Victorian Liberal Party involved in ‘rorts’ like red shirts says conservative MP – The Age

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I place you on notice that I will not accept the publication of further false imputations about me.

The McArthur email, as well as other information gathered by an investigation by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald potentially gives Victorias anti-corruption watchdog, the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) jurisdiction to examine the alleged misuse of taxpayer resources in the Liberal Party, expanding a similar investigation already underway into the Adem Somyurek branch-stacking operation in the ALP.

IBAC has been unable to probe allegations aired in August of taxpayer rorting involving Commonwealth public servants in the offices of Mr Sukkar and federal MP Kevin Andrews because it can only investigate state officials and the misuse of state government resources. Both Mr Sukkar and Mr Andrews have denied knowing about the alleged misuse of staffers.

The allegations about Mr Sukkars office and Mr Andrews office were examined by the federal finance department, which, unlike IBAC, cannot compel interviews with witnesses or issue warrants to obtain evidence. The department on Tuesday found there is not a sufficient basis to form a view that there was serious misuse of Commonwealth resources. But the department also revealed it had interviewed no witnesses outside of Mr Sukkar and Mr Andrews.

In the email, which Ms McArthur sent in 2017 to then Victorian Liberal president Michael Kroger and recently disgraced powerbroker Marcus Bastiaan, she asked: Exactly what has [Mr Dalla-Riva] & his taxpayer office been doing since the last state election [in 2014] that would differ from the Labor office rorts we are campaigning on ...?

Ms McArthur is a close ally of Mr Bastiaan and a key member of the conservative faction led by Mr Sukkar and until he quit the party in August Mr Bastiaan.

Richard Dalla-Riva when he was in Victorian State Parliament.Credit:Jason South

The scheme referred to in Ms McArthurs email involves the conduct of Mr Dalla-Riva and his former electorate officers, including Tom Ma and Beau Dreux. The allegations have not been investigated or proven. In the 2017 email, Ms McArthur also urged the Liberal Party to avoid using Mr Dalla-Riva, who stepped down from State Parliament at the 2018 election, as a campaign manager.

Michael we do not need the services of this fellow, she wrote.

In his maiden speech to Parliament, Mr Sukkar thanked Mr Dalla-Riva for acting as his campaign manager during the 2013 election. Mr Dalla-Riva was a state MP from 2002-2018.

The email was leaked to The Age and Herald by a Liberal insider and the concerns it raises have been corroborated by four Liberal party sources with direct knowledge of the campaigns operations and his office staff when they helped Mr Sukkar retain his federal seat of Deakin in 2016.

Liberal MP Bev McArthur.

The sources said that in 2016, Mr Dalla-Riva and his electorate officers Mr Dreux and Mr Ma, worked on Mr Sukkars successful bid to hold his marginal eastern suburbs seat of Deakin.

While a serving MP, Mr Dalla-Riva worked as Mr Sukkars campaign manager, running a sophisticated 12-month field campaign out of a campaign office in Maroondah Highway, Ringwood, opposite the sprawling Eastland shopping centre. The Liberal sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Mr Dalla-Rivas electorate office was often closed as he and his staff worked in the Deakin campaign office.

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The Sukkar campaign focused on winning votes by using digital town hall meetings and the Chinese social media platform WeChat, but the key mission was direct voter calls. The Deakin campaign office made more than 10,000 calls in the final three weeks of the campaign.

Mr Dalla-Riva is now the chair of Mr Sukkars local Deakin party branch. Mr Dalla-Riva hung up the phone when called by The Age and did not respond to text messages and follow up calls. Mr Dreux said to the best of his recollection, he worked as a full time electorate officer for Mr Dalla-Riva in the electorate office and that his work on the Sukkar campaign was as a volunteer.

[There is] nothing to my recollection where I was working on the Sukkar campaign during work hours, he said.

Asked if Mr Dalla-Riva was working during office hours on the Sukkar campaign, Mr Dreux said, It is not my job to answer these questions, because I was only a junior staffer.

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Mr Ma said he only worked 10 hours a week for Mr Dalla-Riva and that his work for Mr Sukkar was as a volunteer.

The allegations that Mr Sukkars faction was involved in branch stacking and misusing office staff were aired in August by The Age, the Herald and 60 Minutes. The evidence included a secret recording in which disgraced factional operative Marcus Bastiaan rubbished the rules disallowing taxpayer-funded staff doing party campaign work.

"Who gives a shit we are trying to win a f---ing seat mate, he said. It sparked an ongoing branch stacking investigation by the Liberal Party and the resignations from the party of Mr Bastiaan and other factional operatives.

Nick McKenzie is an investigative reporter for The Age. He's won nine Walkley awards and covers politics, business, foreign affairs and defence, human rights issues, the criminal justice system and social affairs.

Paul is a reporter for The Age.

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Victorian Liberal Party involved in 'rorts' like red shirts says conservative MP - The Age