Daniel Andrews’ government engaged in ‘concerning’ conduct but no evidence of firefighter union blackmail: Ibac report

Daniel Andrews’ government engaged in ‘concerning’ conduct but no evidence of firefighter union blackmail: Ibac report

Senior members of the former Daniel Andrews government engaged in “serious and concerning” conduct in their dealings with firefighters union boss Peter Marshall, a long-awaited report by the Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog has found.

The report by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (Ibac) was tabled in parliament on Wednesday, some eight years after their investigation first began.

While it did not find any individuals engaged in corrupt conduct, the report said senior members of the Andrews government engaged in “serious and concerning” conduct in their dealings with Marshall – the secretary of the United Firefighter Union (UFU) – when negotiating pay deals for the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB), and their later amalgamation into Fire Services Victoria (FSV).

This included “actions contrary to policy, procedure and codes of conduct, deliberate attempts to conceal and mislead, and the misuse of information.”

Ibac also found the government made an “undisclosed deal” with Marshall, “to the exclusion of other key stakeholders,” which allowed him to “exert extraordinary influence over the negotiations” for both the CFA and MFB enterprise bargaining agreements.

Marshall, meanwhile, was also granted “privileged access” to responsible ministers.

The release of the report comes after years of legal attempts by the UFU to keep the it secret, including a high court challenge.

The report said their investigation first began in 2018 following a tip-off that Marshall “blackmailed or otherwise compromised” Andrews “to change his position on the CFA EBA”.

Ibac found no evidence of blackmail and did not substantiate the allegation, which both Andrews and Marshall denied.