Victorian IBAC’s Operation Sandon report faces new delays

Just days before the expected release of its Operation Sandon report, IBAC has been hit a new legal hurdle.

Former Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon meeting with developer John Woodman in 2018.

Millionaire property developer John Woodman has launched an eleventh-hour legal bid to block next week’s release of IBAC’s ­Operation Sandon corruption ­report.

Mr Woodman – the prime target of the probe into allegedly corrupt property deals involving Casey councillors – has applied to the Victorian Court of Appeal to halt release of the 300-page report. The application to seek leave to appeal is listed to be heard by the Court of Appeal on Monday, two days before the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Com­mission is due to table its findings into the five-year inquiry that saw Premier Daniel Andrews grilled in secret.

If the court grants leave to appeal an earlier Supreme Court ruling dismissing Mr Woodman’s bid for an injunction, release of the report could be delayed by months.

Even if the Court of Appeal finds against Mr Woodman, it is understood the developer, whom IBAC alleges made political donations and payments to Casey councillors in return for favourable planning decisions, could mount an action in the High Court to further delay the report.

Operation Sandon has been shrouded in controversy for multiple reasons: the length of the inquiry; the suicide of a key witness after her public examination; and a decision to cross-examine Mr Andrews over his dealings with Mr Woodman in private rather than in public.

In his private examination, according to a draft copy of the Operation Sandon report seen by The Australian, Mr Andrews changed evidence as to whether he had been given Mr Woodman’s mobile phone number.

“Initially Mr Andrews accepted (a Labor-aligned lobbyist) may have provided him with Mr Woodman’s phone number but when it was suggested this may have indicated he wished to apologise to Mr Woodman, he said it was highly unlikely he requested or was given Mr Woodman’s number,” the draft report states.

Former Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon took her life in January 2022, three days after IBAC sent her its draft report into Operation Sandon. She had been examined publicly in March 2021, and friends say she was left traumatised and was paranoid about the prospect of being sent to jail.

A Victorian coroner investigated the former mayor’s suicide and linked her death to the long-running IBAC probe, finding the agency failed for almost two years to tell her she was in the clear in a delay that exacerbated her mental health trauma.

Coroner David Ryan noted “it is clear that Ms Stapledon’s mental health had suffered during the course of her prolonged involvement in Operation Sandon”.

‘‘She was concerned about being referred for prosecution and the impact that criminal proceedings may have on her financial stability and the future wellbeing of her son,” the coroner found. “It is likely her stress and anxiety would have been appreciably alleviated had she been informed that … IBAC was not contemplating and did not intend to bring criminal proceedings against her or refer her to any prosecutorial body.’’

IBAC examined Mr Woodman for six days in public hearings in November 2019 that he has claimed in legal papers was conducted in breach of its legislation and which caused him ‘‘unreasonable damage’’.

If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, call: Lifeline: 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au; or Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 or beyondblue.org.au