Dan Andrews’ order: hand over secret Liberal files

Just months before the last Victorian election, Daniel Andrews issued ordered his top public servants to hand over confidential files belonging to the previous Liberal government.

Former Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy. Picture: AAP

Daniel Andrews personally ­ordered three senior bureaucrats to break with constitutional convention and hand him confidential documents belonging to the previous Liberal government, which were then released in a political hit on the opposition leader just months before the last state election.

The Premier signed a joint ­letter to the public service chiefs bluntly reminding them of their “employment contract” and ­directing them to produce Liberal government files relating to a ­failed development at Ventnor on Phillip Island.

More than 80,000 documents about the deal on the island in the state’s southeast were delivered to the Premier and subsequently made public in a bid to undermine then Liberal leader Matthew Guy, who presided over the botched Ventnor deal as planning minister.

“I have determined that it is ­appropriate for certain documents relating to the decisions and events the subject of the Ombudsman’s report and the Supreme Court proceeding to be produced to me,” Mr Andrews writes in the letter, which has been released under Freedom of Information.

“Accordingly, on behalf of the crown, and consistently with your employment contract, I direct that you provide to me the following documents and do so irrespective of any relevant constitutional conventions with respect to documents of previous government.”

The two-page letter, released to the Victorian opposition, was sent to the secretary of the ­Department of Premier and Cabinet Chris Eccles, the state’s most senior bureaucrat, and the secretary of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, John Bradley.

The letter – which is not dated, an unusual omission for official correspondence from a premier – was also sent to the Victorian Government Solicitor, Marlo Baragwanath.

The Premier specifically demands documents relating to the investigation into advice provided to Mr Guy, the Bass Coast planning scheme amendments and documents relating to legal action and the resolution of the dispute.

“The above documents may also be provided to me in tranches, in such number and within such time as is convenient and appropriate,” Mr Andrews directs the public servants in the letter.

The Premier’s office declined to respond to questions on Monday, including why the letter was not dated, but referred to parliament’s authority to order government documents and records to be produced. The office said the letter was part of the processing of that motion.

Liberal frontbencher Tim Smith described the order from the Premier as an extraordinary threat to the senior public servants. “This extraordinary directive proves Daniel Andrews is a bully who uses threats and intimidation to get his own way,” he said.

“Andrews has corrupted conventions and the Victorian public service. This disgraceful and threatening letter by Andrews to senior public servants shows that a culture of fear exists inside the Victorian government, resulting in shocking decision making.

“Jennifer Coate (the former judge who ran the quarantine hotel inquiry last year) observed this failure in her final report into the hotel quarantine catastrophe that killed 801 Victorians.”

In 2011, Mr Guy was engulfed in a scandal over rezoning of land on Phillip Island. Ignoring advice from his own department and the local council, Mr Guy rezoned the land to allow for a development.

But amid a community backlash, Mr Guy reversed the decision, triggering a legal dispute with the landowners. In 2013, taxpayers were left with a $3.5m bill when the former government settled the legal action. The Premier’s document dump ended up backfiring on Labor, when private ­financial and personal details of Victorians were ­included in the 80,000 documents.