Cash gave John Woodman access to highest levels of Daniel Andrews government
Property developer John Woodman had ‘repeated access to the most senior members of the Victorian government’ over many years, the corruption watchdog has found.
Property developer John Woodman gained repeated “privileged access” to Daniel Andrews and his most senior ministers through donations to the Labor Party, Victoria’s corruption watchdog has found.
The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission’s Operation Sandon probe also found that Mr Woodman funnelled more than $1 million in secret payments to two Casey councillors in return for favourable planning decisions.
IBAC’s 308-page report, released on Thursday after a five-year inquiry, found evidence of “improper conduct” at state and local government level, exposing “corruption risks in planning, political donations, lobbying, and council governance”, and called for a new laws to strengthen anti-corruption controls in Victoria.
The watchdog has recommended stripping local councils of planning powers, as part of a wholesale overhaul of Victoria’s system.
Daniel Andrews’ $10,000 Flower Drum lunch
While Operation Sandon’s final report has not made any adverse findings against the Premier, it has detailed his longstanding association with Mr Woodman and offered a damning assessment of a cash-for-access political culture.
“Operation Sandon showed that Mr Woodman had repeated access to the most senior members of the Victorian government,” IBAC concluded, citing a long list of interactions Mr Woodman had with the Premier, key ministers and staff over many years, including a $10,000 lunch at the Flower Drum restaurant.
‘‘Woodman and his associates lobbied, cultivated, or financially supported state political candidates, political staff, MPs, and ministers who they believed could advance the proposal,’’ the report found.
‘‘Mr Woodman and his associates’ engagements with senior members of the Victorian Government provide another illustration of the opportunities for privileged access that they were able to gain in relation to planning matters.’’
The report into Operation Sandon — a marathon investigation into allegedly corrupt land deals between Mr Woodman and Casey councillors — lays the groundwork for criminal charges to be pursued against multiple key figures associated with Casey council.
The Australian understands that IBAC will forward its report and supporting evidence to the Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions to consider laying criminal charges.
‘Ministerial speed-dating’
IBAC details almost a million dollars in donations Mr Woodman made to both major parties in return for access to decision-makers, quoting the executive director of Labor’s since axed “Progressive Business” fundraising vehicle describing the organisation’s events as offering “ministerial speed-dating” with a price tag of up to $5000 per ticket if the Premier or Treasurer were involved.
Tabled in state parliament on Thursday, Operation Sandon has found “clear evidence” that former Casey mayors Sam Aziz and Geoff Ablett accepted “personal benefits” from Mr Woodman in exchange for “making or influencing council decisions related to planning or land use”. Mr Aziz, IBAC found, pocketed more than $600,000 and Mr Ablett more than $500,000 in suspect payments. Both men have claimed the payments were above board and part of legitimate business dealings.
IBAC found Mr Woodman made donations worth tens of thousands of dollars to the political campaigns of current Labor MP Pauline Richards, former Labor MPs Jude Perera and Judith Graley, and Liberal candidate Susan Serey.
The watchdog found Ms Graley and Mr Perera, and his staff, “sought to influence Victorian government decision-makers, including the (then) Minister for Planning (Richard Wynne), in favour of Amendment C219” – a proposal by landowners, represented by Mr Woodman, to rezone land in Melbourne’s outer southeast as residential to increase its value.
Despite deeming Ms Richards to be a “subject of adverse comments or opinions” and agreeing with her acknowledgment that she “could have been more circumspect” in welcoming Mr Woodman’s donations – of $20,000 for her campaign and, at her suggestion, $10,000 for those of Labor’s Ferntree Gully and Ringwood candidates – IBAC ultimately accepted the government whip’s denial that she had done anything to further the property developer’s interests.
IBAC has opted to redact the identity of former Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon, who took her own life in January 2022, three days after being sent a draft copy of the Operation Sandon report.
Instead, the watchdog refers to Ms Stapledon as “Councillor A”, “out of respect because (she was) not able to provide a response to the draft report”.
IBAC, which was blamed for the suicide by Ms Stapledon’s friends and colleagues, found Mr Woodman had “sought to ingratiate himself” with her by making donations to her 2014 state election campaign, and to a community organisation with which she was closely associated.
More than 20 witnesses – including Ms Stapledon, Mr Woodman, Mr Aziz, Mr Ablett, Ms Richards, Ms Graley and Mr Perera – were deemed by IBAC to have met the legislative requirements necessary to justify public examinations, which took place over 40 days.
Mr Andrews – who was revealed by the Australian in May 2022 to have given secret evidence to Operation Sandon – was among 13 witnesses examined in private.
Named MP Pauline Richards backs report
The only sitting Victorian MP to have been adversely named in IBAC’s Operation Sandon investigation into alleged corrupt conduct in dealings with property developer John Woodman has welcomed the corruption watchdog’s findings.
Despite deeming Labor MP Pauline Richards to be a “subject of adverse comments or opinions” and agreeing with her acknowledgment that she “could have been more circumspect” in welcoming Mr Woodman’s donations – of $20,000 for her 2018 state election campaign and, at her suggestion, $10,000 for those of Labor’s Ferntree Gully and Ringwood candidates – IBAC ultimately accepted the government whip’s denial that she had done anything to further the property developer’s interests.
“I am pleased that IBAC’s report has confirmed I did not make any representations on behalf of Mr Woodman, nor did I approach the Minister for Planning or his office – as I have said all along,” Ms Richards said in a statement released on Thursday.
“IBAC also confirms I unequivocally attempted to let Mr Woodman know I would not be advancing the matter, and did not agree to any involvement in doing so with the Minister or his office.
“I look forward to continuing to represent Cranbourne, a community which I love and who have placed their trust in me, to the very best of my ability.”
Premier may strip councils of planning power
Daniel Andrews has indicated he supports stripping councils of their planning powers, issuing a short statement on Thursday morning acknowledging the tabling of a damning report by Victoria’s corruption watchdog.
The Premier is due to hold a press conference at 2:30pm, after the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission’s Operation Sandon probe found property developer John Woodman gained repeated “privileged access” to the Premier and his most senior ministers through donations to the Labor Party.
IBAC also found that Mr Woodman funnelled more than $1 million in secret payments to two Casey councillors in return for favourable planning decisions in Melbourne’s outer southeast.
“What went on at the City of Casey was completely unacceptable and the government sacked the Council in 2020. However, it is clear from the report that more work must be done,” Mr Andrews said.
“The government will consider each of the report’s 34 recommendations and respond in due course.
“The government has already implemented the toughest political donation laws in Australia – our reforms have drastically reduced the size of donations, and make sure Victorians know who makes and receives them in real time. These reforms are currently the subject of a legislated periodic review and the government looks forward to receiving that report.
“The IBAC report’s 34 recommendations will be given appropriate consideration, but it is the clear position of the government that the role of local councils in significant planning decisions should be reduced and we will have more to say on this matter.”
Five-year investigation
IBAC began investigating allegations of serious corrupt conduct against Mr Aziz in November 2017, expanding its scope to include Mr Woodman’s conduct and that of Mr Ablett in October 2018.
The probe examined whether the councillors had accepted undeclared payments, gifts and other benefits from Woodman and his associates in return for favourable planning decisions.
IBAC ultimately found that as a group, Casey councillors “exhibited and tolerated behaviour that did not meet the standards required of them.”
“Councillors Sam Aziz and Geoff Ablett promoted John Woodman’s and his clients’ interests on council in exchange for payment and in-kind support. Both councillors failed to declare conflicts of interest in relation to their involvement with Woodman or his companies on many occasions,” IBAC found.
“Woodman and his associates lobbied, cultivated, or financially supported state political candidates, political staff, MPs, and ministers who they believed could advance the proposal (C219). These activities included helping to fund a residents’ action group. Some of these activities were legitimate, while others were improper.”
While IBAC does not have the legal powers to recommend criminal charges, the watchdog will submit the report and supporting evidence to the Office of Public Prosecutions, which is expected to consider laying charges – which could include misconduct in public office – against multiple individuals.
IBAC’s recommendations
Key among the watchdog’s recommendations is that the Premier establish an interdepartmental task force to implement immediate and longer term reforms aimed at improving planning and development guidelines.
Among the issues IBAC recommends the task force consider, is whether the regulatory regime governing donations in Victoria could be strengthened by identifying and prohibiting high-risk groups (including, but not limited to, property developers) from making political donations to political entities and state and local government candidates.
The watchdog has also recommended that Victoria follow NSW in removing statutory planning responsibilities from councillors and replacing them with “determinative planning panels”.
Additionally, IBAC has reiterated recommendations contained in a special report issued last year, which called for the Premier to implement measures to improve transparency and regulation of lobbyists.
Access to the highest levels of government
The watchdog found Mr Woodman sought to achieve hugely lucrative planning outcomes for him and his clients through the provision of inducements to councillors, MPs, and political parties.
IBAC estimates Mr Woodman made more than 180 donations totalling almost a million dollars to the two major parties between 2010 and 2019, including contributing $440,000 to the ALP, and $530,000 to the Liberal Party.
The watchdog found Mr Woodman personally lobbied and engaged registered lobbyists to assist him in buying access to, and influence with, state and local government politicians, executives, political staff, and political candidates, and directly and indirectly funded the election campaigns of seven of the members elected in the 2016 council elections.
While no adverse findings were made against the Premier, the report references a lunch he attended with Mr Woodman and close associates including Mr Woodman’s son and lobbyists Phil Staindl and Megan Schutz, for which Mr Woodman had successfully bid $10,000 at a Labor fundraiser.
While Mr Staindl stated in evidence that a precondition of the September 2017 lunch at Melbourne’s Flower Drum restaurant was an embargo on discussion of specific planning issues and described it as a “relationship-building exercise”, Mr Andrews said he had “no recollection” of Mr Woodman or his associates raising planning matters with him.
Mr Andrews also could not recall a conversation Mr Staindl said he had conducted with the Premier at a Labor function in February 2019.
In a tapped phone call recorded days later, Mr Staindl told Mr Woodman that Mr Andrews had described a journalist pursuing Mr Woodman over corruption allegations as an “arsehole” and asked him to apologise to Mr Woodman for the Minister for Planning’s deferral of their decision on Amendment C219 because of those allegations.
Mr Staindl also told Mr Woodman that Mr Andrews had requested the property developer’s phone number.
IBAC, which found that the ‘general tenor’ of the conversation “was as Mr Staindl described”, says Mr Andrews told them that it was “not his practice to speak about journalists in the terms alleged.”
“He stated that he would not have had any involvement with the Minister for Planning in relation to the rezoning decision, and would not have suggested to Mr Staindl that he was in any way involved,” the report says of the Premier.
“The Premier considered it highly unlikely that he would have wanted to have Mr Staindl convey an apology for the decision being deferred. The Premier accepted that Mr Staindl may have given him Mr Woodman’s telephone number, but he said it was highly unlikely that, if he had sought Mr Woodman’s phone number, he would have been doing so for the purposes of talking about a planning application.”
However, Mr Andrews told IBAC that he knew Mr Woodman and was aware he had made substantial donations to the ALP.
“He accepted it was possible that he had acknowledged Mr Woodman’s donations to the Labor Party when speaking with Mr Staindl. The Premier accepted that he would not have had an interest in alienating Mr Woodman as a donor to the Labor Party,” the report says.
IBAC found that following Labor’s election win in 2014, Mr Woodman maintained contact with senior ministers including the Treasurer, Minister for Roads and Minister for Transport Infrastructure, through Progressive Business and other channels.
“Through Mr Staindl and Progressive Business, Mr Woodman obtained access to the Premier, Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Attorney-General, Minister for Roads and Minister for Education. Each held portfolios relevant to planning decisions.”
Mr Woodman’s strategy of developing relationships with and briefing senior state politicians, while seeking to create a sense of obligation through significant donations and fundraising, was ultimately unsuccessful in influencing the Minister for Planning to approve Amendment C219.”
Fundraising code not applied by Labor
IBAC found a Fundraising code of conduct introduced by the Baillieu government in 2011 to apply to ministers, parliamentary secretaries and Coalition government MPs had “not been in force since 2014” when Labor came to government.
Acting IBAC Commissioner Stephen Farrow said the watchdog had found that safeguards around deciding whether to amend a planning scheme were bypassed.
“The planning amendments we looked at as part of this operation reached the desks of decision makers in local and state government, without strategic reasons for their implementation,” Mr Farrow said.
“The investigation demonstrated how ministers, members of parliament, councillors, ministerial advisers and electorate officers may be targeted by lobbyists, and how limitations in the current regulation of lobbyists present corruption vulnerabilities.”
IBAC has recommended that the Premier report publicly on the action taken in response to its Operation Sandon recommendations by 27 January 2025.
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