Labor members cast doubt over who paid for memberships in Lily D’Ambrosio-linked branch
Nine people who were long-term members of the Labor branch in Lily D’Ambrosio’s electorate before they were struck off say they cannot recall ever paying for their memberships.
Nine people who were long-term members of the Labor branch in Andrews government minister Lily D’Ambrosio’s electorate before they were struck off by an internal ALP probe say they cannot recall ever paying for their memberships.
The comments from the members of the Lalor South branch — which held its meetings in the Climate Action, Energy and Resources minister’s electorate office as recently as 2019 — imply that memberships were paid for by others in a manner similar to other branch-stacking incidents in the ALP.
On Tuesday, The Australian revealed that the branch, in Melbourne’s north, had forged the signatures of at least two dead people, multiple times, on party membership forms.
The news prompted a qualified apology from Daniel Andrews to the dead men’s families, as the Premier maintained his key minister and close factional ally had done nothing wrong, and the opposition referred the matter to corruption watchdog IBAC.
The Australian has obtained Labor Party records which contain the personal details of all 132 financial members of the Lalor South branch as of 2019, including the dates they joined the party, their contact details and dates of birth.
This newspaper attempted to contact more than 70 of the members — who are predominantly elderly Italian Australians — on Tuesday.
Some did not speak English, others had passed away or their numbers were disconnected, not all wished to speak to the media, some referred the call to adult children, and a handful stated that they are proudly among the 13 people who remain legitimate members of the branch following former premier Steve Bracks and former federal deputy Labor leader Jenny Macklin’s statewide audit of party membership in 2020.
But of those who were reached, nine said they had no recollection of ever having paid a membership fee.
“I’m not a member any more because they started charging me. It used to be free. Before Covid it was free. When they started charging, I didn’t want to be a member any more,” said a 79-year-old South Morang woman.
The woman, whose identity The Australian has chosen not to reveal for her protection, said she had been encouraged to join the party through the Italian Speaking Senior Citizens Association Of Epping.
An 83-year-old Thomastown woman, who with her 88-year-old husband has been a party member since 2001 — the year before Ms D’Ambrosio entered parliament — said she and her husband had “never paid”, and that it had been “Lily D’Ambrosio, the lady who’s a minister now” who had first signed them up.
In response to questions about how there could be so many members in the branch who had no recollection of having paid fees, and what role she had played in recruiting them, Ms D’Ambrosio said: “As a life member of the ALP — a proud movement of volunteers — I have encouraged people to join in the past, but reject any implication of wrongdoing.”
“Party membership and fees are a matter for the party,” the minister said.
The Victorian ALP has not responded to detailed questions sent to it on Monday and Tuesday.
The Premier was asked by the opposition during question time on Tuesday whether it was government policy to apologise to the families of Antonio Donato and Celestino Nigro, after The Australian revealed the men’s signatures had twice been forged on membership forms following their deaths in 2017.
“It is no one’s intention, I would have thought, across this chamber, in the cut and thrust of politics … no one wants to deliberately cause offence to anybody, to anybody, and to the extent that anybody associated with the Australian Labor Party has caused offence to the individuals named, mentioned, then of course we are regretful and sorry that that has occurred,” Mr Andrews said.
At a press conference earlier in the day, Mr Andrews denied that there was “any comparison whatsoever” between the allegations being made about the Lalor South branch and those which cost his former ministers and factional foes Adem Somyurek, Marlene Kairouz, Robin Scott and Luke Donnellan their parliamentary careers.
“Go back and read the resignation statements of those who resigned and the statement in relation to the one minister who was in fact removed and I don’t think there can be any comparison drawn,” Mr Andrews said.
Asked what the difference was between the conduct of the Lalor South branch and those of Mr Somyurek and his allies, which made headlines and prompted the Bracks-Macklin investigation in 2020, Mr Andrews declined to go into detail.
“Some things do fade from memory. Some things are not necessarily as acute as they were when we all sat there and watched the shocking, shocking conduct, and I’m not going to go through it all because it was some years ago now and it was there for everyone to see,” he said.
“When it comes to the integrity of Lily D’Ambrosio … I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody more focused on their duties than her. She’s a person of character and integrity.”
Ms D’Ambrosio attempted to distance herself from the Lalor South branch, despite the fact that it is based in her electorate and held meetings in her electorate office until 2019.
The minister does not live in her electorate, and has therefore had an affiliation with the Brunswick branch of the ALP since 2016, but was a member of the Lalor South branch when almost all of the 132 members on the 2019 list were recruited.
“It’s not my branch. I’ve not been a member of that branch for years, for years,” she said.
Opposition Leader John Pesutto on Tuesday wrote to acting IBAC Commissioner Stephen Farrow, requesting that he investigate “potential corrupt conduct” highlighted in The Australian’s reporting on the Lalor South branch, and particularly examine “Whether (Ms D’Ambrosio) engaged in corrupt conduct while in public office by directing ministerial and/or electorate office staff to perform party‐political work during times when those staff were paid from public funds to perform ministerial or electorate work”, and “whether public money was misused to fund party‐political activities”, as well as whether there were breaches of the Crimes act, including “relating to the making or using of false documents.”
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