Daniel Andrews’ secret rort testimony to IBAC revealed

Former Victorian Labor treasurer John Lenders is accused of being the architect to redirect at least $388,000 of taxpayer funds to the campaign to propel the Daniel Andrews-led party to government in the 2014 election. Picture: Nicole Garmston

For seven years, Daniel Andrews has belligerently dodged and deflected questions in parliament and from the media about Labor’s “red shirts” rort.

The formidable micro-manager has maintained he was unaware during the 2014 election how Labor’s plot to use electorate office staff as political campaigners was funded.

In extracts of his evidence to IBAC’s Operation Watts published in Wednesday’s 236-page report, the Victorian premier doesn’t explicitly admit to knowing about the artifice conceived by Labor MP John Lenders that would siphon at least $388,000 from the public.

But the extracts do represent the premier’s most detailed concession since the scandal broke in 2015, confirming he was aware of the essence of the scheme organised by Lenders, his chief 2014 campaign strategist.

Wednesday’s report is telling for another reason; it suggests when questioned in a secret anti-corruption examination about the rort, the premier’s trademark defence began to look a little brittle.

Daniel Andrews (second left) and Marlene Kairouz (right) with Labor party supporters wearing red shirts in November 2018. Picture: AAP.

In rambling answers, the premier appears to be treading very carefully with his choice of words while testifying under oath before the private hearing.

Asked about his recollection about former Labor MP Adem Somyurek’s claim that he alerted Andrews to the rort in 2014, the premier said: “I had a very brief encounter with Mr Somyurek at the end of a caucus meeting. I have detailed this I think not long after or, sorry, at an earlier point when this was a matter of media inquiry. It was a very brief encounter and I referred him to John Lenders.

“That is my – that’s my recount, my recall of that particular encounter, brief and really only

an issue of referral, and I don‘t believe that he raised anything other than he didn’t – he raised – I don’t even know that he raised concerns, other than that, you know, he might have gone on to raise concerns with me, but I directed him to Mr Lenders.”

IBAC Commissioner Robert Redlich speaks during the Operation Watts public hearing in Melbourne. Picture: AAP.

Somyurek has repeatedly claimed that during this post-caucus interaction, he alerted the then opposition leader to the funding rort, prompting him to snap; “Do you want to win an election or not?”

Andrews, according to the IBAC report, disputes this account, saying: “I don’t believe so. I have a clear recollection, given the brevity of the encounter, and I‘m not – that’s not language that I use. I think people who know me would not see me speaking in those terms, would not describe me as someone who speaks in those terms.”

Asked by Commissioner Robert Redlich, QC, if he had an understanding of the essence of the “red shirts” scheme, Andrews responded: “I probably did. I had no concerns at that time given, you know, I wasn’t acting to stop him doing it. But this issue of whether I spoke in those terms or essentially justified or was unconcerned with serious issues of probity and integrity that Mr Somyurek raised with me, that is not my recollection of that conversation and nor is that the evidence that he provided to the privileges committee at the time. A very brief encounter and I referred him to John.”

Adem Somyurek claims he alerted Daniel Andrews to the rort in 2014. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

Andrews is asked if he was aware of what Lenders was proposing in a general sense.

“Yes,” he responds.

Andrews is then asked if he was aware it involved electorate officers doing party-political work.

“I’m not sure whether it was – well, I was aware that it was about engaging staff to be involved in campaigning,” he said.

“My recollection is that at no point did I have a sense that what was being proposed was not

in accordance with the rules or advice from Parliamentary Services.

“My memory of it is that it was – pooling arrangements have been part of parliamentary parties for quite some time, our party and others. I expect I viewed it in those

terms …”

IBAC’s final report, released on Wednesday, concludes that a short conversation did occur between Andrews and Somyurek during which the “red shirts” scheme was discussed, before it goes on to find “that no particular concerns were raised; and that the premier referred Somyurek to Lenders.”

Unfortunately, IBAC has chosen not to release the full transcript of the premier’s private Q&A session. This is a shame. The public has every right to read every word of his secret testimony.

But the twists in this saga aren’t finished. The report reveals the Somyurek-Andrews “red shirts” conversation will be the “subject of consideration” in a separate investigation by the Ombudsman sparked by another referral by the Legislative Council.

This is uncomfortable timing for Labor, with the election just five months away. During the 2018 election, the “red shirts” scandal was raging, but voters didn’t care, and backed the premier in with a smashing majority.

Four years on, the “red shirts” zombies are up and about again. The premier will be hoping nothing has changed among voters. But integrity is widely judged to be a factor in the defeat of the Morrison government. Integrity is far from the Andrews’ government’s strong suit.