Andrews government ‘dragging its feet’ on branch stacking

More than a year after a damning investigation into branch stacking in the Victorian ALP was handed down, the Andrews government is yet to even consult integrity agencies.

Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass. Picture: David Caird

Victoria’s Ombudsman and corruption watchdog have warned the Andrews government it is running out of time to implement the recommendations of their damning investigation into allegations of branch stacking in the state’s Labor Party, more than a year after the findings were handed down.

The Ombudsman and IBAC on Thursday tabled their progress report on Operation Watts, which focused exclusively on accusations concerning former minister Adem Somyurek and his factional allies.

The conduct of other Labor groupings, including Premier Daniel Andrews’ Socialist Left faction, has never been examined by IBAC, which was last month asked by the state opposition to inquire into revelations published in The Australian that the ALP branch linked to senior Andrews government minister Lily D’Ambrosio had forged the signatures of dead people on membership renewal forms.

Ombudsman Deborah Glass and Acting IBAC Commissioner Stephen Farrow on Thursday warned that many of the integrity risks exposed by the Operation Watts report — which was tabled in July 2022 — “require timely treatments and careful consideration given to the intent of the recommendations.”

“The report shows good progress in some areas. But while the government has allocated over $8 million and staff from within the Department of Premier and Cabinet tasked with drafting the necessary legislation, it has not yet indicated a time frame for its introduction to parliament beyond reiterating the commitment to implement key reforms by June 2024, nor has it consulted with IBAC or the Ombudsman on the provisions of any draft bill,” the integrity heads said.

“IBAC and the Ombudsman welcome the progress to date, but given the gravity and volume of misconduct that was catalogued in the Watts report, impress upon the government the importance of implementing the recommendations in full and without delay.”

Acting IBAC Commissioner Stephen Farrow. Picture: David Crosling

The Operation Watts recommendations included establishing a parliamentary ethics committee and parliamentary integrity commissioner, broadening the prohibitions on taxpayer-funded electorate officers engaging in party-specific activities, the creation of a new offences for MPs and ministers who allow staff to undertake party-specific activities, a prohibition on the employment of family members as electorate officers, updating the ministerial code of conduct, conflict of interest controls for ministers and ministerial staff, and changes to the rules governing the awarding and management of government grants.

Ms Glass said she and IBAC had not seen “much signs of life towards making those happen”.

“We’ve seen the commitment to doing so, but we haven’t seen anything resembling a consultation, a draft or legislation,” the Ombudsman told ABC radio on Thursday.

The progress report states that the Department of Premier and Cabinet has “assured” the integrity agencies that the legislation “is being worked on”.

“But it has not yet indicated a timeframe for its introduction to parliament beyond reiterating the government’s commitment to implement key reforms by June 2024,” it states.

“(That) date was chosen on the basis that the necessary legislation would have been passed by December 2023.

“We would welcome the opportunity to be consulted on the provisions of any draft bill, but note this has not yet occurred. We note that the Premier undertook in October 2022 to consult with MPs from all parties in 2023, which to our knowledge has also not yet occurred.”

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Asked about the progress report on Thursday, Mr Andrews said he and his ministers had had “a lot of things to deal with” in recent months.

“We will have very significant updates to make quite soon,” the Premier said.

Operation Watts found “a catalogue of unethical and inappropriate behaviour and concerning practices, and the environment in which such behaviour was able to flourish.”

“They ranged from bullying, to the hiring of unqualified people into publicly funded roles, using those roles to undertake factional work, rampant nepotism, forging signatures, and attempts to interfere with government grants to favour factionally aligned community organisations – who, in some cases, failed to use the funds as intended,” the report found.

However, Operation Watts was unable to conclude that any criminal offence had been committed.

“The improper conduct was not clearly captured by any existing statutory provision or the common law offence of misconduct in public office. There was also a weak legislative framework around the employment of electorate officers and the use of electoral allowances,” the integrity agencies state.