Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog body has discovered “serious” and “extensive” misconduct by Victorian Labor MPs, but has recommended that no criminal charges be brought.
The Victoria Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) held public hearings in October and November 2021 on the misuse of taxpayer funds and community grants in the Victorian branch of the ALP.
The Prime Minister, Daniel Andrews, was among the dozens of witnesses who were also ordered to testify in private about the Labor Party’s cultural shortcomings.
Known as Operation Watts, the joint investigation between IBAC and the Victoria Ombudsman was prompted by an exhibition by The Age and 60 Minutes in 2020, which issued allegations of industrial-scale stacking of branches aimed at former Minister of State Adem Somyurek.
Somyurek was fired from the cabinet following the claims, while his former faction allies Marlene Kairouz, Luke Donnellan and Robin Scott resigned.
The IBAC and the Ombudsman said that although the identified misconduct was considered “Greek, the difficulties in the trial mean that prosecution is not recommended.”
Corruption “deeply detrimental” says the IBAC
The anti-corruption watchdog said the investigation also found no examples of “traditional” corruption, and decision-making was said to be within the “gray” corruption zone that benefited lawmakers’ associates, but not it was criminal conduct.
However, he warned that corruption could have a “profoundly detrimental” effect on public confidence in democracy and its institutions.
The special report has issued 21 recommendations to address current corruption risks, including the fact that the government has established a parliamentary ethics committee and an integrity commissioner.
Party factions use the stacking of branches to recruit members, often paying for their membership, to accumulate internal political power and influence the pre-selection of candidates.
The practice is not illegal, but it goes against the rules of the Labor Party.
In a draft report leaked in April, the IBAC found that there was an unethical culture integrated into the party and that its leaders had accepted it for years.
Somyurek has denied all allegations of stacking branches, but admitted to the 2021 IBAC investigation that he hired faction agents to work at his polling station.