By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Premier Daniel Andrews offered to call property developer John Woodman to invite him back to Labor fundraisers after reports of alleged corruption emerged, an IBAC inquiry has heard.
The inquiry heard of his “quick chat” with Mr Woodman about a development at an ALP dinner in 2015 as well as him “waxing lyrical” about Mr Woodman’s financial support for the ALP.
According to IBAC evidence, Mr Woodman gave more than $150,000 to Labor’s 2018 state election campaign.
Mr Andrews has distanced himself from Mr Woodman, who is the subject of the corruption inquiry into land deals, Casey councillors and state MPs.
The Premier has declared a Flower Drum restaurant lunch with Mr Woodman, as well as a 2002 election donation but denied talking to him about property matters.
In a phone intercept of Mr Woodman, his hired ALP lobbyist Philip Staindl told of chatting with “the boss” – Mr Andrews – at a function in March 2019.
In Mr Staindl’s words, the Premier said that Mr Woodman was “more than welcome to come back” to ALP’s Progressive Business events.
Mr Andrews offered to give Mr Woodman a call to say “things are OK but also to thank you for your support”, Mr Staindl said.
“He started waxing lyrical about how much you’ve given to the party.
“He made a note to call you and got me to send your number to him via SMS so I’m surprised that you haven’t heard from him.”
Mr Staindl describes Mr Andrews as describing an Age reporter as a “right a***hole” and the government having to shelve a proposed land rezoning C219 due to the reporter’s story in the last weeks of the 2018 state election.
“He said ‘And fancy trying to make the City of Casey out to be the sanctimonious organisation”.”
Mr Staindl told IBAC that may be “some embellishment” in his narration.
He couldn’t recall the encounter with “absolute certainty” because he’d had a “few glasses of wine” at the function.
“The general tenor was accurate,” Mr Staindl replied.
“There may have been a little bit of spice put in it.”
In an IBAC phone tap on October 2018, Mr Woodman referred to going to Mr Andrews if we “get pushed back”.
“I know that I said I wouldn’t go to the boss but if we get pushed back on this I’ll go to the top,” Mr Woodman said.
“He had certainly met the Premier on a few occasions,” Mr Staindl told the inquiry.
“But I would not agree that there would be an expectation that he would intervene based on his financial support.
“He may do it by way of advocacy, but I don’t think there’s a direct correlation there.”
In four consecutive months, Mr Staindl discussed a Point Cook development called Aviators Field with “various people” in the Premier’s office and local MP and minister Jill Hennessey, the inquiry heard.
In September 2015, Mr Staindl attended the “Sandbelt MPs dinner” with Mr Woodman to speak to Mr Andrews.
“I think just as the Premier was departing Mr Woodman shook his hand, said, ‘Nice to see you, and I’m having … I’ve got some frustrations with Aviators Field,” Mr Staindl told the inquiry.
“So it wasn’t a formal meeting but, yes, it was a quick chat about it.”
An email by Mr Staindl at the time suggests they handed a briefing “note” to Mr Andrews at the time.
Mr Staindl told the inquiry he was likely to have updated the Premier at a function in late 2015.
Mr Staindl agreed that if there was one person who could “do something about the impasse” it was the Premier.
“Whether or not anything is then acted upon from there is entirely a matter for the Premier.”
Mr Staindl had said developers weren’t supposed to raise specific development issues with ministers at functions.
But in this case, there was a level of “frustration” that the process was “stymied by bureaucracy”.
According to an email by Mr Staindl, a copy of the briefing note was also to be handed to someone who would “find it interesting”.
He agreed that the person could be former Labor MP Theo Theophanous who was appointed as a director of the Metropolitan Planning Authority.
At a private meeting with Mr Staindl at the time, Mr Theophanous “very, very quickly indicated that he’s not there to consider individual applications”, Mr Staindl told IBAC.
Mr Staindl conceded the MPA was a “key submitter” to the independent planning panel that recommended Amendment C219.
In an email, Mr Woodman refers to an “extremely chummy” Mr Theophanous who was “very thick with Daniel (Andrews)”.
“(He) gave me his card saying any time he could help.”
Mr Andrews also attended a Greek MPs function in March 2016, which was attended by Mr Staindl and Mr Woodman.
No “business-related matters” were discussed, Mr Staindl said.
At the function, Mr Woodman successfully bid in a fundraising auction for a private lunch with Mr Andrews – the Flower Drum meeting in 2017.
In 2019, Mr Andrews said the lunch was “principally” about sponsoring a charity golf day for Monash Children’s Hospital.
“He’s never raised active planning matters with me otherwise I would have stood up and left.“
In Parliament on 12 November, upper house opposition leader David Davis called for Mr Andrews to “get himself down” to IBAC.
“There is a cloud hanging over his head—a corruption cloud.
“He cannot any longer leave this cloud hanging over his and his government’s heads.”
Greens leader Samantha Ratnam called for a ban on developers’ political donations as well as a land rezoning tax to remove the “incentive for corruption”.
Under questioning in Parliament, Mr Andrews said: “It has never been my practice, nor will it ever be my practice, to essentially interfere in processes that are very important and are ongoing.
“I stand by all the comments I have made and the fact that people in this government behave appropriately.”
