Premier Daniel Andrews heads towards the summer break with a stench hanging over Victorian politics.

The anti-corruption watchdog's probe into developer donations has exposed some dodgy dealings at the City of Casey but it has also shone light on the intricate and risky world of political donations.

Senior Labor figures this week have described it as a watershed moment, lifting the lid on the way business has been done for a long time, especially at local councils.

"Victoria in a way has lost its innocence,'' one said.

And some of the muck has spilled onto the Premier.

You'd be hard pressed to find a senior politician from either side of state politics who hasn't met, or at the very least been at a function with, the Ferrari-driving developer John Woodman, the man at the centre of IBAC's at times jaw-dropping probe.

IBAC is investigating Woodman, who stands accused of buying off Casey councillors with bags of cash in exchange for support of planning amendments.

Developer John Woodman is a donor to both sides of politics. ( Watsons )

Cash for access

The focus on donations has highlighted the truism that money buys access. For Woodman, this meant at least two small lunches with Andrews at high-end Chinese restaurant Flower Drum, organised by the Labor fundraising body Progressive Business.

When Andrews first ran for office in 2002, Woodman chipped in $2,500. Over the next 17 years, he's continued to donate to the Labor and Liberal parties.

His legal donations to both sides of politics include $160,000 to Labor in the lead up to last year's state poll.

There is no allegation the Premier has been corrupt or that any state politician has been paid off.

But for many voters it's hardly unreasonable to question what the Premier is doing spending time with this bloke. It's a bad look and so much of politics is about perception.

The Pavilion estate in Cranbourne East is one of three projects the IBAC hearings have focused on. ( liveatpavilion.com.au )

To complicate matters, Woodman also represents Tony Madafferi — yes, the same man former Victorian Liberal leader Matthew Guy infamously shared a lobster and Grange dinner with in 2017, giving birth to the Lobster with a Mobster scandal.

The Premier dining with Woodman is not in the same league, despite what some Liberals may wish, but it's nonetheless a bad look in light of IBAC's evidence.

Friendly and unfriendly MPs

At the corruption hearing on Friday, one of Woodman's team, Megan Schutz, told the inquiry that the reason tickets were bought to fundraisers was for the chance to talk to "friendly" MPs about issues they were trying to progress.

Schutz named the Premier as a friendly MP, along with his deputy James Merlino, Treasurer Tim Pallas and several others. She went on to say that these people were approachable at functions to talk about issues.

A Liberal Party report into the party's crushing Victorian election defeat found Matthew Guy's dinner with Tony Madafferi dealt him serious reputational damage. ( Four Corners )

Responding to questions about his Flower Drum lunches, Andrews made it clear that planning was never raised and if it had been he would have walked out. Support for a charity golf day was the subject of conversation.

"If this individual had raised an individual planning matter with me, then the meeting would have been over,'' Andrews said.

Planning Minister Richard Wynne was named as unfriendly and was referred to privately by developers as "DH" — standing for dickhead — because he favoured the public interest.

Woodman has been pushing for a planning amendment, called C219, at Cranbourne West in Melbourne's south-east.

But it is still sitting on Wynne's desk more than a year after it was referred to him.

Richard Wynne is considered an "unfriendly" MP among developers, a consultant told IBAC. ( AAP: Julian Smith, file photo )

In November, Wynne told Parliament he had received representations from former Labor MPs, recipients of Woodman's largesse, but insisted there had been nothing untoward.

Both Andrews and Wynne say they have never discussed C219 — a decision is due early in 2020.

An ominous warning

News of Dan's duck lunch has been an ugly distraction but shows the risk politicians all take when accepting legal contributions from supporters.

While donations have been part and parcel of politics in this country for decades, these meetings occur out of public sight and can make for negative press when revealed.

The anti-corruption watchdog has finished its hearings for this year and will resume in February.

So far, the most crooked allegations have implicated councillors and exposed legal donations to Labor MPs.

For the Premier, the worst has been to share a table with Woodman, a man who spreads his wealth across the aisle.

But there was an ominous warning in the final day of testimony, which could cause some politicians to sweat over summer.

It was contained in a taped conversation between Woodman and his consultant Megan Schutz, when they discussed a theory Labor figures might have been responsible for negative stories about the Casey local council in 2018.

"Mate if I was the Labor Party, I'd be very careful about playing this game," Woodman said.

"I've got enough dirt on them to sink them, if you know what I mean."

Woodman could simply be talking a big game.

But it means — like all good soap operas — this saga is ending on something of a cliffhanger.

We'll have to tune in again after the summer to find out if more plot twists lie ahead.