IBAC probe snubs United Firefighters Union chief

United Firefighters Union state secretary Peter Marshall joins list of IBAC witnesses Labor inquiry deems a “high risk” of revealing secrets

United Fire­fighters Union state secretary Peter Marshall. Picture: Hamish Blair

A Labor-led parliamentary ­inquiry is expected to shelve a complaint from United Fire­fighters Union state secretary Peter Marshall over IBAC’s probe into dealings between the ­Andrews government and the union.

The integrity and oversight committee, chaired by Labor MP Harriet Shing, has deemed that a public hearing to cover the union chief’s concerns presented a “high risk” of triggering a “prohibited disclosure” about Operation Richmond.

The committee is not expected to invite the union chief to appear at a public hearing and it’s now unclear whether its inquiry into IBAC’s witness welfare ­record will even consider his ­submission.

The Australian believes Mr Marshall’s submission did not specifically request the ­opportunity to testify in public but raised numerous concerns about IBAC’s conduct and called for major changes to boost the rights of witnesses caught up in anti-corruption ­investigations.

The likely shelving of Mr Marshall’s submission follows a decision by the committee to block more than six witnesses in IBAC’s Operation Sandon from testifying in public into the inquiry sparked by the suicide of a Sandon witness and former Casey mayor.

The decision to shut down the witnesses comes just months after Ms Shing called for people to make submissions on “this ­important and timely” inquiry, which was called after the death of Amanda Stapledon.

Stapledon, a witness in Operation Sandon, a probe into allegedly corrupt land deals, took her life on January 17-18, just three days after receiving IBAC’s draft report.

But since the inquiry opened, it has been confirmed that Daniel Andrews was grilled in ­secret as part of Operation Sandon, ­leading to concerns among ­witnesses the committee is ­trying to shut itself down to shield the Premier from political fallout.

When Liberal MP Kim Wells ­attempted to ask IBAC Commissioner Robert Redlich during a livestreamed hearing why Mr Andrews was ­examined in ­private, Ms Shing ­ordered “cut the feed”, bringing the hearing to a temporary close.

Since July 2019, Operation Richmond has been secretly ­investigating the 2016 industrial negotiations between the ­Andrews government and the UFU, which coincided with the government handing the union more authority over the Country Fire Authority.

The Australian reported on Thursday that classified letters from Mr Redlich and a senior IBAC legal adviser revealed a “significant number of witnesses” and a “list of significant witnesses” had been examined in private in Operation Richmond.

It has been reported that Mr Marshall has been privately ­examined by IBAC. Mr Andrews has dodged questions as to whether he has appeared in ­Operation Richmond.

The Australian believes Mr Marshall’s submission likens IBAC to a star chamber that wasn’t interested in his version of events and pursued a pro-CFA agenda.

Last week, The Australian asked Ms Shing if witnesses who had accepted the committee’s ­invitation to make a submission would be allowed to testify in ­public.

The Labor MP pointed to a statement on the parliamentary website that indicates no witnesses will be heard in public, and leaves the fate of written submissions, such as that presented by Mr Marshall, uncertain.