Premier ‘sorry’ parliamentary funds were used in campaign but MPs were acting ‘in good faith’

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Victoria’s Labor government is sorry for a $388,000 election campaign rort and has repaid the money but the premier, Daniel Andrews, won’t step down over the scandal embroiling several of his senior ministers.

The state ombudsman on Wednesday published a damning report naming 21 Labor MPs, past and present, found to have breached parliamentary guidelines during the party’s victorious 2014 election campaign.

They used taxpayer funds intended to staff electorate offices to instead pay personnel acting as campaign officers who ran Labor’s Community Action Network, or “red shirts” brigade, taking the party message to marginal seats.

Andrews said the money had been repaid in full and refused to stand down over the scandal.

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“I am sorry this has occurred, and really the most important thing here is to ensure that we prove that we are sincere in that apology,” he said.

The premier also said there was no need for the sitting MPs and ministers named to quit.

“The ombudsman has made it very clear that everyone involved in this acted with the not unreasonable assumption ... in good faith, deriving no personal benefit,” he told reporters.

The ombudsman Deborah Glass, earlier said: “The evidence is that MPs who participated in the arrangement and signed time-sheets believed it was legitimate and that they were contributing to an approved pooling arrangement.

“But while they received little or no personal benefit from the use of parliamentary funds for campaigning purposes, which almost invariably benefited the election prospects of others, 21 members of the 57th parliament breached the Members’ Guide.”

Among the MPs named by the ombudsman are the attorney general, Martin Pakula; the energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio; the families minister, Jenny Mikakos; and the special minister of state, Gavin Jennings.

The premier added that Labor would not use the same electioneering tactics at the November state election.

The upper house had asked Glass to investigate whether Labor breached the rules after reports emerged that the party used electorate office funds to pay 26 staff for two days of campaigning a week at the 2014 state election.

The move would not “pass the pub test” among voters, an internal report found.