Minister Danny Pearson’s staff ‘had playbook of dirty tricks’

A young man who volunteered in Danny Pearson’s electorate office for two years says the Andrews government minister’s staff ­instructed volunteers to take down anti-government placards.

Protesters ambush Andrews minister Danny Pearson.

A young man who volunteered in Danny Pearson’s electorate office for two years says the Andrews government minister’s staff ­instructed volunteers to take down anti-government placards relating to a local level crossing removal from the neighbourhood.

Former ALP member Alex Niko­laou also alleges staff used fake social media profiles to keep tabs on local community groups, and encouraged volunteers to “spy” on protests and meetings.

The allegations come after Mr Pearson was this week forced to apologise and place his investments in a blind trust following questions over his announcement of a multimillion-dollar government contract awarded to Commonwealth Bank, in which he holds shares. On Thursday, the government confirmed it had shifted a board chaired by Mr Pearson’s wife, ­Nicole Marshall, out of his consumer affairs portfolio when he was sworn in as minister in December to avoid a conflict of interest.

The claims follow a series of revelations in The Australian over the past fortnight relating to allegations of secrecy and bullying of local community members by Level Crossing Removal Authority staff – including stakeholder engagement manager and former Labor staffer Lance Wilson, who was caught on camera telling the owners of a hospitality business in Melbourne’s east that they would lose customers over a poster they displayed opposing management of a local LXRA project.

Mr Nikolaou, now 23, volunteered in Mr Pearson’s Moonee Ponds office, in Melbourne’s inner northwest, between 2017 and 2020, having joined the Labor Party in 2016. He was preselected to run on the party’s ticket for the Moonee Valley council in 2020 but ended up running as an independent and quitting the party after becoming disillusioned.

At the time, the Moonee Valley council – dominated by independents with Ms Marshall in the minority as a Labor councillor — was running a prominent but ultimately unsuccessful campaign against plans for a “rail over road” removal of Essendon’s Buckley Street level crossing.

The council placed placards around the neighbourhood, reading “Buckley Street Level Crossing – Fight for a better option: rail-under-road”, amid concerns the road under rail plan would result in a narrower, less safe, less ­accessible and flood-prone road underpass, cost local traders business, and make the task of removing two dangerous level crossings nearby much more difficult.

Mr Nikolaou said Mr Pearson’s electorate officer Frank Dinoto instructed him to take down the placards. “Frank told me if I ever saw a sign displayed for me to rip it down and take it back to the office for them to destroy,” he said.

“One day he took me to councillor Richard Lawrence’s house to have a look, and asked me to get out and take his sign down.

“I’m like ‘No, I don’t feel comfortable doing that’ so he took the sign down himself.”

Mr Nikolaou said he believed Mr Pearson was aware of the practice, despite not personally instructing staff or volunteers to remove the signs. “The signs were taken back to his office, so he would have to be aware of it,” he said. “His staff were creating fake profiles on Facebook to stalk the Save Buckley Street group.

“They even used volunteers as spies for any protest or committee meetings as the staff didn’t want to get caught out.”

In response to questions regarding Mr Nikolaou’s allegations, Mr Pearson said: “I believe my electorate office staff behave appropriately at all times.”

Premier Daniel Andrews said he appointed Mr Pearson as Consumer Affairs Minister, despite knowing a potential conflict of ­interest with his wife’s board position would need to be managed, “because … he’s the best person to fulfil those ministerial duties.”

Asked whether it wouldn’t have been more appropriate to appoint someone else, given the Business Licensing Authority chaired by Ms Marshall has fallen within consumer affairs since its inception in 1998, Mr Andrews said: “No, … it’s still with the Minister for Consumer Affairs … It just reports to a different minister.”