IBAC ‘chased publicity at expense of witnesses’

Target of marathon anti-corruption probe blamed for former mayor’s suicide says a parliamentary submission has exposed the agency putting publicity ahead of witness welfare.

IBAC commissioner Robert Redlich. Picture: AAP

Victoria’s anti-corruption commission stands accused of boasting about publicity generated by live-streaming the grilling of witnesses in a marathon investigation blamed for the suicide of a former mayor.

A key target of the probe claims the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission has been caught out putting self-promotion ahead of witness welfare by a parliamentary submission revealing the agency trumpeted that broadcasting the hearings “contributed to a 58 per cent increase in unique visitors to IBAC’s website”.

The emergence of IBAC’s 24-page submission to the integrity and oversight committee has deepened the controversy surrounding Operation Sandon, the agency’s probe into allegedly corrupt land deals involving Casey councillors in Melbourne’s outskirts.

“For the first time, during the first week of the second round of examinations, IBAC video-streamed the hearings online to make them more accessible to all Victorians,” the agency’s submission says.

“More than 9000 people viewed the live stream during March. The examinations contributed to a 58 per cent ­increase in unique visitors to IBAC’s website during 2019/20.

“The examinations received significant media coverage including front-page print, drive-time radio and evening TV news bulletins. IBAC’s key messages were picked up in most reporting, particularly around the purpose and benefit of the examinations. Public examinations support our prevention focus by ensuring that our work is publicly accessible via a range of channels, and that the nature and impact of corruption is clearly communicated.”

Former Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon gave evidence in public on March 16 and 17, 2020, and the 58-year-old took her life on January 17-18 this year, just three days after receiving IBAC’s draft ­report into her alleged involvement in suspect property deals.

The parliamentary submission, dated September 2020, and accompanied with a cover letter signed by IBAC commissioner Robert Redlich QC, has been seized on by one of the key witnesses in Operation Sandon.

Ex-Casey mayor Sam Aziz claims the submission confirms that IBAC was more interested in marketing than witness welfare.

“So IBAC destroyed our lives, including pushing a former mayor to commit suicide, to market themselves,” Mr Aziz told The Weekend Australian. There was no new information or intelligence provided as a result of the public examinations, only increased traffic to their website.

“I never thought this level of despicable conduct by a government agency would be allowed in a free liberal democracy.

“IBAC’s own words reveal its true motives behind Operation Sandon; pick on an easy target to create a media circus and promote yourself. And don’t worry about the lives you destroy in the process. Amanda died because of this.”

IBAC has defended its record and policies on witness welfare. “Witness welfare is a primary consideration for IBAC in all of its work,” a spokesperson said.

“IBAC must regularly assess and balance the welfare of witnesses, and persons of interest, with its mandated purpose to ­expose and prevent corruption.

“IBAC takes this responsibility very seriously. In recognition of the need to balance these considerations, parliament has legislated a number of provisions which protect the rights, safety and welfare of witnesses and others ­involved in IBAC investigations.”

Stapledon’s supporters blame IBAC for her suicide, saying the public hearings left her humiliated and paranoid about being jailed while IBAC confidentiality orders left her feeling isolated by gagging her from confiding in friends.

Three days before her suicide, the two-time mayor of Casey in the booming southeastern suburbs, received IBAC’s draft report into her alleged involvement in dealings with developer John Woodman.

Among the allegations put to Stapledon during her public examination was that she failed to declare a $25,000 political ­donation from Mr Woodman in 2014.

Mr Woodman, who is named at least 1476 times in the draft ­report, has launched Supreme Court legal action to delay the ­release of IBAC’s final findings.

IBAC and the Victorian ­Inspectorate, the body charged with monitoring the anti-corruption agency, were both warned months before Stapledon’s ­suicide that the two-year investigation was endangering the mental health of witnesses.

The inspectorate took seven months to respond to one complaint, and witnesses say it has only taken their concerns seriously since the tragic death of the ex-mayor.

Since the tragedy, the integrity and oversight committee has ­expanded a scheduled review of IBAC’s performance to cover its witness-welfare record and decision-making processes around holding public hearings. The hearing is due to open next month.