Adem Somyurek ‘living proof’ of the consequences of Labor’s ‘unethical culture’, Ibac commissioner says
Victoria’s anti-corruption commissioner has suggested a former Andrews government minister at the centre of an investigation into the alleged rorting of taxpayer funds is “living proof” of the consequences of an unethical culture within the Labor party.
The Independent Broad-based Anticorruption Commission (Ibac) is investigating what counsel assisting, Chris Carr SC, has described as the “premeditated and systematic rorting of taxpayer resources” for political purposes.
Ibac is using branch stacking within the moderate Labor faction as a case study to examine broader issues about the use of public resources. Branch stacking is not illegal but is a breach of party rules.
The upper house MP Adem Somyurek, who denies he led the moderates during the period being investigated despite the evidence of multiple witnesses to the contrary, has been giving evidence to the commission this week.
He was dumped from Andrews’ ministry and resigned from the party after a 60 Minutes/Age investigation last year outlined alleged wholesale branch stacking within the faction.
Somyurek agreed on Thursday he was more concerned with the value of people to his political faction – rather than the value for money to the taxpayer – when he employed them. He also agreed with a suggestion from the Ibac commissioner, Robert Redlich QC, that there had been “countless” examples given before the hearing of Somyurek placing higher value in what was best for the faction than what was best for the taxpayer.
Redlich said Somyurek had “inverted” his requirements under the Members of Parliament (Standards) Act to act “ethically, reasonably and in good faith when using, and accounting for the use of, public resources”.
“For you, value for money is how much use they will be to you as a factional operative,” Redlich said.
“It’s consistent with how I was introduced to politics, yep,” Somyurek responded.
Redlich went on to say he considered it a tragedy that young people who wished to be involved in Labor party politics, and may have had much to offer Victoria, had to start their career doing factional work.
He said it was part of the “human condition” that it would erode that person’s moral compass to be exposed to that factional work, and would impact their behaviour in future.
“You are living proof of the consequences of being brought up over decades in this unethical culture,” Redlich said.
“I am, yes, that’s true,” Somyurek responded.
“The trick is not to just think it’s me, and I’m an aberration, and I’m an outlier. I’m not.”
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Somyurek also agreed during the hearing that he wanted extra taxpayerfunded work for his son so Somyurek could use the money to buy party memberships, but denied ever actually making the request.
In a recorded telephone conversation early last year between himself and an unidentified staffer that was played before the commission on Thursday, Somyurek said he had wanted an extra day of work for his son in the office of the federal MP Anthony Byrne.
Somyurek said in the same phone call that he had to organise payment for memberships by City of Greater Dandenong councillor Loi Truong, who had provided members for the Moderate Labor faction.
Truong’s “fixing up” of the members was “indexed” to employment, Somyurek said in the call, in reference to an associate of Truong who he employed as an electorate officer the previous year.
Branch stacking relies on the largescale recruitment of members who Carr dubbed as “non-genuine”, given they have no interest in actually joining the party, and usually the payment of their membership fees.
Somyurek agreed with Carr that it was common for deals relating to employment within electorate or ministerial offices to be linked to the payment of memberships, but denied he asked Byrne to give his son, who was already employed in the office, an extra day of work.
“I had some bad thoughts at that time, I was desperate, and I crossed multiple lines, but it didn’t happen,” Somyurek said.
Carr earlier told Somyurek that former staffer Nick McLennan had given evidence in a private hearing that the MP had authorised the diversion of taxpayer-funded stamps to the faction to be used for political purposes.
A previous public hearing heard from another former staffer, Adam Sullivan, that he had performed this task after a request from McLennan, and sent $14,000 worth of stamps in batches out of Somyurek’s electorate office in 2018.
Somyurek told Carr he had no recollection of this occurring. Carr found this answer surprising, as “a conniving theft of public property is the kind of thing that someone would normally remember being involved in, or would say ‘I absolutely was not involved in that outrageous conduct’, rather than saying, I don’t remember.” Somyurek repeated he had no recollection of it occurring.
Somyurek also strongly denied the evidence of two former staffers who said he knew and encouraged the widespread forgery of signatures, including using signatures on outdated membership renewal forms to copy signatures onto new forms.
This was despite Carr showing Somyurek an undated text message Somyurek had allegedly deleted from his phone prior to it being seized by Ibac that counsel assisting said suggested Somyurek knew a signature had been forged on a membership form.
“That’s just a coincidence they’re accusing the man who sent that message, that’s correct?” Carr asked.
“That’s correct,” Somyurek responded.
Intercepted phone conversations between Somyurek and multiple people that were made in the days before the 60 Minutes episode was broadcast were also unveiled during Thursday’s hearing.
Somyurek spoke to Marlene Kairouz and Robin Scott, who were also both Andrews government ministers at the time, about what could be in the show.
Kairouz and Scott both stood down after the program was broadcast, but have denied any involvement in branch stacking.
In a call just before midnight two days before the program was broadcast, Kairouz told Somyurek: “Branch stacking ... that’s not corruption.”
“It’s serious misconduct,” he replied. Carr showed Somyurek charts on Thursday that detailed the familial relationships of people employed in the ministerial and electoral offices of MPs within his faction.
Kairouz hired her mother and sister, and the husband of the upper house MP Kaushaliya Vaghela, as electorate officers, and the daughter and nephew of the MP Nazih Elasmar as an executive assistant and ministerial adviser respectively.
Somyurek hired three of the same people as Kairouz, and also hired his father as a cleaner, and his sister as an electorate officer.
Vaghela employed the son of the MP Cesar Melhem as an electorate officer, and Scott hired her daughter as an electorate officer.
Carr said these nepotistic practices were part of a culture of patronage that underpinned branch stacking. Somyurek largely agreed, clarifying it was not uncommon in parliament, but said he had never been told it was improper under regulations relating to the use of public resources.
Somyurek’s evidence continues on Friday.