Thanks for reading our live coverage of today’s Operation Sandon report.
Here’s what you missed in case you’re just catching up:
- Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog has found a property developer “bought access to decision-makers” by paying former local mayors and Liberal Party members about $1.2 million. The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) says the saga shows how limits on laws regulating lobbyists leave politicians vulnerable to corruption.
- Premier Daniel Andrews, who gave evidence as part of IBAC’s Operation Sandon, told the agency he knew allegedly corrupt developer John Woodman and in 2017 had lunch with him and Labor-linked lobbyist Phil Staindl. That lunch arose from Woodman winning a $10,000 bid at a fundraiser. But Andrews said he did not recall Woodman or his associates raising planning issues with him.
- Speaking of the premier, Andrews says he supports stripping local councils of at least some of their planning powers. The comments come ahead of the state government’s highly anticipated housing statement.
- Opposition leader John Pesutto says the government has “got to be kidding” if it thinks the solution to planning involves giving more powers to the premier or his MPs. But during an afternoon press conference, Andrews suggested an independent planning authority was the best way forward.
- Meanwhile, the Greens have called on the state government to make ministerial diaries public – as is the case in NSW and Queensland – in a bid to improve transparency. The party also wants political donations from the property industry to be banned altogether.
- And a local government organisation, and a mayor from the Mornington Peninsula, say it would be a shame if the state government used today’s IBAC report to consolidate its planning powers at the expense of individual communities.
Have a lovely afternoon.