Daniel Andrews must answer police Red Shirts queries, Coalition insists

The Victorian Coalition has urged the Premier to front Victoria Police for questioning over the so called ‘Red Shirts rorts’.

Premier Daniel Andrews. Picture: Alison Wynd

The Victorian Coalition has urged Premier Daniel Andrews to front Victoria Police for questioning over the misuse of MPs’ staff ­allowances during the November 2014 election, after revelations that police have approached government MPs and ministers for ­questioning.

Mr Andrews yesterday declined to comment on reports that fraud squad investigators had approached Labor MPs and ministers for questioning over their role in the “Red Shirts” rorts in 2014 which used staff allowances to pay campaigners’ salaries.

A livid Coalition said Mr Andrews should present to the police for questioning, arguing that Victorians voting in the November poll deserved to know how much the Premier knew about the dodgy scheme.

“Daniel Andrews is making a lot of big promises in this election campaign, so it’s important Victorians know if they can trust him before they cast their vote,” opposition legal affairs spokesman John Pesutto said.

“The Premier declined to be interviewed by the Ombudsman and instead threw (former treasurer) John Lenders under the bus. He then avoided scrutiny by refusing to appear at a parliamentary inquiry into Labor’s rorting of $388,000 of taxpayers’ money.

“It’s now time for Daniel Andrews to go in for police questioning and provide a statement under oath about what he knew and when he knew it.”

The Andrews government has been dogged for more than three years by the scandal, which is named for the distinctive red T-shirts its campaigners wore during the 2014 election campaign.

Under the rort, some campaigners’ salaries were partially paid out of MPs’ staff allowances in a practice that was found to break parliamentary rules, which stipulate that parliamentary funds cannot be used for party political purposes.

At a public housing announcement in Collingwood yesterday, Mr Andrews refused to comment on how many ministers and MPs had been contacted, or whether members of his government would co-operate with police.

“As this is an ongoing matter, I’m unable to provide any commentary at all,” he said.

A spokesman for Victoria Police was similarly tight-lipped when approached by The Australian for information. “The investigation is ongoing and it’s inappropriate to comment,” the spokesman said.

The scaling-up of the police ­investigation comes at a critical time for the Andrews government and the Victorian Coalition, both of which are ramping up their campaigns ahead of the November 24 state election.

News of the latest round of police questioning comes just two months after Victoria Police fraud and extortion squad investigators conducted dawn raids on more than a dozen current and former Labor members and staffers who worked as campaigners during the 2014 election.

The police investigation into the rort is understood to be focusing on timesheets used in the scheme and whether MPs and ministers knowingly filled them out incorrectly.

Victorian Labor has tried to spruik its infrastructure pipeline and big handouts to inner-city areas in the run-up to the election.

Meanwhile, the Coalition is ramping up a negative campaign taking direct aim at integrity issues within the government, with the Red Shirts debacle front and centre.