Victorian Parliamentarians across the political divide were emboldened by the Victorian Ombudsman’s investigation into the red shirts scandal because the matter was not referred to the IBAC and no charges were laid,IBAC has heard.
Former Victorian government minister Adem Somyurek gave evidence in a corruption commission hearing today after he was accused of overseeing an industrial-scale branch stacking operation.
Counsel assisting,Chris Carr,said lawyers for the corruption watchdog had requested documents from the Labor Party but had been rebuffed.
The head of the firefighters’ union raised the alarm in 2018 about fundraising events that he suspected may have been used improperly to pay for stacking Labor branches.
The mayor also admitted spending $15,000 of his own money on branch stacking in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
More allegations against disgraced former Labor MP Adem Somyurek have emerged on day three of the IBAC hearing into “premeditated systemic rorting of taxpayer resources”.
Former Labor minister Adem Somyurek berated an ex-staffer for refusing to become the “right-hand woman” of union boss John Setka,an IBAC hearing has heard.
If Labor is a party of great haters,as the saying goes,then the Victorian branch leads the way.
The merits of hauling high-profile figures before the commission will probably be a matter of debate inside IBAC and among the public,who would hope IBAC grillings are reserved for serious misconduct in public office.
The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission grilled Anthony Byrne on the first day of public hearings probing the misuse of taxpayer-funded staff and grants in which the veteran Labor MP admitted his own involvement in branch stacking and paying for memberships
Just four hours into the first day of five weeks of hearings,Luke Donnellan phoned the Premier to resign from cabinet following allegations he contributed to a branch-staking “kitty”.