Liberal stalwart expected to resign over link to alleged mobster
A veteran Liberal Party and property industry figure is expected to resign from the state's property development agency following revelations he promoted the alleged head of the Calabrian mafia to a prominent business body.
It is understood that on Tuesday Mr Tony De Domenico told the board of Development Victoria he planned to resign as deputy chairman. The move follows an emergency meeting of the agency’s board on Monday night.
The meeting was called after The Saturday Age revealed Mr De Domenico last October used his position as president of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to make alleged mafia boss Tony Madafferi a chamber member.
It is also understood the Development Victoria board discussed other concerns that were raised with Mr De Domenico.
Mr De Domenico’s nomination of Mr Madafferi for chamber membership prompted the intervention of the Italian embassy, The Saturday Age revealed.
Mr De Domenico push for Mr Madafferi's membership came just weeks after Opposition Leader Matthew Guy was enveloped in a public scandal over revelations he met Mr Madafferi at a lobster restaurant in April 2017.
In his former role as planning minister in the Baillieu/Napthine government, Mr Guy appointed Mr De Domenico to a three-year stint as chair of the state's property development agency Places Victoria (now Development Victoria) in 2014.
Labor saw Mr De Domenico's appointment as provocative so close to the election. Still, the Andrews government re-appointed him as deputy chairman in 2017.
Mr De Domenico is a former Liberal ACT deputy chief minister and more recently the head of the Victorian branch of the private sector development lobby, the Urban Development Institute of Australia.
He is, and has been, a member of a slew of semi-government boards and was formerly a deputy chancellor of La Trobe University. On Tuesday night his future in other state-endorsed roles was unclear.
Mr De Domenico is also the chair of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI). He was appointed by Treasurer Scott Morrison in his former role as housing minister.
On Monday, Mr Morrison backed Mr De Domenico as AHURI chair. “The appointment of Mr De Domenico was made on merit, based on his vast experience in both the development industry and government, well prior to these reported events,” said a spokeswoman for Mr Morrison.
Mr De Domenico was, until last month, also the chairman of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a committee part funded by the Italian government.
After eight years as chamber chairman, he was voted off the board in March partly, The Age understands, because of concerns over his support for Mr Madafferi.
Confidential chamber documents showed Mr De Domenico personally proposed chamber membership for Mr Madafferi.
The documents also show that the following month, the proposed membership was withdrawn after concerns were raised by Italian diplomats and some chamber members.
In an interview before the story ran, Mr De Domenico denied he had pushed for the alleged mafia figure to be given membership, describing the allegation as "crap".
He insisted he had "no relationship whatsoever", either personal or commercial, with Mr Madafferi: "I know who he is, but I don't know him."
But he then refused repeated requests for further comment
The nomination came just weeks after The Age's August revelation that Mr Guy secretly dined with Mr Madafferi and others at the Lobster Cave restaurant at Beaumaris in April 2017.
In an affidavit filed in court in June 2017 in support of Mr Madafferi's ban from Crown casino and race tracks, Detective Superintendent Peter Brigham said the police hold "substantial intelligence" indicating Mr Madafferi had "substantial and close involvement with serious criminal conduct including drug importation, murder and extortion".
Mr Madafferi, who also part owns the national pizza chain La Porchetta, has never been charged with any crime and denies any wrongdoing.
In the early 2000s, police intelligence linking Mr Madafferi to allegations of "murder, gunshot wounding and arson" was detailed in court but vehemently denied by Mr Madafferi.
The Age has sought comment from Mr De Domenico and the Andrews government.