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Troubles mount for Victorian Labor leader Daniel Andrews in stolen tapes drama

VICTORIAN Labor leader Daniel Andrews’s strategy of stonewalling over the stolen tapes affair all but collapsed yesterday.

VICTORIAN  Labor leader Daniel Andrews’s strategy of stonewalling over the stolen tapes affair all but collapsed yesterday as his colleagues privately questioned whether his leadership would survive the scandal.

Labor has gambled on the debate over the stolen recordings dying by the end of this week, giving the opposition the chance to repair the damage caused by the controversy.

But a flustered Mr Andrews struggled yesterday to deal with ongoing questions about what his staff knew — and when — about the controversy tearing apart his credibility.

Mr Andrews has denied any involvement of his staff in the distribution of an unauthorised recording of former premier Ted Baillieu made by Fairfax Media.

Yesterday he attempted to stop answering questions about the row, referring reporters to his past on-the-record comments.

But after repeated questioning, Mr Andrews stood by his communications director Lissie Ratcliff amid speculation she was the conduit to the Liberal Party for the allegedly stolen Baillieu interview.

Ms Ratcliff did not respond to a series of questions from The Australian on what role she had in the scandal but a spokesman said: “The opposition staff member referred to had no knowledge of the recording prior to it being emailed out by Liberal Party members. Any assertion to the contrary is wrong.’’

There is no immediate threat to Mr Andrews’s leadership but his cross-factional support has slumped as a result of the ­scandal.

There is persistent speculation Mr Andrews’s office played a bigger role in the affair than has been admitted so far.

Mr Andrews denied his chief of staff, John McLindon, had ­offered to resign over the affair.

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/troubles-mount-for-victorian-labor-leader-daniel-andrews-in-stolen-tapes-drama/news-story/21f6be1f3cd2c0cec615c6a4b1d53d8d