Daniel Andrews dodges questions over whether Lily D’Ambrosio should apologise to families of stacking scandal victims

The Premier refused to explain how the apparent forging of dead men’s signatures by the Lalor South branch falls into a different category to the behaviour examined by Operations Watts.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to reporters. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Daniel Andrews has dodged questions over whether his senior minister Lily D’Ambrosio should apologise to the families of two dead men whose Labor Party membership were posthumously renewed by an ALP branch which held its meetings in her office.

Late on Friday, the Victorian ALP released the findings of Party Monitor John Thwaites’s 10 day investigation into allegations of branch stacking at the Lalor South branch, in Melbourne’s north, which were first revealed by The Australian less than a fortnight ago.

Mr Thwaites found that while the practice of renewing dead men’s memberships was “egregious” and “troubling”, he was unable to establish who was responsible.

The families of Antonio Donato and Celestino Nigro have expressed their disappointment at the party’s attempt to bury the misuse of their late fathers’ identities, with Mr Donato’s sons Tom and Enzo contemplating a police referral.

Asked on Sunday why the government or Labor Party had not referred the matter to corruption watchdog IBAC or the police, Mr Andrews said it was a “matter for the Labor Party”.

“I’d direct you to officeholders, whether that be the state secretary or somebody else in the Labor Party. It’s not a matter for the Victorian parliamentary party,” the Premier said.

“The second point is that agencies, the likes of which you’ve just mentioned (IBAC and Victoria Police), and others, do not require matters to be referred to them.

“They are perfectly capable, and have demonstrated a willingness, to engage and inquire into all manner of different issues without (them) having to be referred to them. They have the powers, the budgets and I’m pretty confident, the resolve, to look at whatever matters they deem appropriate.”

Asked whether Ms D’Ambrosio should personally apologise to the Donato and Nigro families — given the Lalor South branch had been the source of her power within the Victorian Labor Party for more than a decade — Mr Andrews deflected.

“You and I have had this discussion before. If you’ve got an allegation then you ought make it. There’s some inferences,” the Premier told The Australian.

Told that this wasn’t an “inference” but a reality, in that those registered as Lalor South members represented Ms D’Ambrosio’s votes in the Labor Party, Mr Andrews said: “Well I don’t know that that’s necessarily accurate.”

Asked to explain how it was not accurate, the Premier said: “Well I’m not making the case, you are, and if you’ve got allegations to make or claims make, well then you’re free to do that.”

“I’m not here as a spokesman on behalf of the administrative wing of the party. I’m not involved in those processes in any way, and it seems to me that those questions would be best directed to someone who is,” he said.

Mr Thwaites’s investigation confirmed that just six per cent of the 132 people registered as members of the Lalor South branch in 2020 had survived a membership audit conducted by party elders Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin following allegations of branch-stacking being conducted by Mr Andrews’ factional enemy Adem Somyurek.

Mr Somyurek was expelled from the Labor Party at the request of the Premier, who referred the matter to IBAC, and the scandal ultimately ended the parliamentary careers of all of Mr Somyurek’s prominent allies, including former ministers Marlene Kairouz, Luke Donnellan and Robin Scott.

Asked why he had seen fit to refer branch stacking allegations concerning Mr Somyurek to IBAC in 2020, but had not seen the necessity to treat the Lalor South allegations similarly, Mr Andrews said: “That’s not what was referred at all. What was referred was a whole range of other matters, and they’ve been well canvassed very, very well canvassed.”

Asked which “other matters” he was referring to, the Premier said: “Well they’ve been well-canvassed, and there’s a very lengthy report, which we’re currently working diligently to implement the recommendations and findings of that report.”

Asked why it had made sense to refer Mr Somyurek to IBAC and not the Lalor South branch, Mr Andrews said: “Well I think these matters well canvassed, and really, I would absolutely reject the premise of the question. If you go back and watch the 60 minutes program or the Age commentary in the days thereafter, I don’t think any comparison can be drawn between what you’re asking me about today, and what occurred then.”

IBAC’s Operation Watts found members of Mr Somyurek’s faction had engaged in “a catalogue of unethical and inappropriate behaviour ranging from the hiring of unqualified people into publicly funded roles, using those roles to support factional work, nepotism, forging signatures, bullying and attempts to interfere with the government grants process.”

The watchdog made no criminal findings, and chose not to examine allegations against any faction other that Mr Somyurek’s “Mods”, including the Socialist Left, of which Mr Andrews and Ms D’Ambrosio are members.

The Premier has not explained how the apparent forging of dead men’s signatures by the Lalor South branch falls into a different category to the behaviour examined by Operations Watts.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto accused Mr Andrews and the Labor Party of attempting to “whitewash” the scandal.

“We need a proper investigation into this, because remember, branch stacking inside the Labor Party under Daniel Andrews’s watch, corrupts his whole government as well,” he said.

“Daniel Andrews is distancing himself, but he can’t, because he’s at the centre of all of this, because it’s a culture that’s been allowed to breed under his watch, and we can’t accept this whitewash of an investigation. The families of the deceased deserve the truth, and so to the Victorian people.”

Mr Thwaites and Acting Victorian ALP Secretary Cameron Petrie have been contacted for comment.

Lily D'Ambrosio during question time in the Victorian parliament Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Mr Andrews also refused to be drawn on questions regarding a 2013 car crash involving his family and a cyclist on the Mornington Peninsula, which has been referred to IBAC by opposition police spokesman Brad Battin.

A witness to the near-fatal collision has said in a sworn statement that she recalls Mr Andrews saying he and his family had been having lunch at the Blairgowrie “sailing club”.

The Premier and his wife Catherine have always maintained that they were returning to their holiday rental after a morning at “the beach”.

Asked on Sunday whether he had been at the beach or at the sailing club, Mr Andrews said: “I have canvassed these matters extensively, at great length, at great length, and I have nothing further to add.”

Asked by why he could not simply say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, the Premier directed his response to The Australian personally.

“Well … you could stand behind the podium and I could ask you questions, but I ran for office and you are a journalist, so we’ve got different roles, and I’ll just again say to you, I’ve done plenty of press conferences on this, and gone through it at great length, and I have nothing to add. Nothing whatsoever. You could ask me 100 times, and I’d have nothing further to add. These matters have been canvassed thoroughly, and I have nothing to add,” Mr Andrews said.