In February 2017,Mr Pham also designed a flyer for a Deakin 200 Club fundraiser for Mr Sukkar at Bar Humbug in Melbourne's CBD in April that year.
The emails also reveal the involvement of Mr Pham and Mr Sukkar's office in a behind-the-scenes plan to create political smear sheets.
Files obtained byThe Age andHerald show that at the request of Mr Sukkar's office in early February 2017,Mr Pham created two flyers designed to smear conservative state Liberal MP Gary Blackwood by falsely claiming he was aligned to"socially progressive voters". The fake flyer also pictured Mr Blackwood with moderate state Liberal leader Matthew Guy.
A political pamphlet designed by Mr Pham at Mr Sukkar's office's request.
The second flyer designed by Mr Pham and sent to Mr Sukkar's office was intended to aid an attempt to get Ms Bastiaan (then using her unmarried name,Stephanie Ross) into Mr Blackwood's state seat of Narracan. In what is supposed to appear as an attack but is actually intended as an endorsement,it describes her as"Christian,pro-life,anti-euthanasia,anti-safe schools,anti-LGBTIQ and anti-marriage equality". The flyers were never distributed,said one source.
In a statement,Ms Bastiaan said"the material was not created,authorised or used by me. The posturing and subject matter is vulgar and inaccurate."
Mr Sukkar did not respond to questions about whether his office directed Mr Pham to design material for Deakin 200 Club fundraisers or any smear sheets.
A political pamphlet designed to promote Stephanie Ross as Christian by pretending to decry her beliefs.
In late 2016,Mr Pham was used by Mr Sukkar's office to design his Christmas card.
"I've locked in time with Michael on Saturday afternoon for a new photo and I'll have the first concept to you Monday morning,"Mr Pham wrote to Mr Sukkar's office in November 2016.
Questioned as to why he was hired by Mr Sukkar,Mr Pham said:"I think I'd rather you speak straight to Michael about that."Asked how often he was paid by Mr Sukkar's office,he declined to answer,referring the questions to Mr Sukkar.
"At this point I am not interested in adding to this story,I think it is just a beat up."
Questioned why he had helped design dirt files for Mr Sukkar's office targeting another Liberal,Mr Pham said:"I actually don't know the details of what you are talking about."
Mr Sukkar at Mr Pham's wedding.
The Parliamentary Business Resources Bill requires MPs to be"personally responsible and accountable for their use of public resources for conducting their parliamentary business"and"prepared to justify publicly their use of public resources for conducting their parliamentary business".
In a statement,Mr Sukkar said that"Mr Pham was … engaged as a casual Electorate Officer in the Deakin Electorate Office,between May 2014 and September 2017,given his skill set and performance."
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"Mr Pham's primary responsibility was to design and oversee the production of newsletters,brochures and other communication collateral sent to constituents. During this period,Mr Pham was engaged sporadically depending upon the constituent communication workload,"Mr Sukkar's statement said.
Mr Pham's LinkedIn account shows that he has worked full time for the online real estate advertising company REA Group since July 2015 as a designer and later manager of consumer products,a role he currently holds.
On Monday night,the party's powerful administrative committee met for a specially-convened meeting to address evidence of alleged impropriety published by this masthead.
Party president Robert Clark chaired the meeting in which members agreed to an audit of all members signed up in the past five years as part of a wide-ranging investigation. The committee voted to summon several staffers and recruiters at a future meeting to explain their actions. The procedure could lead to their suspension or expulsion.
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The Age andHerald have also uncovered the role of Mr Sukkar's office in facilitating the printing of campaign material for Liberal-aligned local councillors in Victoria in 2016. Taxpayer resources are not meant to be used by MPs to pay for the political campaigns of other candidates. While it is unclear if this was done by Mr Sukkar's office,it appears it had at least some role facilitating the campaigns of local Liberal council candidates in 2016.
Maroondah councillor and Liberal figure Nora Lamont said she had not paid for a printer to produce her campaign materials for the 2016 council election,but rather had paid Mr Sukkar's office. She said his office had separately paid for the printing and that she had later reimbursed the office.
"I paid Michael Sukkar's office for my own material,"she said when asked why she paid a political office for printing rather than directly engaging a printing company. Ms Lamont said she had an invoice outlining the arrangement,but did not supply it by time of publication.
Local Liberal councillor Kylie Speers said that"for one"election,Mr Sukkar's office arranged for her printed campaign material.
"There was a facilitation[by Mr Sukkar's office],"Ms Speers said,before saying that she was"really not sure"about who paid for her printing.
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