AAP
A qualified apology has been made to the families of dead Victorians who allegedly had their signatures forged on Labor party memberships.
The signatures of at least two dead people were forged for membership renewals to the Lalor South branch, The Australian newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Although the two men died in 2017, leaked records indicate they remained branch members until May 2020 after their memberships were renewed in 2018 and 2019.
Premier Daniel Andrews said no one wanted to deliberately cause offence to anybody through the activities of political parties.
“To the extent that anybody associated with the Australian Labor Party has caused offence to the individuals named (or) mentioned, then of course we are regrettable of that and sorry that that has occurred,” he said during question time.
Documents are said to show just 13 of Lalor South’s 132 branch members remained registered after an extensive audit in 2020, sparked by branch stacking revelations within another Labor faction.
The branch is also alleged to be the only one in Victoria where non-traceable means were used to pay for 100 per cent of membership fees.
Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio was a member of the branch and it reportedly held meetings at her Mill Park electorate office each month as recently as July 2019.
Ms D’Ambrosio, who is a member of Labor’s powerful Socialist Left faction and now linked to another branch, categorically rejected any wrongdoing.
“I’ve always abided by the rules,” she told reporters at parliament.
Opposition Leader John Pesutto called for Mr Andrews to dismiss Ms D’Ambrosio and make a referral to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission or police, as he did with former Labor minister Adem Somyurek in 2020.
“There can’t be one standard for Daniel Andrews’ mates and one standard that’s differen t for his foes,” Mr Pesutto said, before making his o wn referral to IBAC.
Ms D’Ambrosio said if the branch-stacking “inferences” did form part of the 2020 audit, led by Labor stalwarts Jenny Macklin and Steve Bracks, neither the allegations nor any findings were put to her then.
The Mill Park MP refused to comment on who could have forged the signatures, declaring she hadn’t been a member of the branch for years.
AAP has been told monthly meetings within her electorate office stopped after it was banned.
Mr Andrews stood firmly behind his minister and factional ally.
“She’s a person of character and integrity,” he said.
After Mr Andrews’ referral, the corruption watchdog and Victorian Ombudsman launched a joint probe over allegations of ‘industrial-scale’ branch stacking within the state Labor party.
Branch stacking is not illegal, but it is against Labor party rules.
Mr Somyurek was accused of handing over cash and using parliamentary employees to create fake branch members and amass pol itical influence.
He was immediately sacked as a minister and quit the party, while his factional allies Robin Scott, Marlene Kairouz and Luke Donnellan all ultimately resigned from cabinet.
Mr Andrews said the two situations were different and pointed to the video evidence against Mr Somyurek, which included him ordering people to forge signatures and create false statements.
“There is simply no comparison, none whatsoever,” he said.
Integrity agencies do not need a referral to investigate.
The watchdog and ombudsman’s Operation Watts report exposed bullying, taxpayer-funded jobs for people to undertake factional work, rampant nepotism and forging of signatures within Labor.
It found branch stacking was not limited to Mr Somyurek’s moderate faction, but noted proof of the broader problem was more anecdotal.
