Opposition leader Matthew Guy said the findings showed “a Labor government mired in corruption, cover-ups and political games at the expense of Victorians”.
“[It] he has exposed an inadequate political party to take office, ”he said.
Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy.Credit: Joe Armao
“Victoria needs a prime minister and a government fully focused on ending the health crisis and supporting communities to recover and rebuild.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was questioned about the report on Wednesday morning, but said he had not seen it at the time. He claimed that Labor had been cleaned up after reforms sparked by allegations of stacking branches against Somyurek.
The prime minister said he spoke with Victorian prime minister Daniel Andrews on the phone the night The Age and 60 Minutes revealed allegations against Somyurek and his allies.
The couple agreed to “the strongest possible action” to dissolve the Victorian branch, remove members’ voting rights and make it difficult for members to register incorrectly.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
“I intervened two years ago,” Albanese said, adding that he had witnessed the build-up of branches during his career.
“I’m delighted [with] the work that [former Labor MPs] Jenny [Macklin] and Steve [Bracks] I did it to clean up the branch here in Victoria “.
Albanese insisted that the behavior demonstrated in the report no longer occurred. The dissolution of the Victorian branch also served to diminish the power of Albanese and Andrews’ enemies in the Victorian branch and increase the influence of their allies.
After the publication of the final report, which found that he had led the unethical activities, Somyurek said on social media that he felt “good to be released.”
Adem Somyurek during Operation Watts hearings.
“I thank the useful idiots known as integrity bodies for having the decency not to plant evidence when they couldn’t find anything after wasting millions of dollars in taxpayer funds.”
Although weak laws governing taxpayer-funded staff meant that surveillance agencies did not recommend criminal charges, Ombudsman Deborah Glass argued that Somyurek’s behavior was “atrocious.”
“I would not describe this report as an exoneration,” he said.
Although the report was condemnatory of widespread cultural practices within Labor, it did not draw adverse conclusions against the Prime Minister or any of the other MPs and staff members he appointed, with the exception of Somyurek and Kairouz.
At a news conference Wednesday, Glass and IBAC Commissioner Robert Redlich said control of ethical standards in Victoria’s parliament was weaker than in other states.
Glass said the issues investigated in Operation Watts will not normally be examined by integrity agencies.
He called for a series of reforms to strengthen parliamentary oversight and encouraged the Privileges Committee, a powerful committee of MPs that can punish politicians who misbehave, to assess whether Somyurek should be disciplined.
“These should not be issues of the ombudsman or the IBAC … these should be issues for parliament to deal with ethical standards,” he said.
IBAC Commissioner Robert Redlich said the saddest feature of the investigation was listening to young people aspiring to start a political career, but then “discovered that the only way to achieve that goal was to participate in this unethical factional behavior “.
“These young people start their careers with a distorted moral compass,” he said.
Loading
Victorian Labor President Susie Byers wrote to party members on Wednesday afternoon, saying Labor had taken immediate action when The Age and 60 Minutes issued allegations of stacking branches and that “conclusions would be drawn of Operation Watts very seriously. “
Byers admitted the party’s response had denied members their usual voting rights, saying Labor would soon launch a new membership system.
“Genuine members of the branch have been asked to sacrifice a lot, including the ability to vote in internal labor elections, while the branch is rebuilt,” he said.
Cut the noise of federal politics with Jacqueline Maley’s news, opinions, and expert analysis. Subscribers can subscribe to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.