The findings of a corruption investigation into a Victorian property developer accused of paying bribes to local councillors will remain under wraps for now, after a judge ordered John Woodman's civil trial be held behind closed doors.
Mr Woodman is accused of making more than $1.2 million of payments to councillors from the City of Casey for favourable planning decisions.
According to court documents, Victoria's anti-corruption watchdog has compiled a 393-page draft investigation report that includes adverse findings against the developer.
Mr Woodman has taken the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) to the Court of Appeal, in an attempt to stop the watchdog from tabling its report to the Victorian Parliament.
Mr Woodman's legal team is arguing he has been denied procedural fairness and not been given a "reasonable opportunity" to respond to allegations in the draft report. IBAC's preliminary findings were sent to his team in December 2021 and January this year, according to court documents.
On Tuesday, lawyers for IBAC and Mr Woodman told the Court of Appeal it would be prejudicial and that the IBAC Act could be breached if sections of the unpublished draft investigation were reported by the media, after being mentioned in the courtroom.
Justice Tim Ginnane agreed and closed the court to the public, but said redacted submissions made by the legal teams could be released, possibly by Wednesday morning.
Tuesday's shut-out came after the unauthorised publication of a letter written by IBAC commissioner Robert Redlich, in which he reportedly complained about the court system being clogged by legal challenges.
According to a report by Nine Newspapers, Mr Redlich wrote to the Attorney-General and the Opposition, calling for the IBAC Act to be amended so people named in draft IBAC findings could not use the courts to challenge the tabling of reports to Parliament.
On Tuesday, Premier Daniel Andrews said he would not be "getting into a debate" with IBAC on whether the laws should be changed.
"They've got views. They're apparently very, very upset that these matters are in the public domain. I'll leave it to them to investigate that," he said.
In a statement, an IBAC spokesperson confirmed the commissioner had requested the government and opposition consider changing legislation so its reports could be tabled "as quickly as possible".
"This will ensure IBAC's investigation findings and learnings can be shared with the public sector and broader community as a matter of priority," the spokesperson said.
Shadow Treasurer David Davis said the state's legal system needed "serious improvement".
"The Opposition is very concerned that key reports may be stalled, key reports may not be tabled in a timely way. We are very concerned that key reports may not be tabled before November's state election," he said.
Mr Woodman was previously at the centre of public IBAC hearings which examined his donations to Victorian politicians for political influence, including sitting members of the Labor state government.
The inquiry also heard allegations Mr Woodman paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Casey councillors for favourable planning decisions, with money being paid into bank accounts or in cash-filled suitcases.
