Branch stacking, chauffeured pets: strife dogged Labor

ADEM SOMYUREK BULLYING

* In May 2015, small business, innovation and trade minister Adem Somyurek was stood down from cabinet after his then chief of staff Dimity Paul accused him of bullying, which he denied

* He resigned in July 2015 after an investigation by the secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet

PATCH AND TED

* In November 2016, training and skills minister Steve Herbert resigned for using his taxpayer-funded driver to chauffeur his two dogs, Patch and Ted, between his Melbourne and Trentham homes

* Mr Herbert told parliament he had organised for his dogs to be driven without him, but didn't know how many times because the trips weren't logged

* He paid back $192.80 in travel expenses for the trips and donated $1000 to a Woodend animal shelter, before leaving parliament in 2017

SECOND HOME ALLOWANCE

* In 2017, former Speaker Telmo Languiller and his deputy Don Nardella were involved in rorting an allowance for country members, prompting their resignations

* The scandal resulted in the creation of a tribunal meant to take pay issues out of the control of MPs

* In April 2019, former Victorian assistant treasurer Robin Scott paid back $60,000 in second-home allowances he unknowingly received between 2014 and 2016

RED SHIRTS

* Labor misused $388,000 in parliamentary allowances to pay political campaign staff during the 2014 election

* About 21 past and present Labor MPs breached parliamentary guidelines when staff were diverted to help campaign for members

* The rort was subject to ombudsman and police investigations spanning more than 12 months and no criminal charges were laid

PRINTING CASH FOR STACKS

* Upper house MP Khalil Eideh's electoral office was accused of misusing printing allowances to fund party branch stacking in 2017

* A parliamentary-wide audit found questionable invoices, which were referred to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, and his office was later shut

* He resigned as deputy president in October 2017 and retired at the 2018 election

* IBAC charged four people, including father and son Justin and Umberto Mammarella, whose matters were finalised in 2022

JANE GARRETT AND THE CFA

* Former emergency services minister Jane Garrett quit cabinet rather than signing off on a controversial firefighters' union pay deal that sparked the premier's intervention in 2016

* She then lost her preselection bid for the state's upper house after deciding to leave the marginal seat of Brunswick at the 2018 state election

* She went on to serve Eastern Victoria in the Legislative Council for nearly four years before her death in July 2022 from breast cancer aged 49

MODERATE FACTION BRANCH STACKING

* In 2020, Mr Somyurek was accused of handing over cash and using parliamentary employees to create fake members to amass political power

* He was the first of four ministers to lose their portfolios, with Robin Scott and Marlene Kairouz stepping down, then a year later Luke Donnellan

* A joint ombudsman and IBAC inquiry made adverse findings against Mr Somyurek and Ms Kairouz, but neither faced criminal charges

* Mr Andrews apologised for the "disgraceful" behaviour and promised to implement all 21 recommendations of the Operation Watts report, plus additional legislative reforms for all parties

HEALTH WORKERS UNION TRAINING CONTRACT

* In April 2023 IBAC released its report into Operation Daintree, an investigation into the awarding of a $1.2 million health training contract to a union before the 2018 state election

* The Health Workers Union put in a pitch in June 2018 to run a staff training program to tackle violence against health workers, with the government unfairly awarding it the contract on the eve of the election

* IBAC found ministerial advisors, including one for Mr Andrews, intruded on the health department's management of the contract against the public interest

* Despite finding government officials pressured health bureaucrats to award the contract to the union, no criminal charges were laid

COMMONWEALTH GAMES

* In February 2022 Victoria made an exclusive bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games in regional centres and was announced as the host in April that year

* From May 2023 the Victorian government called for expressions of interest for contracts to upgrade and build facilities ahead of the games

* But come July 2023, Mr Andrews announced Victoria would no longer host the games, with the premier saying it was clear the cost would exceed $6 billion

* A Victorian parliamentary inquiry is examining the cancellation of the Games and the state agreed to pay Commonwealth Games bodies $380m in compensation after dumping the event

Australian Associated Press