Liberal powerbroker faces expulsion threat

Former federal Liberal vice-president Karina Okotel is among five Victorians facing potential expulsion from the party.

Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar is tipped to be cleared of wrongdoing by the investigation. Picture: Getty Images

Former federal Liberal vice-president Karina Okotel is among five Victorians facing potential expulsion from the party in the wake of an internal investigation.

Ms Okotel and her brother Joshua Bonney will face the party’s administrative committee next week to explain their involvement in a rift that split the organisation.

A further three people, one connected with the Okotel forces, are also expected to face the committee with a range of penalties possible, including expulsion.

A report by KordaMentha will lead to major reform of the organisational structures and was initiated after a series of allegations about branch stacking, accessing party membership databases and penning dirt sheets.

Liberal member for Menzies Kevin Andrews. Picture: AAP

Sources familiar with the meeting said there were no major findings against Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar, former minister Kevin Andrews and former powerbroker Marcus Bastiaan.

The report has recommended that some significant reforms should take place in light of some practices raised during the investigation.

“This will rock the entire organisation,” a senior Liberal said on Thursday night.

Ms Okotel controls about 10 per cent of the Victorian Liberal Party and her vote is crucial to who runs the organisation.

She supports party president Robert Clark, who recently alluded to a series of issues that would require “far-reaching remedial ­action” in a letter to members on November 27.

Issues included members shifting between federal Electorate Conferences after joining — which is legal under current rules — and potentially improper ­accessing of party membership records.

Mr Clark said there had been instances where multiple memberships appeared to have been paid for by credit cards that did not belong to the new members.

Mr Sukkar and Mr Andrews co-operated with the investigation. Party sources also said Ms Okotel had co-operated with KordaMentha.

Ms Okotel penned a dirt sheet in 2018 that covered details of state MPs’ private lives, fuelling ­demands she be expelled from the party. Ms Okotel has privately ­admitted writing the document.

Karina Okotel. Picture: Kym Smith

Ms Okotel’s brother, Mr Bonney, is a former staffer to Mr ­Sukkar.

The Australian reported in ­August that concerns had emerged about alleged improper accessing of party membership ­details.

The KordaMentha report was sparked by two issues: Ms Okotel’s internal strategy documents and broad allegations of branch stacking by forces linked to Mr ­Bastiaan.

The Finance Department revealed in October that it had cleared Mr Sukkar and Mr ­Andrews of wrongly using taxpayer-funded staff for party political purposes after factional opponents tried to destroy their careers.

The review examined office records and investigated the ­employment arrangements in both offices but found no wrongdoing.

The results of the KordaMentha report have been held tightly in large part to prevent factional misreporting of the results.

Marcus Bastiaan

The report has cost the Liberal Party an estimated $100,000 and involved hundreds of hours of interviews and analysis of the organisation’s records and ­systems.

A senior party figure earlier on Thursday said it would be judged on the volume of people struck off membership lists.

There are an estimated 12,000 Liberal members in Victoria.

“If it’s just a small number of rogue memberships, then it will be a farce,” a senior party figure said. “We need to be focusing on winning elections.”

Mr Clark was elected on the back of a “healing agenda” but has fallen out with some senior federal Victorian MPs over preselections and support for Ms Okotel.

The infighting escalated when recordings, emails and documents obtained by the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes raised a series of questions about the role and influence of Mr Bastiaan.