient comments, he told them he could get eight of them elected to parliament. When the upper house election results were declared earlier this week, eight successful MPs were understood to be Druery clients.

He also told them this would likely be the last time because, if all eight won, reform of the upper house voting system would surely follow.

Nevertheless, Druery urged his audience to hire him and then to work together, sharing preferences within the group. Doing so, they could transform a mess of mini tribes competing for electoral scraps into a political force to be reckoned with.

He called it his "family," and if they signed up, he would navigate the complex and cutthroat world of preference negotiations on their behalf, and deliver them success.

It now appears Druery was as good as his boast. The eight MPs understood to be in his stable won seats with primary votes as low as 0.6 per cent (Transport Matters). They are among a record number of parties overall who are now represented in the upper house. Eleven were elected in November, compared to eight in 2014 and four in 2010.

Inquiries by The Age indicate that Mr Druery, who is also a taxpayer funded staffer for Senator Derryn Hinch, is likely to net at least $200,000 for his efforts on their behalf.

But disquiet about his methods, his alleged conflicts of interest and about how his methods help unknown candidates leapfrog established parties like the Greens and Liberals with much larger primary votes has made Druery’s backroom operation highly contentious in Victoria.

So-called preference whisperer Glenn Druery.Credit: Andrew Meares

Controversy was sparked when Reason Party leader Fiona Patten claimed he had demanded she pay him a total of $55,000 for preference discussions – $5000 to be paid up front, and $50,000 as a success fee if she was re-elected.

Ms Patten had herself been a beneficiary of Druery’s skills in the 2014 election, winning a Northern Metropolitan Region upper house seat. He was paid $20,000 to work on preferences for her at that election.

But in October she questioned the blurring of Mr Druery’s roles as a businessman dealing in votes, and as a taxpayer-funded adviser to Hinch.

Her complaint, originally lodged with the Victorian Electoral Commission, is now being assessed by Victoria Police.

Amid the controversy, both Druery and the other micro parties have remained coy about which of our new MPs were part of the Druery group and what were the financial deals that helped them get them elected.

But with upper house counting finalised and results announced this week, new details are emerging about confidential deals that have proved crucial to the makeup of the Victorian parliament.

The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party is among those refusing to detail its relationship with Druery, though its now sole MP and leader Jeff Bourman confirmed he was "dealing" with him.

However, documents obtained by The Age include a form to be completed and signed by Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidates. The form requires a signed commitment from successful candidates to pay an “independent consultant” $30,000 over two years. Shooters party insiders have confirmed the "consultant" referred to is Druery.

The Age understands the party also paid $5000 upfront for each of its candidates.

In November Mr Bourman was the only Shooters candidate to win a seat. He was re-elected in the Eastern Victorian Region. The Shooters other sitting MP Daniel Young lost his Northern Victorian seat.

He broke his post-election silence this week to confirm a falling out with Mr Bourman, and accused Bourman and Druery of organising preferences to favour another member of the Druery "family".

“I wasn’t involved in preference dealings,” said Mr Young. “I was kept at arm’s length.”

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP Daniel Young.Credit: Simon_O'Dwyer

Mr Young said he understood the shooters had been asked to pay $5000 upfront to join Mr Druery’s group, and another $30,000 for each successful candidate.

He also confirmed paying $20,000 for Mr Druery’s services in the year after his surprise win at the 2014 poll.

The candidate replacing Young in the parliament is Tim Quilty of the libertarian Liberal Democrats.

This week he confirmed his party was part of the Druery group, and that he had given a “verbal commitment” to contribute $30,000 for his services.

Mr Quilty said he understood his party, which won two seats, had also made a $5000 upfront payment to Druery for each of its candidates.

In Melbourne the taxi industry-based Transport Matters party also confirmed paying Druery, including an upfront fee of $5000. Successful candidate Rod Barton would not detail how much he had paid in total for securing his Eastern Metropolitan seat.

It seems likely, however, that Transport Matters will have pay at least $30,000 for Mr Barton’s victory.

The Dick Smith-backed Sustainable Australia also won a seat, effectively taking the Greens’ place in the Southern Metropolitan Region.

Party spokesman William Bourke confirmed that “consultants” had assisted his party’s campaign but would not confirm if Mr Druery was among them. The Age understands Mr Druery was in fact one of those consultants for a fee of at least $30,000.

But in his electoral triumphs in Victoria Mr Druery may have sowed the seeds of his demise in this state.

In August Druery, who refused to comment for this article, seemed to anticipate this when he told his Albert Park meeting in August that if micro parties won eight seats, reform of the upper house would follow.

“Fortunately the system hasn’t been reformed here yet.”

Only Victoria and Western Australia continue the kind of upper house group voting that Druery has been able to get so many micro party candidates into parliament.

The ABC’s election analyst Antony Green has been especially vocal about the unfairness of a system and the need for reform.

Ms Patten, who reclaimed her Northern Metropolitan seat despite her falling out with Druery, this week told The Age that the furore over upper house voting at this election had made reform all but inevitable. The Greens are also pushing for change.

Whether a dominant Labor government is sufficiently motivated for reform is another matter.

The upper house poll left Labor with 18 of 40 seats in the Legislative Council, the Coalition with 11 seats and the Greens with just one, down from five after 2014.

Despite having to negotiate a larger upper house crossbench, Premier Daniel Andrews will likely find it easier to pass legislation, needing just three extra votes in the parliament compared to seven in the previous term.

To date all that Labor will commit to is an inquiry by the parliament’s electoral matters committee.

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