Opposition Leader Matthew Guy addresses the media after the resignation of his chief of staff earlier this month.Credit:Wayne Taylor
The survey was conducted from Wednesday to Sunday last week following the Victorian Liberal Party’s donor scandal,which resulted inGuy’s chief of staff Mitch Catlin resigning after revelations he asked a wealthy Liberal Party donor to make more than $100,000 in payments to his private marketing business.
During the survey period,the news cycle was also dominated by revelations that former prime minister Morrison took on five ministerial portfolios during the pandemic without telling parliament or most of his colleagues.
Reed said his research showed integrity would be a “major focus” for voters at the state election and could affect both the leading parties,with 37 per cent of respondents either undecided or not trusting either side to govern with integrity.
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Last month Premier Daniel Andrews apologised after a report by two of the state’s corruption watchdogs – the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission and the Victorian Ombudsman –revealed widespread misuse of public funds for political purposes and industrial-scale branch stacking by the Victorian Labor Party.
The Operation Watts report,which followed an exposé byThe Age and60 Minutes thatrevealed former minister Adem Somyurek’s branch-stacking operation,said bad behaviour was allowed to flourish inside Labor,including a “catalogue of unethical and inappropriate behaviour and concerning practices”.
Since coming to office,Labor has also been accused of unwarranted secrecy around its COVID-19 decisions and quarantine hotels,and two of its MPs – Telmo Languiller and Don Nardella,the then-speaker and deputy speaker of the Victorian parliament – were forced to resign over their abuse of the controversial second-residence allowance.
Premier Daniel Andrews faces the media after the IBAC investigation.Credit:Paul Jeffers
“Despite all the criticisms of Andrews on that front,the recent donations scandal in Guy’s office means that they are not seen as any better,” Reed toldThe Age.
“In fact,that and Morrison’s integrity issues look to have damaged that aspect of the Liberals’ brand,so voters are judging them quite harshly.”
Strangio said 42 per cent of voters backing Labor to govern with integrity and honesty might be higher than the Coalition but “wasn’t a ringing endorsement” for the Andrews government. He said the results would be “encouraging for the teal or independent candidates”.
Several independent candidates contesting the state election are consulting with Climate 200,the funding vehicle that backed the successful campaigns of several teal independents who ran on climate and integrity issues at May’s federal election.
Credit:Matt Golding
Kew Independents and Hawthorn Independents,both offshoots of the Kooyong campaign that backed Dr Monique Ryan,are expected to announce state election candidates in coming days.
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