Victorian public servants found to have hacked fire chiefs’ emails to help union boss Peter Marshall

The Victorian government has distanced itself from the controversial firefighters’ union after the state’s anti-corruption watchdog found emails of fire chiefs were hacked five times and the hackers were public servants ‘motivated to misuse’ the information.

United Firefighters Union Victorian secretary Peter Marshall. Picture: Aaron Francis

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The Victorian government has distanced itself from the controversial firefighters’ union after the state’s anti-corruption watchdog found emails of fire chiefs were hacked five times and the hackers were public servants “motivated to misuse” the information.

This misuse was to “to further the interests” of the firefighters’ union and its state secretary, Peter Marshall, IBAC found.

Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said: “All workers are entitled to union representation, but they are not expected to respond to requests to do things that they shouldn’t do.

“Being asked to do something that is inappropriate, adverse to you as an individual, adverse to the organisation you work for, is not behaviour that should be stood for.”

Ms Symes and Fire Rescue Victoria commissioner Gavin Freeman declined to comment on whether they had confidence in Mr Marshall as the union’s state secretary, stating that the leadership of the United Firefighters Union was a matter for its members.

A report tabled in parliament on Wednesday lifted the lid on a marathon inquiry by IBAC – codenamed Operation Turton – into the hacking of internal communications at the then-Metropolitan Fire Brigade.

In a foreword to the report, IBAC commissioner Victoria ­Elliott said IBAC identified five incidents where MFB information was accessed or disclosed without authorisation, with three involving public servants from MFB’s Information and Communications Services business area. “In incidents that IBAC identified, individuals involved were motivated to misuse MFB information to further the interests of the Victorian branch of the United Firefighters Union or its secretary, Peter Marshall,’’ she said.

“In addition to accessing other employees’ email accounts, IBAC found individuals shared sensitive MFB information directly with the UFU without permission. IBAC’s investigation also found that Mr Marshall sought assistance from employees to inappropriately gather sensitive information on internal investigations related to him, executive contracts and another confidential organisational matter. Operation Turton highlights how information misuse can ­enable misconduct and can be used to advance personal and ­industrial interests.”

IBAC launched the inquiry after MFB managers became suspicious ­that their emails and other communications were being hacked.

Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes. Picture: NewsWire / Nicki Connolly

Fire Rescue Victoria commissioner Gavin Freeman.

The Australian has previously reported that figures familiar with the inquiry believed that MFB chiefs suspected the email system was compromised in order to ­access documents linked to a planned overhaul of the service that was likely to lead to the relocation of fire stations. MFB is now known as the FRV.

Their concerns about the ­security of the email system were triggered early in 2019 when a Power­Point presentation detailing the proposed use of fire ­incident response simulation software was leaked to the government prior to its presentation by fire chiefs.

The software maps incident types, response standards and targets for each incident type, appliances that go to each incident, location of fire stations, the number and type of appliances at each fire station, travel times and rostering patterns.

The PowerPoint presentation, dated March 6, 2019, detailed the services a UK-based software firm, Process Evolution, would provide to help implement a sweeping overhaul mapped out in a risk management report commissioned by then chief officer Dan Stephens.

In 2021, The Australian quoted a source with knowledge of the inquiry as saying: “How did (the government) get it because it hadn’t been sent to them? They (MFB management) all believed that their emails were being ­intercepted.”

Mr Marshall in front of the Victorian parliament in Melbourne in September 2023. Picture: NewsWire / Valeriu Campan

A second IBAC probe relating to the fire services – codenamed Operation Richmond – is continuing under tight secrecy. The inquiry is focused on the 2016 EBA negotiations between the Andrews government and the United Firefighters Union.

The EBA negotiations erupted into a full-blown political scandal after it emerged then premier Daniel Andrews sidelined his ­emergency services minister, Jane Garrett, to lead the talks, ­including personally meeting with Mr Marshall.

Mr Andrews and IBAC have refused to confirm or deny that he was privately examined as part of Operation Richmond, but The Australian has confirmed that witnesses were questioned about his conduct in the EBA ­negotiations.

Mr Marshall on Wednesday accused IBAC of waging a four-year “witch hunt” and spending millions of taxpayer dollars on a “miscarriage of justice” that ultimately made no findings of corruption against him or the union.

Mr Marshall called for an investigation into IBAC, alleging its probe was a “work of fiction” characterised by a “misuse of power, leaking of private and confidential information, and total abandonment of proper legal process”.

Firefighters march to the Victorian parliament in September 2023. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Valeriu Campan

He said the IBAC probe used “deeply intrusive practices” such as extended phone tapping of all phone conversations, not limited to those that were work-related, physical surveillance, raids, the seizing of property including personal items and legally privileged documents and coercive hearings. In its 40-page report, IBAC laid much of the responsibility for the hacking on a desire by staff to help Mr Marshall and the UFU.

“Operation Turton highlights how information misuse can enable misconduct and can be used to advance personal and industrial interests,” the report states.

“It appears these incidents were largely driven by a desire to further the interests of the Victorian branch of the United Firefighters Union (UFU) or its secretary, Peter Marshall.

“It was clear these incidents were facilitated by a workplace culture where employees did not trust management and did not believe them to be acting in the best interests of the organisation or its employees. In relation to these specific incidents, IBAC heard evidence that some employees were sharing MFB information directly with the union without authority or the awareness of MFB management.

“One factor in the unauthorised disclosures to the union was some employees’ belief that eventually the union would be able to access this information through legitimate means.”

The IBAC report found that in May 2019, Mr Marshall disclosed an MFB document to emergency services minister Lisa Neville “without authority”. “Mr Marshall had received this document as a result of an unknown MFB employee disclosing it without authority,” the report states.

“According to the CEO’s evidence, they attended a meeting with the, insister and then MFB board president on 14 March 2019. During this meeting, the minister presented the CEO with a printed copy of the document, and asked why the software was being considered.

“The CEO told IBAC how, following their explanation to the minister regarding the software, she said, ‘You can’t have it’. The CEO’s evidence was that they believed Mr Marshall had influenced the minister before her meeting with the CEO with the intention of stopping MFB purchasing the software.”