“There are simply no consequences [when conduct falls] lack of criminality for people who cross the line,” he said.
Glass said parliament needed to create a framework so bad behavior could be punished, even if it fell short of the criminal threshold of corruption. He said it was disappointing it had not happened after he recommended an agency investigation in 2018.
“It’s a matter of parliament recognizing that the issue here is the framework, and the lack of framework, for people who misuse public funds,” he said.
Victoria Police initially decided not to take action after finding no evidence of corruption, but launched a new investigation in 2018 following a petition from the opposition.
Months later, in August 2018, police arrested 17 former field organizers in morning raids three months before state elections.
Glass said the arrests appeared to create a public expectation that members of parliament would also be arrested and a public belief that they must have been treated leniently.
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“But from my point of view, the high-profile arrests of 17 people some four years after the events for which they were being questioned, was a mistake,” he said.
No one was charged and no further arrests were made.
In response to a draft of the report, Victoria Police said investigators had formed a reasonable belief that an indictable offense had been committed. “Five affidavits were prepared to be considered for prosecution as a result of the arrests.”
On Thursday, a Victoria Police spokesman said the force would not apologise. “Victoria Police consider this matter closed and will not be re-investigating,” the spokesman said.
The trustee had to reopen the investigation into the red shirts after the Legislative Council, headed by deposed Labor leader Adem Somyurek and backed by the opposition, referred the scandal for investigation in February.
Adem Somyurek addressed the media at the Victorian Parliament last week. Credit: Paul Jeffers
First Minister Daniel Andrews, who has admitted he knew staff were involved in campaign work when he was opposition leader, was not one of the 23 MPs linked to the red shirt scandal. Glass found no evidence that he had been aware that the scheme was a ruse or had played any role in facilitating it, despite Somyurek’s unsupported claims.
Asked about the ombudsman’s review on Thursday, Andrews said the matter had been well looked into.
David Davis, the opposition upper house leader, said Andrews should be responsible for leading the party during the scheme.
“The only way to clean up the government is to vote them out in November,” Davis said.
“I think it’s a mistake not to hold the Prime Minister to account.”
An independent investigation, Operation Watts, delivered by the ombudsman and the independent broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission last week, described a “catalogue of unethical and inappropriate behaviour” within Victorian labour.
The prime minister, who apologized for the party’s rotten culture, said last week he would seek to establish a parliamentary ethics committee to enforce strengthened codes of conduct in response.