Liberals ready to target officials to spare Matthew Guy

Two of Victoria’s most senior public servants could face ­investigation under a plan being mulled by the state opposition

Opposition legal affairs spokesman John Pesutto. Picture: Janine Eastgate.

Two of Victoria’s most senior public servants could face ­investigation under a plan being mulled by the state opposition to prevent controversial planning advice given to Liberal leader Matthew Guy being made public.

The Liberal opposition is considering a plan to make formal complaints against Chris Eccles, the secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, and Victorian Government Solicitor Marlo Baragwanath, according to an internal party memo obtained by The Australian.

The memo, drafted by opposition legal affairs spokesman John Pesutto, says Mr Eccles and Ms Baragwanath may have breached their duties by complying with a parliamentary motion to hand over sensitive advice given to Mr Guy over a September 2011 Phillip ­Island planning application. But a spokesman for the pair denied they breached any duties and said they acted “lawfully and in accordance with convention and practice”.

The Andrews Labor government is trying to shed light on advice given to Mr Guy, seven years after his decision as the then planning minister to rezone 24ha of farmland at Ventnor on Phillip Island resulted in an embarrassing about-face days later and a ­million-dollar payout.

The government in late March moved a motion compelling the public sector and Victorian Government Solicitor to hand over all documents tendered to Mr Guy in the lead-up to the planning decision. As the Coalition prepares for the documents’ release in the coming weeks, Mr Pesutto has urged the party’s advisers to lodge formal complaints against Mr Eccles and Ms Baragwanath for releasing the documents, in a last-ditch bid to stop the documents from going public.

“I consider that Mr Eccles has, under pressure from Daniel ­Andrews, brought Department of Premier and Cabinet into disrepute and that Mr Guy consider a formal complaint against Mr Eccles to the Victorian Public Sector Commission,” Mr Pesutto said.

According to the memo, Mr Guy as the government’s client was entitled to confidentiality from government lawyers, which has now been breached.

The memo also says Mr ­Eccles’s decision to comply with the motion sets a dangerous precedent in which sensitive information can be released by instruction of the premier. But Mr Pesutto takes sharper aim at Ms Baragwanath, for conduct which he says was “far worse” than that of Mr Eccles.

“Mr Eccles’ contention that, under pressure from Mr ­Andrews, Ms Baragwanath was bound under her employment contract to breach legal duties owed to a former client is patently absurd. The VGSO breached legal professional privilege,” the memo says. “I recommend that Mr Guy give consideration to a formal complaint against Ms Baragwanath to the Legal Services Board and the VPSC.”

Mr Guy has been dogged by questions surrounding the Ventnor development, and reports that he ­ignored advice. The Victorian government was forced to pay more than $1.5 million in compensation to landowners following the decision for the compromised value of their land.