The meeting – chaired by President Robert Clark and attended by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg – voted to summon several operatives,including a staffer and a recruiter,named in this masthead's reporting. The committee requested them to explain their actions at a future meeting,a procedure that could lead to their suspension or expulsion.
At Monday night's meeting,officials loyal to Mr Bastiaan did not vote for a five-year audit and advocated a shorter timeframe of one or two years. Former president Michael Kroger did not vote for the motion that included the five-year audit because it did not call for an investigation into the source of memos,phone recordings and emails leaked toThe Age,Sydney Morning Herald and60 Minutes.
Earlier on Monday,Marcus Bastiaan,the controversial conservative firebrand who attempted to reshape the Victorian Liberal Party for the better part of the past decade,resigned from the party.
His resignation from the party of which he was once the state vice-president came afterThe Age,The Sydney Morning Herald and60 Minutes reported details of a scheme hatched by the 30-year-old to use taxpayer-funded parliamentary staff to engage in factional work.
Mr Bastiaan's plan was endorsed by Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar. Both Mr Sukkar and the other federal Liberal MP implicated in the operation,Kevin Andrews,denied wrongdoing and referred the matters to the Department of Finance for investigation.