IBAC Victoria hearings LIVE updates: Adem Somyurek accused of deleting texts about forged signatures before his phone was seized

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IBAC Victoria hearings LIVE updates: Adem Somyurek accused of deleting texts about forged signatures before his phone was seized

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Background about Operation Watts and the IBAC inquiry

The public hearings running this week are part of an inquiry called Operation Watts into allegations of corrupt conduct involving Victorian public officers, including members of parliament.

You can watch a video stream of inquiry, due to start at 10.30am today, below.

The investigation is run jointly by the Victorian Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission and the Victorian Ombudsman and its remit includes allegations of branch stacking in the Victorian Labor Party, as first revealed in an investigation by The Age and 60 Minutes last year.

Branch stacking is an organised method of accumulating internal power in a party by recruiting, and usually paying the fees for, new members.

But it’s much more pointed than just that. The real question is whether public officers, including Victorian members of parliament, are engaging in corrupt conduct by directing ministerial or electorate office staff to perform party‐political work when they should instead be doing ministerial or electorate work.

It will also look at whether public money given by the Victorian government as grants to community associations, has been redirected and misused to fund party‐political activities, or for any other improper purposes. It will ask if ministers or others involved in granting the funds have “dishonestly performed their functions” or “knowingly or recklessly breached public trust”.

The inquiry will look into whether any public officer, their families or their associates, received a personal benefit from these things, and looks at what systems and controls are in place to monitor these money flows.

The hearing is expected to go for at least four weeks. It’s overseen by IBAC Commissioner Robert Redlich, QC, and run by counsel assisting Chris Carr, SC.

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Somyurek says branch stacking probably ‘serious misconduct’ in taped call to Kairouz

By Paul Sakkal

Adem Somyurek admitted branch stacking was probably classed as “serious misconduct” in a conversation with his close ally and fellow minister Marlene Kairouz, in which the pair discussed defences to allegations of forging signatures.

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The pair held a midnight conversation two days before The Age and 60 Minutes reported allegations of branch stacking in June last year.

The two MPs discuss whether branch stacking and forging signatures were highly improper, after Age journalists put questions to the politicians about these topics.

“[Branch stacking] is not against the law...That’s not corruption,” Ms Kairouz told Mr Somyurek in a tape presented by IBAC.

Mr Somyurek: “It’s serious misconduct.”

Ms Kairouz: “Yeah, yeah.”

Mr Somyurek: “Explosive new evidence of serious misconduct.”

Ms Kairouz: “Misconduct.”

Mr Somyurek: “What is it?”

Ms Kairouz: “F----d if I know.”

In relation to the alleged forging of signatures, Mr Kairouz said: “You can change your signature every week.”

Mr Somyurek said there was one individual in his faction who was suspected to consistently forge signatures on membership renewal forms.

“The appreciated of the risk 60 Minutes might be onto fake signatures is what’s common knowledge between you in this conversation isn’t it?” counsel assisting the inquiry Chris Carr, SC, put to Mr Somyurek on Thursday.

“It’s two people who well know what they’re talking about ... It’s a clear as can be ... The two of you well know about the practice of forgery and that’s what you’re referring to.”

A staffer in Mr Somyurek’s factions gave private evidence to IBAC stating Mr Somyurek told her to forge members signatures to renew their memberships if the member could not be contacted.

“If you can’t get hold of the member, just sign it,” she said of Mr Somyurek’s directions to her.

Mr Carr said the forging of signatures was done at Mr Somyurek’s explicit direction, but Mr Somyurek replied: “That’s not true”.

Somyurek accused of deleting text messages from his phone before it was seized by IBAC, inquiry hears

By Paul Sakkal

Former Labor powerbroker Adem Somyurek deleted text messages from his phone in which he discussed the forging of signatures on internal Labor ballots, a corruption hearing has heard.

Counsel assisting Chris Carr, SC, presented the MP with text messages of a conversation which Mr Carr said proved his “knowledge or involvement in the forgery of signatures” related to ballot papers for the party’s 2018 national conference.

Adem Somyurek when he was shown the text message.

Adem Somyurek when he was shown the text message.

“The perfect sense, I suggest to you, is that you are a party to the forgery of signatures...that’s the perfect sense that it makes isn’t it, Mr Somyurek,” Mr Carr said.

Mr Somyurek said it was “probably” fair to draw the conclusion that he had awareness of forgery being carried out by his staff.

“I think you could probably draw that conclusion, yeah,” Mr Somyurek said.

Mr Carr claimed Mr Somyurek had deleted the texts some time before anti-corruption officials seized his phone.

IBAC also presented evidence of another staffer who claimed Mr Somyurek witnessed his staffer forging membership renewal forms. Mr Somyurek said he believed this evidence was a lie.

Hearings begin

The hearings have opened with counsel assisting Chris Carr, SC, immediately launching into a series of questions about a text message Adem Somyurek is alleged to have sent - and then later deleted before his phone was seized by IBAC - about forged signatures.

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Branch stacking has existed for ‘almost as long as the ALP’

Branch stacking in various forms has been around almost as long as the ALP, and it is not, of course, confined to Labor, The Age’s long-standing political writer Tony Wright wrote when news of the Somyurek scandal broke last year.

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Wright’s piece delves into one scheme involving a young Labor hopeful who was instructed to go to a cemetery to search for new graves and take down the names of the deceased. The names would then be cross-referenced with the Electoral Roll, and if they had not yet been removed, he was to pass the information to headquarters.

“Those ghosts, he discovered, were duly signed up from the grave to certain Labor branches, there to vote as required by factional bosses in need of the most compliant of all followers,” Wright wrote.

“Here was the bluntest of branch-stacking methods. Bringing the dead back to life.”

Somyurek says he’s writing a book

The hearing has been slightly delayed this morning - it’s due to start just before 11.15am - so we’ll revisit some of Tuesday’s evidence.

Among the many exchanges between counsel assisting the inquiry Chris Carr, SC, and Adem Somyurek, the former minister said he was writing a book.

Natalie Suleyman (right) pictured with then federal opposition leader Bill Shorten in 2018.

Natalie Suleyman (right) pictured with then federal opposition leader Bill Shorten in 2018.Credit:Chris Hopkins

Mr Carr was questioning Mr Somyurek about an apparent deal brokered for the father of St Albans MP Natalie Suleyman to work in the office of federal MP Anthony Byrne.

Mr Somyurek admitted he put some pressure on Mr Byrne to hire Hakki Suleyman and that it was “completely factional”, but he denied it was a deal as such and that the quid pro quo involved Mr Suleyman still being paid even though he didn’t turn up to work.

“You must be involved in the deal somehow...” Mr Carr put to Mr Somyurek.

“Okay. The deal was at a higher level thing, you know. I’m giving all these factional things now. They’re in my book anyway, so you’re lucky I actually remember all of this,” Mr Somyurek replied.

No word on what the working title is yet.

Who’s who in the IBAC hearings

The hearings are overseen by the head of IBAC, Robert Redlich AM, QC.

The silk was appointed IBAC commissioner back in 2018, but before then he was a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria for 15 years with more than a decade spent on the bench of the Court of Appeal.

Robert Redlich pictured outside Griffith court in 1984.

Robert Redlich pictured outside Griffith court in 1984.Credit:Fairfax Media

Before he was on the bench, Justice Redlich was a special prosecutor appointed to investigate allegations arising from the Costigan Royal Commission into the painters and dockers in the 1980s.

He also prosecuted charges over alleged murders organised by suspected Mafia members.

As IBAC Commissioner, Justice Redlich has investigated corruption in both the public service and police force.

Counsel assisting the Operation Watts public examinations is Chris Carr, SC.

The barrister specialises in criminal and administrative law, and recently represented a Victorian police detective charged with leaking photos of former AFL coach Dani Laidley in custody.

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‘Are you saying IBAC could be listening?’: Listen to the secret tapes

During his first two days of evidence, Adem Somyurek was played a number of secretly recorded conversations, some of which were the result of the anti-corruption commission intercepting his calls.

Mr Somyurek told the hearings that following a 60 Minutes and Age investigation, he was careful about what he said on the phone.

In one call, Mr Somyurek told former Banyule mayor Rick Garotti to be careful, and that his staff should at the very least log in to his computer.

“They just need to very careful, and logging in, I’m not sure if he logs in, that’s the thing,” Mr Somyurek said.

Mr Garotti said: “Are you saying IBAC could be listening on this call...well, it’s scary mate, the territory we’re in.”

Welcome back

Welcome back to The Age’s live coverage of the state’s corruption watchdog public hearings into allegations of branch stacking and misuse of taxpayer funds by members of the Victorian Labor Party, including government ministers.

Today, former cabinet minister Adem Somyurek - who quit Labor last year - is in the witness box for a third day of questioning about his role as a factional leader who, as the inquiry has heard, is accused of paying for memberships to the party for other people and deploying taxpayer-funded electoral officers to build both his and his faction’s power base.

Adem Somyurek’s appearance at IBAC was yet again punctuated by Commissioner Robert Redlich warning him to answer the questions.

Adem Somyurek’s appearance at IBAC was yet again punctuated by Commissioner Robert Redlich warning him to answer the questions. Credit: Supplied

By the end of his second day in the box on Tuesday, Mr Somyurek had made some important concessions, including that some of his actions could be categorised as corruption, while he admitted he lost all perspective during a factional war.

As The Age’s state political reporter Sumeyya Ilanbey wrote, the former powerbroker agreed he was involved in the practice of paying electorate staff who worked on factional activities, but denied he was part of a scheme that endorsed widespread rorting of public money.

You can read Ilanbey’s piece here.

The hearings are expected to be streamed from 10.30am today, with state politics reporter Paul Sakkal filing to the blog for the morning.

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