Labor minister Lily D’Ambrosio dodges questions over membership legitimacy

Underfire Labor minister Lily D’Ambrosio says the membership scandal at her Lalor South branch are a ‘matter for the party’.

Key Andrews government minister Lily D’Ambrosio says she has a long and proud history of encouraging people to join the Labor Party, but that questions over the legitimacy of memberships in the branch based in her electorate are a “matter for the party”.

Ms D’Ambrosio was questioned on her way into parliament on Wednesday regarding revelations from The Australian that nine people who were long-term members of the Lalor South branch before they were struck off by an internal ALP probe say they cannot recall ever paying for their memberships, and that some of these people recall being introduced to the party by Ms D’Ambrosio.

“Well, in terms of paying membership fees, I mean, that’s a matter for the Labor Party, so I would suggest you direct that question to them,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.

The Victorian Labor Party has not responded to repeated questions from The Australian.

“I’m not sure what you’re implying, by me signing people up,” Ms D’Ambrosio said. “I’ve always, the party is a very strong volunteer organisation, full of people who are really committed to changing things for the better for their local community. I’m a proud Labor Party member, myself, for more than 40 years, and I’ve been a volunteer for many, many years before I became a Member of parliament. So I’m always happy to encourage people to join the Labor Party because it is a proud movement of people who want change and want good outcomes for the community.”

Premier Daniel Andrews was forced to comment on the Lalor South scandal in front of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday.

Asked repeatedly whether she was concerned that the branch which was meeting in her electorate office had renewed the memberships of dead people, and appeared to have paid for memberships on behalf of others, Ms D’Ambrosio said: “There are a number of matters that were raised yesterday through media reports, and of course, those are matters that concern anybody, and my sympathies are to the families involved. But again, anything beyond that really is a matter for the Labor Party.”

Asked about the fact that the Lalor South branch was holding regular meetings in her office as recently as 2019, long after an Ombudsman’s investigation into Labor’s rorting of publicly funded “Red Shirts” staff for political purposes ahead of the 2014 election was condemned in a 2018 report, and after Labor had repaid almost $400,000 in taxpayer funds, Ms D’Ambrosio claimed the rules about using electorate offices for party meetings were unclear at the time.

“The fact is, matters about activities, branches in electorate offices have been matters that were very unclear and opaque for a number of years, and those matters were clarified by changes to electorate office guidelines that came into effect not all that long ago,” she said.

“I’m happy to come back to you with the date on that, and that clarified what you can and can’t do in an electorate office, and that’s the beginning and the end of it.”

Several Labor Party sources have told The Australian Ms D’Ambrosio has been canvassing support for the position of deputy premier should Daniel Andrews resign, and Jacinta Allan move into the top job.

Asked whether this was the case, Ms D’Ambrosio said: “Absolutely not.”

“How this got any legs in the media is beyond me. As I’ve said, I’ve always been committed to doing the job today, and tomorrow, and planning for the future in energy, and the portfolios that I hold, and I’m absolutely delighted and privileged,” the Minister for Climate Action, Energy, Resources and the State Electricity Commission said.

“This is a privilege, for me to have these roles, and not wasting a day is something that I wake up to in my head every minute of the day. I wake up to every morning and I go to bed with, apart from podcasts because they help me relax and sometimes get my mind off certain things.”

Asked about calls from the opposition for the Premier to sack her, Ms D’Ambrosio said Mr Andrews had “dealt with that yesterday, and I’ve really got nothing further to add.”

Asked whether she would co-operate with any investigation, Ms D’Ambrosio said she did not “deal with hypotheticals”.