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Monday, December 23, 2024

Scandals involving the Daniel Andrews Government

Governments under Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews have been peppered with scandals and allegations of wrongdoing during two terms in office.

ADEM SOMYUREK BULLYING

* In May 2015, small business, innovation and trade minister Adem Somyurek was stood down from cabinet after his then chief of staff Dimity Paul accused him of bullying, which he denied

* He resigned in July 2015 after an investigation by the secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet

PATCH AND TED

* In November 2016, training and skills minister Steve Herbert resigned for using his taxpayer-funded driver to chauffeur his two dogs, Patch and Ted, between his Melbourne and Trentham homes

* Mr Herbert told parliament he had organised for his dogs to be driven without him, but didn’t know how many times because the trips weren’t logged

* He paid back $192.80 in travel expenses for the trips and donated $1000 to a Woodend animal shelter, before leaving parliament in 2017

SECOND HOME ALLOWANCE

* In 2017, former Speaker Telmo Languiller and his deputy Don Nardella were involved in rorting an allowance for country members, prompting their resignations

* The scandal resulted in the creation of a tribunal meant to take pay issues out of the control of MPs

* In April 2019, former Victorian assistant treasurer Robin Scott paid back $60,000 in second-home allowances he unknowingly received between 2014 and 2016

RED SHIRTS

* Labor misused $388,000 in parliamentary allowances to pay political campaign staff during the 2014 election

* About 21 past and present Labor MPs breached parliamentary guidelines when staff were diverted to help campaign for members

* The rort was subject to ombudsman and police investigations spanning more than 12 months and no criminal charges were laid

PRINTING CASH FOR STACKS

* Upper house MP Khalil Eideh’s electoral office was accused of misusing printing allowances to fund party branch stacking in 2017

* A parliamentary-wide audit found questionable invoices, which were referred to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, and his office was later shut

* He resigned as deputy president in October 2017 and retired at the 2018 election

* IBAC charged four people, including father and son Justin and Umberto Mammarella, whose matters were finalised in 2022

JANE GARRETT AND THE CFA

* Former emergency services minister Jane Garrett quit cabinet rather than signing off on a controversial firefighters’ union pay deal that sparked the premier’s intervention in 2016

* She then lost her preselection bid for the state’s upper house after deciding to leave the marginal seat of Brunswick at the 2018 state election

* She went on to serve Eastern Victoria in the Legislative Council for nearly four years before her death in July 2022 from breast cancer aged 49

MODERATE FACTION BRANCH STACKING

* In 2020, Mr Somyurek was accused of handing over cash and using parliamentary employees to create fake members to amass political power

* He was the first of four ministers to lose their portfolios, with Robin Scott and Marlene Kairouz stepping down, then a year later Luke Donnellan

* A joint ombudsman and IBAC inquiry made adverse findings against Mr Somyurek and Ms Kairouz, but neither faced criminal charges

* Mr Andrews apologised for the “disgraceful” behaviour and promised to implement all 21 recommendations of the Operation Watts report, plus additional legislative reforms for all parties

COMMONWEALTH GAMES

* In February 2022 Victoria made an exclusive bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games in regional centres and was announced as the host in April that year

* From May 2023 the Victorian government called for expressions of interest for contracts to upgrade and build facilities ahead of the games

* But come July 2023, Mr Andrews announced Victoria would no longer host the games, with the premier saying it was clear the cost would exceed $6 billion

* A Victorian parliamentary inquiry is examining the cancellation of the Games and the state agreed to pay Commonwealth Games bodies $380m in compensation after dumping the event

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