Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian resigned because she was named as a “person of interest” in a corruption investigation. She hadn’t actually been accused of anything, specifically, much less found guilty of anything other than having a secret affair with a corrupt politician. Legal advice from a top barrister was that she was not required to vacate her position. Yet she did.
Another state premier is not just a “person of interest”, but the key focus of another corruption investigation. Don’t expect him to live up to the same standard as Berejiklian, though.
Premier Daniel Andrews has been a key focus of an anti-corruption investigation into the relationship between the United Firefighters Union and the Victorian government.
At the heart of the investigation is Andrews’s deal with the city-based UFU during the 2014 Victorian election. In return for heavyweight campaigning by the militant union, Andrews gave them a deal to take over the state’s rural-based Country Fire Association.
The Australian has spoken to figures within the Victorian ALP and multiple sources familiar with the IBAC investigation – known as Operation Richmond – who believe Mr Andrews’ dealings with UFU chief Peter Marshall have been scrutinised as part of the probe.
The Victorian opposition on Wednesday called for Mr Andrews to step down, with shadow attorney-general Tim Smith drawing parallels between Mr Andrews and NSW Premier Gladys Berijiklian […]
“The premier of Victoria is under investigation by our anti-corruption commission IBAC, why hasn’t the premier stood down?”.
Because he’s not known as “Dictator Dan” for nothing.
The IBAC investigation has been running for more than two years, and the headquarters of the Peter Marshall-run UFU has been visited by officers from the anti-corruption watchdog. Several individuals with knowledge of dealings between the union and the government have been questioned in confidential legal hearings, The Australian has been told.
It emerged in July 2019 that IBAC had quietly opened an investigation – which has been referred to as Operation Richmond – into Victoria’s fire services in the wake of the 2016 crisis over the Andrews government’s controversial plan to strip powers from the volunteer Country Fire Authority and boost the influence of the UFU.
The deal outraged the rural volunteer firefighters, who led a massive convoy of fire trucks to Parliament House in Melbourne. Andrews revealed his nascent dictator-mentality by sacking not just senior CFA leaders in retaliation, but then-emergency services minister Jane Garrett, who publicly opposed the deal.
Premier Daniel Andrews refused to address repeated questions on Tuesday about the anti-corruption investigation into the fire services overhaul and associated EBA negotiations.
“I would direct you to IBAC if you want to ask them questions about what they’re doing and not doing,” Mr Andrews said.
Asked if he was aware of the investigation, Mr Andrews said: “You would need to speak to IBAC about what they are and aren’t doing. I’m not a commentator on that body. Not now, not ever.”
The Australian
Of course, the biggest difference between IBAC in Victoria and ICAC in NSW is that the latter holds its hearings in public. Also, IBAC’s leadership is peppered with Labor names and appointees: all but one appointed under the Andrews government.
Andrews slithered out of the first inquiry into Victoria’s hotel quarantine fiasco, which found, incredulously, that no one was to blame for the decisions which led to the disaster. So don’t hold your breath for another inquiry to be anything other than a gentle slap with a damp lettuce leaf.
And don’t bet on Andrews going anywhere.
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