Victorian public servant Peter Lochert denies ‘Red Shirts workshop’ claim

A senior public servant has denied helping Labor “workshop” ways to get the ‘Red Shirts’ funding scheme approved.

Victorian Department of Parliamentary Services secretary Peter Lochert. Picture: Ian Currie

A senior Victorian public servant has denied helping Labor “workshop” ways to get the ‘Red Shirts’ election funding scheme approved by parliamentary officials.

Victorian Department of Parliamentary Services Secretary Peter Lochert appeared before the parliament’s Privileges Committee this morning, to give evidence on Victorian Labor’s so-called Red Shirts rorting scheme, which is now being investigated by state police.

The inquiry heard last month from former Treasurer John Lenders, who described how he had asked Mr Lochert and other parliamentary officials for advice on how to set up the controversial staffing arrangement that eventually became the Red Shirts scheme.

Labor have been scrutinised for the ‘Red Shirts’ scheme. Picture: Andrew Tauber

Mr Lenders told the committee he had “workshopped” how to expand Labor’s long-established staff pooling arrangements with Mr Lochert, before he eventually worked out a way to increase staffing by using the communications budget.

But Mr Lochert told the committee today he “wouldn’t agree” with Mr Lenders assertion they had workshopped the idea, saying that in any meeting Mr Lenders had been consistently told electoral staff were banned from any political or campaigning work.

“I note both the Ombudsman’s report and the witness contribution regarding advice given in relation to the pooling and casual electoral officer employment,” Mr Lochert said.

“While I do not recollect the specific meeting with Mr Lenders on the subject, I accept his evidence given to the Ombudsman as it is consistent with the advice he had been given by the department to all queries on the subject of pooling and on the prohibition of electoral officers to do party political or electioneering work.”

When pressed on whether he had “workshopped” the arrangement with Mr Lenders, Mr Lochert reiterated he didn’t remember meeting with Mr Lenders, but said he would have been more likely to remember the meeting if the pair had in fact workshopped ideas.

“I would suggest that if there had been a workshop then I probably would have a better chance of remembering it,” Mr Lochert said.

Victoria’s upper house Privileges Committee is continuing its probe into Victorian Labor’s so-called ‘Red Shirts’ rort, at the same time Victoria Police’s fraud and investigation squad is also conducting a criminal investigation into the matter.

Peter Lochert, appearing before a Legislative Council Privileges Committee heading into allegations of misuse of parliamentary resources. Picture: Ian Currie

The Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass found in May the party had misused almost $400,000 in taxpayer funds through the ‘Red Shirts’ scheme, which used MPs’ staff allowances to pay campaigners named ‘Red Shirts’ ahead of the November 2014 election.

Former Treasurer John Lenders has been billed as the architect behind the scheme, and told the committee last month how he had believed the scheme was operating within parliamentary guidelines because parliament kept paying the bills.

“I believed I was working within an acceptable framework,” Mr Lenders said.

“It was a fraught option in a highly charged environment of an election.”

Mr Lenders admitted that he never openly told Parliamentary Services what he wanted the extra staff for.

“When I went to parliamentary services I wasn’t going to tell them exactly what they (the staff) were going to do,” Mr Lenders said.

“You’ve got to try it on and if (parliamentary services) pay, you know it’s met their ultimate test.”