‘Preference whisperer’ told minor parties to keep voting rules if he won them a seat

Political parties elected with help from “preference whisperer” Glenn Druery were asked to vote against reforms to Victoria’s contentious group voting system in return for his support, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.

The allegations were made by Christopher Burson and Heston Russell, who blew the whistle on Druery last year with a leaked video that showed he approached their Angry Victorians party about signing up to his “cash-for-seats” business.

Glenn Druery, the so-called preference whisperer.Credit: Andrew Meares

Both men spoke on Monday at the state’s electoral matters committee, which is probing the conduct of the 2022 state election. It is also examining whether Victoria’s group voting ticket system should be changed.

Under the current rules, Victorians voting for upper house MPs can number a single box above the line on their ballot, and the politicians who receive these votes nominate where the preferences from them will flow.

Druery has risen to fame over the past decade for his work across Australian jurisdictions setting up an alliance of minor parties who direct their preferences towards each other and boost their chances of success. In some cases, this allowed candidates who received less than 1 per cent of the primary vote to be elected into parliament. Victoria is the last state to use this system.

Burson and Russell sparked fresh calls for reform during the 2022 state election when they released a video to the Herald Sun showing Druery approached them to be part of his “family”. This included seeking a commitment to pay $55,000 over time if elected, which could come through taking him on as an adviser or consultant.

Former Special Forces commander Heston Russell.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Russell, a former soldier, told the inquiry there had also been a requirement that they vote against changing the system, which Druery relied on, if reforms ever came before parliament.

“The two conditions were obviously the payment piece, and then should there ever be a vote against the group voting ticket, that you would never vote to change it,” he said.

“In that video, he says that his primary focus is to support a Labor government getting in because they are not going to change the group voting ticket.”

Libertarian MP David Limbrick and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP Jeff Bourman have previously worked with Druery. Both men told The Age Druery did not direct them to vote against group ticket voting reform.

In evidence provided to the inquiry after the election, Victorian Labor representatives said the party was supportive of reforms dependent on what the new system would look like.

Burson said the pair had also made a complaint to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission that included their video, but that this had later been referred to the Victorian Electoral Commission after it appeared it would not be investigated.

He said he had been encouraged by Druery and other political parties not to run in western Victoria and instead run in a different upper house region in Melbourne’s north-east.

“I’d love to see that elections were based off debate, ideas and the back and forth that way, not to the rest of it,” Burson said.

“The group voting ticket needs to pretty much be abolished.”

When contacted about the comments made at the inquiry, Druery said he had reached out to help the pair, and accused them of betraying him with “treachery and dishonesty” by recording him without his consent.

“I’ve been working with minor parties now for 25 years with the main goal of developing trust and integrity,” he said.

“Heston Russell and Chris Burson took us back to the bad old days when minor parties were fighting minor parties.”

When the video was first leaked, the state opposition pledged to abolish group voting tickets, while former premier Daniel Andrews said the inquiry held after every state election could look into the issue.

“Let’s have the review and then let’s have a discussion about, in more concrete terms, about what we might do about some of the challenges we face,” he said at the time.

“What’s in the media today, I think it brings this matter into sharper focus.”

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