Premier Must Come Clean
Western Victoria MP Bev McArthur moved a motion in Parliament this week calling on the Andrews Government to divulge the nature of its secretive relationship with the United Firefighters Union (UFU) which is reportedly under investigation by IBAC.
This week The Age revealed that “Victoria’s anti-corruption body has been examining the conduct of Premier Daniel Andrews and a senior public servant over their role in controversial deals that benefited the firefighters’ union and its boss, Peter Marshall.”
In June 2019, the Andrews Government passed the Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Bill 2019 which tore apart Victoria’s cherished CFA.
The Bill decimated the largely volunteer CFA service and subjected many of their fire stations to the control of the UFU, in what was widely perceived to be a political favour to the union.
Mrs McArthur’s motion this week called on the Legislative Council to note that “the dissolving of the professional Country Fire Authority (CFA) firefighting force was motivated by the Labor Party’s ideological resentment of volunteerism and Premier Daniel Andrews’ close personal ties with the Secretary of the United Firefighters Union, Mr Peter Marshall.”
The motion also noted that “the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) is reportedly investigating the conduct of the Premier in relation to his dealings with the Secretary of the United Firefighters Union, Mr Marshall”.
Mrs McArthur therefore called on the Government to “disclose all commitments made by the Premier to Peter Marshall and the United Firefighters Union.”
The reporting by The Age also revealed that “a second investigative strand of the IBAC inquiry involves dealings between Mr Marshall and Animal Justice Party MP Andy Meddick, whose vote helped pass the union-backed fire services reform legislation …”
In response, Mrs McArthur’s motion also called on “the Member for Western Victoria Region, Mr Andy Meddick MLC, to disclose the details of all his communication with Mr Marshall and the United Firefighters Union prior to his vote on the Firefighters’ Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Bill 2019.”
Mrs McArthur said about the motion, “Victorians deserve transparency from their Premier and Mr Meddick.”
“Ms Berejiklian resigned over an impending ICAC investigation — the least that Mr Andrews could do is reveal the nature of his agreements with the Union, for which he is allegedly being investigated.”
“The people of Western Victoria and all volunteer firefighters are entitled to know what went on in the lead up to the legislation being passed."
“Transparency and accountability increasingly seem to be a thing of the past in this state.”
8 October 2021
