IBAC: Labor MP Anthony Byrne sparks crisis for Anthony Albanese

Anthony Byrne has styled himself as a whistleblower, but he faces deep uncertainty while Victoria’s IBAC investigates and then reports on the scandal.

Anthony Byrne’s evidence is everything Anthony Albanese didn’t want to hear.

Byrne is now a self-described branch stacker knee-deep in a long-running anti-corruption investigation just months out from an election. Although Byrne has styled himself as a whistleblower, he faces deep uncertainty while Victoria’s IBAC investigates and then reports on the scandal.

The hearings affect the federal Opposition Leader in two ways.

First, it muddies the waters on the debate over a federal anti-corruption body; second, it exposes Albanese to a long-running internal sore in Victoria.

Byrne’s decision to allow his office to be used for a recorded sting on a political enemy in Adem Somyurek poses further questions about his judgment.

Labor figures opposed to Byrne believe there is a powerful case for the member for Holt to be punished by the party, possibly via expulsion.

Illustration: John Spooner

His evidence, in many ways, tells a powerful story of a man who was highly influential in factional politics and involved in some poor decision-making.

By allowing the TV cameras into his office, Byrne has allowed the world to see how the Labor factions do their work.

It’s never pretty, and in the case of southeastern Melbourne there are few tougher areas in Australian politics.

The southeast has long been a battleground between the Right and Left factions. Byrne’s intervention, which has resulted in four state ministerial resignations, will have a devastating impact on the party in Victoria, quite possibly bringing down more ALP figures.

IBAC has held an unknown number of secret hearings and we don’t even know whether the Premier has been called to give his evidence.

Byrne’s narrative will be tested by Somyurek and Somyurek’s lawyers as lacking in credibility.

(L-R) Anthony Albanese, Kevin Rudd, Penny Wong and Anthony Byrne.

This is because, at least in part, the belief among the Labor factions that Byrne has been a long-time backroom activist, protecting his own seat and being involved in fights elsewhere in the southeast.

Indeed, much of his own evidence seems to point to that.

More broadly, the scandal is causing profound problems within the Victorian Right, which is crucial to keeping the ALP sane in the southern state.

The four ministers who have fallen in this scandal are all from the Right, effectively handing even greater power to Premier Daniel Andrews, who is from the Left.

The Right largely has lost its way in Victoria, many arguing the obsession with the elevation of Bill Shorten to the federal leadership came at a great cost to the broad faction.

Daniel Andrews and Anthony Albanese. Picture: Mark Stewart

As well as undermining the federal caucus, it has left the state caucus without an obvious and viable replacement for Andrews when he quits or falls.

All of which leaves Albanese as federal leader in a vulnerable position.

With Victoria as his strongest state, he needs to perform well there to win office.

Instead, it is organisationally weak and mired in scandal, coming off state Labor’s world-record beating lockdowns.

It will be no surprise if Albanese demands Byrne’s resignation or the MP falls on his own sword.