Dead mayor’s brother to confront watchdog

The brother of ex-mayor whose suicide is blamed on IBAC prepared to challenge anti-corruption agency

Former Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon. Picture: Chris Eastman

The brother of an ex-mayor who died by suicide just days after receiving draft findings of an IBAC probe into allegedly corrupt land deals has vowed to confront the agency at a parliamentary inquiry over witness welfare.

Michael Lord is preparing to appear before the Victorian parliament’s Integrity and Oversight Committee which will review the circumstances surrounding the death of his sister, former Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon.

“I am more than happy to assist any investigation into learning what was wrong with a system that is so obviously over-empowered and callously causing grief to so many,” he told The Australian.

“IBAC says it has regard for the welfare of witnesses, but that is a ludicrous thing to assert given what has happened. This must never be allowed to happen again.

“Hopefully, the outcomes of any such investigation ensure that there can be no repeat of past injustices.”

Ms Stapledon, 58, took her life on January 17-18, three days after receiving the draft findings of a marathon Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission investigation into land deals involving Casey councillors and a property developer.

The two-time mayor of Casey, covering Melbourne’s sprawling southeastern suburbs, had been hauled before public hearings and accused of accepting a $25,000 political campaign donation that was not declared.

Ms Stapledon’s friends and associates have blamed the IBAC probe for triggering her suicide, saying the lengthy inquiry left her feeling depressed, isolated, and paranoid about going to jail.

Multiple witnesses are hoping to testify before the IOC so they can detail the probe’s impact on their lives. “We need this opportunity to explain how this process has destroyed us,” one witness told The Australian.

Operation Sandon, the codename for the probe into allegedly corrupt Casey land deals, has run for more than two years.

Labor MP Harriet Shing, the chair of the IOC, said the committee would call for submissions within days. “The review into witness welfare is not being conducted in response or relation to a specific matter, but is about ensuring that the highest standards of witness welfare are ­established and maintained in IBAC’s practices and processes,” she said.

In a statement to the parliamentary committee, one witness launched a scathing attack on IBAC and the Victorian Inspectorate, the watchdog charged with monitoring the agency.

“The particularly vicious and persecutorial conduct of IBAC against me as a witness was outlined in significant detail in a complaint to the VI in April 2021,” the witness stated.

“Unfortunately, the VI took six months to respond, and then dismissed the complaint. It was not until Ms Stapledon’s suicide that the VI began to take the ­matter a lot more seriously.

“My extreme disappointment with the VI and my observation that it appears to be a toothless tiger in the face of the unaccountable and all powerful IBAC are fundamental to this inquiry.”

IBAC indicated on Wednesday it would not block Operation Sandon witnesses testifying at the IOC hearing, which is expected to be held in May.

If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, call: Lifeline: 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au; Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636 or beyondblue.org.au