Labor MPs escape charges in Victoria Red Shirts scandal

Police will not lay any criminal charges against any current Victorian Labor MPs over the red shirts “rorts for votes” affair.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews alongside red shirt-clad Labor supporters ahead of last year’s State election. Picture: Julian Smith/AAP

Victoria Police will not lay criminal charges against any of the 16 current Andrews government MPs involved in the $388,000 “red shirts” rorts-for-votes scandal.

Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patten said the two men who had devised the “red shirts” scheme were subject to ongoing investigation.

It is understood one of the men is Brumby government treasurer John Lenders.

The fraud squad investigation was launched last year after Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass found 21 Labor MPs, including six ministers, had misused taxpayer dollars to partially fund “red shirt” campaign staff during the 2014 election.

An Andrews government spokesman said the matter was now at an end for MPs.

“As Victoria Police has made clear, they have been exonerated,” the spokesman said.

“Victoria Police has also made clear that no field organisers will be charged.

“As this matter continues to be considered in regards to other individuals, it’s not appropriate to provide further comment.”

Victoria Police launched its criminal investigation, codenamed Ocotillo, in July last year, following the Ombudsman’s finding that $388,000 of taxpayers’ money had been misused.

Mr Patten said Operation Ocotillo had focused on the Ombudsman’s discovery that between the 3rd and the 7th of March in 2014, Labor electorate office staff were engaged in field organiser training, rather than electorate work.

“We then investigated that period and focused in on solely that period about what timesheets had been signed and who had done what,” he said.

Mr Patten said the investigation had been broken into three phases: the role of field organisers, that of MPs, and that of the architects of the “red shirts” scheme.

In August, 18 former Labor electorate officers were arrested and questioned.

Investigators then focused on 16 members of parliament who had signed off on their timesheets during that one week period.

In October it was revealed that all 16 MPs, acting on the advice of ALP lawyers, had refused to co-operate with requests by police for interviews.

Victoria Police received a report back from the Department of Public Prosecutions last week, and took almost a week for the fraud and extortion squad investigators to assess the DPP’s advice.

Mr Patten also sought to exonerate Premier Daniel Andrews, his deputy James Merlino, and Police Minister Lisa Neville.

“Neither the Premier, nor the Deputy Premier nor the Police Minister were sought to be criminally interviewed by any of the investigators due to the lack of evidence requiring that,” he said.

He noted that the third phase of Operation Ocotillo, relating to the two alleged architects of the “red shirts” scheme, was ongoing.

“That third phase is in relation to those who have allegedly orchestrated or designed these arrangements, and there are two men who currently we are still investigating in respect of that matter,” he said.

“I am not going to identify who those two men are because they are still actively under investigation.

“I will say they are not current members of parliament and they were not field organisers, so that investigation continues in respect to those two men in relation to potential fraud matters.”

Following questions from journalists, Mr Patten later indicated Mr Lenders was one of the men.

“Run of luck”

Victorian opposition leader Michael O’Brien said Labor MPs had experienced an “incredible run of luck” in avoiding criminal charges.

He cited a 2014 scandal involving a journalist’s stolen dictaphone and the rorting of the second home allowance by former MPs Telmo Languiller and Don Nardella who were forced to resign as speaker and deputy speaker.

He also listed a printing rort scandal, currently before the courts, over which Victoria’s corruption watchdog IBAC laid charges after Victoria Police opted not to.

“After today’s decision I think ordinary Victorians will be asking themselves whether a Labor Party membership doesn’t come with a get out of jail free card,” Mr O’Brien said.

“You do have to question the run of luck that Labor MPs have had when it comes to avoiding charges.

Shadow Attorney-General Ed O’Donohue said it was a disgrace that Labor MPs had refused to be interviewed by police.

“Yes, they have a legal right to silence, but they have an obligation as MPs to do the right thing, to co-operate with Victoria Police, and with them refusing to do so, you have to ask: what are they hiding, why are they hiding, what don’t they want to be disclosed?” he said.

“And we’ll never know the impact that the information that they hold, the information they know, may have had on this criminal investigation.”

Mr O’Donohue said he did not understand why Police Minister Lisa Neville — who employed the whistleblower who brought the red shirts scandal to public attention — had not been interviewed.

“It’s surprising, given what Deputy Commissioner Patten said today about the interest in the training program that Deputy Premier James Merlino as a guest speaker at that program wasn’t requested to be interviewed, and it’s also interesting that a member of Labor’s campaign committee, Premier Daniel Andrews, with oversight for their campaign, wasn’t requested to be interviewed,” he said.

Asked whether he was accusing Victoria Police of a cover-up, Mr O’Brien said: “When you look at this outcome today you’d have to say that under Daniel Andrews and Labor, Victoria has a legal system, it doesn’t have a justice system.”

However, the opposition leader maintained he had “great confidence” in Victoria police.

List of exonerated MPs

Police released the names of all 16 MPs they had exonerated, “given the strong interest in the case”.

Mr Patten conceded they had been exonerated despite all of them refusing to agree to be interviewed.

The MPs are current ministers Adem Somyurek, Gayle Tierney, Gavin Jennings, Lily D’Ambrosio and Jenny Mikakos, upper house president Shaun Leane, MPs John Eren, Anthony Carbines, Nazih El-Asmar and former MPs Candy Broad, Johan Scheffer, Marsha Thomson, Joe Helper, John Pandazopoulos, Lee Tarlamis, and Brian Tee.