Daniel Andrews apologises for IBAC report finding
Daniel Andrews has apologised and taken full responsibility for the Victorian ALP’s ‘unethical’ faction system and the behaviour of key MPs who were condemned by anti-corruption agencies.
Daniel Andrews has apologised and taken full responsibility for the Victorian ALP’s “unethical” faction system and the behaviour of key MPs who were condemned by anti-corruption agencies over the misuse of taxpayer-funded resources.
The Victorian Premier on Wednesday outlined a series of integrity reforms, some of which will be tied to political campaign funding for the major parties.
Facing an election on November 26, the Andrews government has been rocked by the findings of a joint IBAC-Ombudsman’s report, which savaged government MPs’ misuse of power and backed sweeping parliamentary reforms after declaring rorting was almost certainly cross-factional.
Operation Watts did not back criminal prosecutions against anyone, including former ALP factional powerbroker Adem Somyurek or another former minister, Marlene Kairouz; but the final report accused both MPs of unethical behaviour and potential breaches of codes of conduct.
“As leader of the parliamentary Labor Party and the Premier of our state, I take full responsibility for all of that conduct,’’ Mr Andrews said.
“That’s what the top job is all about, and I apologise for it.”
Under the reforms backed by the Labor cabinet in an emergency meeting, a parliamentary integrity commissioner will be established to investigate MPs; a joint parliamentary ethics committee will be formed; MPs will be banned from employing close family members; and the ministerial code of conduct will be tightened.
In a bid to wedge his opponents, Mr Andrews also vowed to tie major political parties to fulfil minimum requirements of party administration before receiving campaign funding.
This includes party memberships paid by traceable means, mandatory photo ID checks for new party members, and measures to ensure compliance using the electoral roll.
Asked if he was the best person to lead his government after taking responsibility and apologising, Mr Andrews said: “Yes, I am.”
“I’m absolutely focused on not just delivering this reform but delivering on all the promises that we made to the Victorian community,” the Premier added
The inquiry found that Mr Somyurek’s Moderate Labor faction, which once ran the Victorian ALP, was at the root of the problems it investigated but ruled that similar behaviour was likely across all groupings.
Some of the ML abuses were “extraordinary and shocking”, it found, adding that “other factions were undoubtedly engaging in branch stacking and this practice has been a scourge for the ALP for many years”.
It found that Mr Somyurek and Ms Kairouz should be referred for parliamentary investigation over the misuse of taxpayer resources for factional purposes, with possible breaches of the ministerial code of conduct and MPs’ code of conduct. A third minister, Robin Scott, was exonerated.
It is unclear whether former federal MP Anthony Byrne, who admitted to branch stacking by paying members’ fees and other factional misdeeds, should be prosecuted or pursued over any possible breaches of commonwealth laws or standards.
The report states that Mr Andrews had been aware of the widespread use of branch stacking in the party over recent decades.
The problems were not confined to the one faction, Operation Watts found, and that any push to prosecute was constrained by the existing laws.
“Although it is not possible to say that all of the unethical practices followed by members of the ML faction have also been employed by other factions, there is cogent evidence that these underlying factors are not limited to the ML faction or to the period covered by this investigation,’’ the report found.
“Moreover, this is acknowledged by (Labor elders) Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin in their report commissioned by the ALP, and in the Premier’s (Daniel Andrews’) evidence.
“As such, it is highly likely that the misuse of publicly funded staff for party or factional purposes, and the employment of family members and factional allies, has occurred for a much longer period and is much more widespread than the ML faction.”
IBAC commissioner Robert Redlich said the misconduct by MPs in their appointment of staff to pursue factional agendas was deeply concerning.
“Through the Operation Watts public hearings, we saw behaviours and actions on display that are clearly not in alignment with what the community rightfully expects of our decision-makers,” he said.
“The unethical culture that was such a feature of this investigation, whether as an explanation or excuse for bad conduct, lies at its heart.”
IBAC said it began its investigation before Nine’s 60 Minutes aired allegations against Mr Somyurek and others in the Moderate Labor faction.
On internal wrongdoing and the knowledge of the Premier, the report said Mr Andrews agreed that he had been aware of widespread recruiting of non-genuine members over the previous few decades.
“And that there had been people who had paid for the memberships of others over a long period,’’ the report said.
“He also agreed that the practice was not limited to one faction and occurred ‘across the board’.
“Mr Andrews denied any personal knowledge of or involvement in such practices. He was aware of such allegations through talk within the party, reviews, rule changes and from the time when he worked at ALP head office.
“He made the distinction between having suspicions about people who might be engaging in the practice and having actual knowledge of specific people who engaged in such practices.
“Mr Andrews agreed that branch stacking was a serious problem and that it could amount to a corruption risk in the sense that it could lead to the misuse of taxpayer or public funds in the pursuit of factional activities.
“He agreed that elimination of branch stacking was necessary to eliminate the risk of corruption.”
Mr Somyurek said he felt exonerated by the IBAC findings.
“Good to be liberated and I thank the useful idiots otherwise known as the integrity bodies for having the decency of not planting evidence when they could not find anything after wasting millions of dollars of taxpayer funds,” he tweeted.
Mr Somyurek also said he had received a “clean bill of health” after the investigation.
Opposition treasury spokesman David Davis said the report showed the ALP was “rotten to the core”.
“This report lays out extensive misuse of public resources (and) extensive corrupt behaviour,” Mr Davis said. “A fish rots from the head and in this case Daniel Andrews is the head of the Labor Party in Victoria.”
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