By Brendan Rees
Embattled federal Labor MP Anthony Byrne whose Cranbourne West office was allegedly used to secretly film his former ally says he’s been “in touch with authorities to offer my full assistance”.
It comes after a stunning report by 60 Minutes and The Age which triggered an alleged branch-stack scandal which led to the dramatic sacking of Victorian Minister Adem Somyurek.
In February, Mr Somyurek said the State Government had accepted a state-appointed municipal monitor’s report to dismiss Casey Council after finding widespread “governance failures” and a bullying culture across the council.
At the time Mr Somyurek said: “Victorians expect and deserve the highest standards of governance and integrity from their local council – the monitor’s report has found clear evidence Casey has fallen short of those standards.”
Mr Somyurek is now accused of allegedly using parliamentary staff and paying thousands for fake memberships as part of the alleged branch stacking.
Mr Byrne, whose Holt electorate covers Casey City, has found himself at the centre of the political storm after his electorate office was allegedly used to secretly record Mr Somyurek – but said he was “unable to comment” about his involvement.
In a statement, Mr Bryne said: “In respect of the misinformation circulating, I want to make clear that I take the matters raised recently seriously and have been in touch with authorities to offer my full assistance.
“I welcome investigations into corruption, which has no place in the party I love,” the statement read. “Because I do not want to cross over or impede any investigations that may be occurring, I’m unable to comment further at this point in time.”
On Friday 19 June, Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) and the Victorian Ombudsman announced they would take a coordinated approach to the investigation into a range of matters concerning allegations of ’branch stacking’, and other matters aired in recent media reports.
“What Victorians need from us is an independent investigation. Together with IBAC we will examine these allegations including whether, and if so to what extent, public funds were misused for party-political purposes,” Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass said.
IBAC and the Ombudsman said it was not possible to predict how long the investigation would take “as it will depend on what evidence emerges”.
Meanwhile, Mr Bryne is also facing scrutiny about leaked text messages he sent to Mr Somyurek, which allegedly contained offensive and derogatory remarks about Labor colleagues.
“Somyurek has selectively released a handpicked selection of my text messages to him sent over two years just hours after I made a public statement that I had contacted authorities and would assist with their corruption investigations into him. That speak for itself,” Mr Bryne said in a statement.
Attorney-General Christian Porter used question time in federal parliament on Wednesday 17 June to say the idea of a surveillance device being used in any members of parliament office was of “serious concern”.
“At a federal level, there are very strict rules about the use and authorised use of surveillance devices which, essentially, restrict that use to law enforcement agencies,” Mr Porter said.
“Frankly, I think that everyone in this parliament would agree that the idea that a ’non-law-enforcement device’, if you like, appeared to have been installed in the office of any member of this parliament is a serious concern.”
Senator for Victoria, David Van also weighed in on the debate, calling for Mr Byrne to answer questions about why it appeared his “taxpayer-funded office were supporting this inappropriate behaviour”.
“The voters of Holt deserve to know what involvement Mr Byrne has had in taxpayer-funded Labor Party branch stacking,” he said.
In a further bombshell, the 60 Minutes report also showed a recording of Mr Somyurek allegedly telling a parliamentary aspirant to funnel members into the Cranbourne ALP branch in an attempt to remove Cranbourne MP Pauline Richards. Star News contacted Ms Richards’ office but was told there would be “no comment at this stage“.
On Wednesday 17 June, Liberal MP Davis Davis led a successful motion at a parliament sitting to call in the Victorian Ombudsman to investigate corruption allegations within the state Labor party.
Mr Davis said it was an opportunity for the “Ombudsman to do the work that is necessary to make sure that we put in place a robust system into the future to protect public resources and to build confidence in the public political process“.
At the end of the IBAC investigation, there will be a public report on the findings.
