Andrews’ attack on corruption watchdogs stuns integrity experts

Former premier Daniel Andrews has lashed the state’s corruption watchdogs and accused them of being power hungry in fiery comments that alarmed integrity experts, who warned the agencies are critical to stop political overreach and must be protected.

The ex-premier struck a defiant tone as he said he didn’t set out to do the popular things. “We didn’t waste a day. We got shit done. We got things built, and we did what had to be done,” he said in a recent interview – one of his first since stepping down – for a podcast hosted by a former Labor campaigner.

Former premier Daniel Andrews says integrity agencies should not pretend to have a mandate that’s equal to duly elected governments. Credit: Wayne Taylor

He also said there was “not an accountability officer that doesn’t want more money, more power”. Andrews’ government was routinely criticised for integrity issues before he stepped down in September after nine years in power.

The comments were published just days after Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass found top transport bureaucrats were kept in the dark about the development of the $125 billion Suburban Rail Loop, the state’s signature infrastructure project.

“That’s fine, that’s their job,” Andrews said of integrity agencies wanting stronger anti-corruption laws and additional funding.

“They have opinions and views, and they’re more than entitled to those. But I’ll tell you what they’re not entitled to be. They’re not entitled to pretend that anyone voted for them. They’re not entitled to pretend that they’ve somehow got a mandate that is equal to, let alone superior to, the duly elected government.”

While former Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission boss Robert Redlich has called on integrity agencies to be given greater powers to tackle lower-level corruption, IBAC did not seek greater funding as part of any pre-budget submission earlier this year and neither did the office of the ombudsman.

In response to Andrews’ comments, the leaders of the Centre for Public Integrity and the Accountability Roundtable said in a joint statement they were “alarmed by the disregard shown for the accountability mechanisms that play a vital role in responsible government”.

“It’s important that Victorians understand that these are independent officers of our parliament,” the joint statement read. “We are, in Victoria, seeing what is potentially the beginning of the erosion of democratic norms, and these agencies are a critical bulwark against executive overreach.”

The episode of the Socially Democratic podcast featuring Andrews was released on Friday, but the hour-long interview appears to have been recorded before Glass released her two-year investigation into the “creeping politicisation” of the public service.

In her report, published on Wednesday, Glass did not find evidence of the government stacking the public service with Labor Party operatives. However, she did uncover rushed recruitment practices, opaque selection methods for senior government jobs and examples of direct appointments of former ministerial staffers into senior public servant positions.

Andrews told podcast listeners there were “plenty of people” in senior public service roles who were members of the Victorian Liberal Party.

“I know them well, I respect them, I appointed them. Is it such a bolt from the blue that people who are involved in politics might also be involved in public policy? Might understand and be committed to serving others?” he said.

“Public service takes many different forms. And the notion that someone has got political beliefs – or used to work for a politician at some point in time – means that they’re forever prohibited from working for all of us … [it] doesn’t make any sense.”

The ombudsman, whose term is due to expire early next year, also identified a culture of fear among government employees.

In one example, a public official lost their job after providing candid advice to the government shortly after its election win in 2014. In another, one of the first callers to the investigation’s hotline said they were “shit scared” of upsetting the government.

But Andrews, in his interview, cited an example of a top bureaucrat not being afraid to provide frank and fearless advice.

“I had the most senior public servant, at the very first meeting, literally, we’d only just been sworn in, tell me: ‘Oh, no, you’re going to have to build the East West Link.’ I said, ‘No, I’m not. I’ve just had millions of people vote to not do that and instead voted for our alternative plan. And that’s what I’ll be building, thank you very much.’ It kept going, on and on and on.”

Shadow attorney-general Michael O’Brien said independent integrity officers don’t deserve to be lectured or hectored by politicians.

“Mr Andrews and the Labor Party seem to believe that winning an election entitles them to do what they want, when they want, regardless of the rules. This is a path to corruption and it explains why Victoria is in the dire strait it’s in.”

Premier Jacinta Allan on Thursday rejected the ombudsman’s concerns that external consultants were used to “prove up” the Suburban Rail Loop project. “The public service did do this work,” Allan said. “Absolutely. And, yes, as you need to from time to time, external advice was sought.”

As part of her report, Glass recommended that Victorian premiers be banned from selecting senior bureaucrats as part of a plan to restore confidence in the public service.

During an appearance on ABC Radio Melbourne on Friday, Allan said: “We’re considering those recommendations of the ombudsman. We’ll respond in due course.” Spokespeople for IBAC and the ombudsman declined to comment.

During the recording of the podcast, Andrews also addressed the “dictator” moniker that some gave him after he enacted some of Australia’s toughest coronavirus lockdown measures.

“If that makes people feel better by describing me in those terms, look, good luck,” he said.

“You know, in Victoria, the haters hate, and the rest vote Labor. And that’s fine by me. They can call me whatever they want. But what really matters is not that nonsense, that noise, that vitriol, that [Sky News] after dark bullshit. And that’s all that it is: the worst of American politics imported into ours.

“What really matters and what makes up for all the nonsense is when you sit with families … and you listen, and you say, right, that’s the plan. We’re gonna get on and do it. And then you do, and you can see the difference.”

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