Taxpayers slugged $180,000 for ‘research’ by Daniel Andrews’ political strategist

Victorian taxpayers were billed $180,000 by Premier Daniel Andrews’ political strategist in the space of just four months.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews: NCA NewsWire / Valeriu Campan

Victorian taxpayers were billed $180,000 by Premier Daniel Andrews’ political strategist in the space of just four months for conducting ‘‘additional’’ research on pandemic-related issues.

QDOS Research documents released to The Australian under freedom of information laws reveal that between October 2020 and March 2021 the firm invoiced the government four times.

Charges for $83,000, $48,000, $24,000, and $25,000 were sent to the Department of Premier and Cabinet as the government repeatedly received public surveys from the Labor-aligned political consultancy.

The QDOS invoices suggest these payments totalling $180,000 were in addition to the $1.1m taxpayer-funded contract handed to the firm by the DPC without a competitive tender in December 2019.

Overall, the firm run by John Armitage – who first worked with Mr Andrews in the early 2000s when the Premier was an assistant secretary of the Victorian ALP – has pocketed more than $2m from taxpayers since it was awarded its first government contract in 2016 after a competitive tender process.

Mr Andrews’ office failed to respond to a direct question from The Australian, asking if the $180,000 was paid on top of the existing seven-figure contract handed to QDOS. Mr Armitage also failed to respond to questions about the payments.

QDOS’s 2019 contract expired in October 2022, and the Premier’s office failed to respond to questions relating to whether a new taxpayer-funded deal had been handed to the firm since the Andrews government was re-elected four months ago. According to the QDOS documents, the $83,000 invoice related to work described as ‘‘Jobs Victoria focus groups’’ and ‘‘Jobs Victoria interviews’’. While the invoice carries the date February 2020, the documents suggest the invoice was for work carried out in early 2021.

A DPC email dated January 28, 2021, to QDOS’s John Armitage and Sue Loukomitis commissions the firm to conduct research related to a new government ‘‘jobs and employment’’ program.

While the email states that the firm’s research would be ‘‘commssioned under the existing contract between QDOS and DPC’’ the $83,000 invoice suggests that extra taxpayer-funded payments were, in fact, made.

The QDOS survey.

‘‘Timelines as usual, are tight, and we are hoping for a response from QDOS this Monday ... we are looking for a brief summary of key insights that you and John may be able to contribute based on research conducted for the DPC in 2020,’’ the email states.

‘‘This will assist with understanding the mood of the community and refining the research approach.’’

The other payments to QDOS were to cover focus groups in Footscray and Pakenham and for another research project that has been redacted but involved QDOS being in the ‘‘field’’ researching between Febuary 26 and March 8.

The $48,000 payment was for ‘’additional focus groups’’ in October 2020, just as Melbourne was beginning to emerge from its 112-day lockdown.

QDOS Research, the documents released under FoI show, conducted focus groups across most geographic regions in metropolitan and regional Victoria during its pandemic surveys throughout 2020 and 2021.

Scores of online surveys were also conducted, many on a daily basis.