By Parker McKenzie
After a scathing IBAC report into the integrity and ethical conduct of members of parliament and their staff, the State Government has announced it will take on board all 21 recommendations by June 2024.
Operations Watts was an investigation by IBAC and the Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass into “allegations that some members of parliament were misusing public funds to pursue the interests” of factions within the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party.
Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Wednesday 20 July —the same day the IBAC findings were released — his government would adopt and implement all the recommendations made.
“Victorians deserve to have confidence in the political parties and public institutions that serve them,” he said.
“This report and the significant reforms it has driven are absolutely critical. That’s why we’re going to implement all of the IBAC’s recommendations and go beyond them.”
A Parliamentary Ethics Committee composed of an equal number of members from the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council will be established by Parliament to monitor the effectiveness of ethical obligations imposed on MPs, promote and provide training and information about the code of conduct, prepare guidance materials for staff and MPs and review the Statement of Values and Code of Conduct in the Members of Parliament (Standards) Act 1978 every four years.
The Government and Parliament will work together to establish a Parliamentary Integrity Commissioner as an independent officer who will receive and investigate complaints about possible non-criminal breaches of conduct and standards.
MPs will be banned from employing family members in electorate offices and the Code of Conduct will be updated to ensure public resources aren’t used for part-specific purposes by staff by creating an offence for MPs who direct or allow a person to do so.
The 18 other recommendations from the Operation Watts report will also be introduced.
Attorney General Jaclyn Symes said the reforms shouldn’t be driven within one political party and instead they should be law.
“These reforms deserve broad and bipartisan support,” she said.
“We’ll consult and engage with all Members of Parliament from all political parties to deliver the lasting change Victorians expect.”
The State Government also intends to bring in another three changes for all political parties in Victoria.
Firstly, major political parties will be required to meet minimum requirements of administration to qualify for public funding, including party memberships paid by traceable means, mandatory photo ID checks for new members, proof of eligibility to hold a concessional membership and measures to ensure compliance.
The thresholds to qualify for these minimum requirements haven’t yet been established but will apply to parties in the parliamentary system. The State Government said the threshold might be based on the number of MPs, members in their party or the amount of public funding being received while being designed to not disadvantage newly established parties.
Secondly, the Parliamentary Integrity Commissioner will be able to able to examine the behaviour of MPs to provide an avenue for complaints of bullying, harassment and sexual harassment to be investigated.
Finally, employment arrangements for ministerial staff will be made consistent with Commonwealth arrangements which will now set out the structure, terms and conditions of their employment.
Operation Watts was prompted by confidential information received by IBAC in May 2020 “alleging some members of parliament, including some government ministers, were misusing public funds” to pursue the interests of the Moderate Labor faction in Victoria, lead by Upper House MP Adem Somyurek.
IBAC is prohibited from including in a report a finding or opinion that a person is guilty or has committed any criminal or disciplinary offence. The report found factional leaders had “significant influence over the placement of staff as electorate officers or ministerial staff” and “staff were placed under significant pressure to do factional work during office hours.”
The investigation found “the work that some staff were encouraged or pressured to do was related to branch stacking” and was clearly for party purposes instead of electoral or ministerial duties.
The full report, summary and recommendations from Operation Watts can be read at ibac.vic.gov.au/publications-and-resources/article/operation-watts-special-report-july-2022
