IBAC faces more delays as witness launches legal challenge

Already battling legal action and long delays, IBAC has been hit by a fresh counter-attack from witnesses in Operation Sandon

Former Casey mayor and councillor Sam Aziz. Picture: Facebook

IBAC’s Operation Sandon faces further delays after witnesses launched a fresh legal challenge to the anti-corruption agency.

At least two witnesses in the marathon investigation have served demands on the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission to hand over details of more than 1000 footnotes included in its draft ­report.

The witnesses in Operation Sandon – a marathon inquiry into allegedly corrupt land deals involving Casey councillors and developer John Woodman – have opened the legal counter-attack in the wake of a significant ruling in December by the Victorian ­Supreme Court.

Judge Tim Ginnane ruled that IBAC should provide the details of footnotes that underpin the agency’s findings to Mr Woodman as part of its natural justice ­obligations.

Relying on that ruling, former Casey mayor Sam Aziz has written to IBAC this week demanding the agency hand over 1331 footnotes referenced in its draft ­report.

‘‘This is a total of 1331 footnotes, none of which have been included in the document I received,’’ the letter states.

‘‘If these are to be referenced in the final report to parliament, then to achieve natural justice I need access to all 1331 of the footnotes that have been referred to but not included in volume 1 of the draft report sent to me.’’

IBAC said the Supreme Court’s decision brought the Operation Sandon special report closer to completion and being publicly released. ‘‘We look forward to finalising and tabling this report to ensure the community is fully informed on what occurred and to enable recommendations for local government reform to be made,’’ the agency told The ­Australian.

IBAC also pointed to a ­separate Court of Appeal ruling that determined the agency’s natural justice obligations ‘‘are confined to providing persons with the adverse comments or opinions in the draft special report and any other contents of the draft report which disclose the basis upon which IBAC formed them’’.

‘‘Both decisions noted that IBAC is not required to provide all information to those named in an IBAC draft special report,’’ the agency said.

Mr Aziz, in his letter, claims the failure of IBAC to disclose the footnotes had delayed the investigation, drawn out the suffering of witnesses and been expensive for the agency.

‘‘I am also aware that this judgment has been costly for IBAC (and therefore for the taxpayer) because IBAC has been directed by the court to pay the witness the majority of their legal costs,’’ he states in the letter.

‘‘Additionally, this conduct by IBAC of denying the witness natural justice by refusing access to the footnotes until directed by the Honourable Court has created substantial delays in concluding Operation Sandon, and exacerbated distress for all witnesses, contradicting IBAC’s public statements that ‘it cares about people’s welfare’.

‘‘Accordingly, in the interests of natural justice and considering the recent Supreme Court decision, together with recent legal advice regarding my rights, please send me the contents of every footnote contained in the numbers listed above.’’

The Australian understands that as many as six witnesses in Operation Sandon, already cloaked in controversy over long delays and the suicide of witness and former Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon, are considering serving legal demands on IBAC to hand over thousands of footnotes relevant to them.

The development threatens to further delay the tabling of IBAC’S Operation Sandon report in parliament and could ­complicate ­future investigations by compelling the agency to ­release footnotes to witnesses as a standard operating procedure.

Stapledon died by suicide in January 2022, three days after receiving IBAC’s draft report into her alleged involvement.

Friends blame IBAC for her death.

Mr Aziz told The Australian that the court ruling had vindicated the witnesses’ claims that they had been denied natural justice by the agency.

‘‘IBAC’s natural justice process has been thrown into disrepute by the way the agency has conducted itself in Operation Sandon,’’ he said.

‘‘We are putting IBAC on ­notice that it now has an obligation to release the footnotes to all witnesses.’’