The Andrews government has been warned it faces the prospect of an emboldened integrity campaign from minor parties and independents ahead of November’s state election.
In the wake of a scathing report by the state’s integrity agencies into Labor branch stacking, acting Greens leader, Tim Read, told Guardian Australia his party would point to its findings as an example of what can go wrong when a sufficient integrity scheme is lacking.
The report of the Operation Watts investigation – carried out by the state’s ombudsman and the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (Ibac) – uncovered widespread misuse of taxpayer resources for political purposes and a “catalogue” of unethical behaviour in the Victorian branch of the Labor party.
The premier, Daniel Andrews, said his cabinet had accepted all 21 recommendations from the report and would go further by legislating new rules that allow political parties to qualify for public funding in a bid to stamp out corruption risks.
While the Victorian Greens are not planning to weaponise the report, Read said its findings aligned with its overall integrity platform.
“This report, while it hasn’t particularly influenced our [integrity] policy, I think it meshes very well with it,” Read said.
He said the party would be talking about integrity during the state campaign, namely its platform of introducing a campaign spending cap to close donations “loopholes”, bolstered funding for the Ibac, and lowering the threshold for when the commission can launch an investigation, as well as legislating codes of conduct for lobbyists and ministers.
“We saw voters favouring candidates who talked about integrity in the federal election. And voters are critical to holding governments to account,” Read said.
“I really hope that voters will turn to parties that are well-placed to hold the government to account.”
Brent Hodgson, one of the architects behind “teal” independent Kooyong MP Monique Ryan’s success at May’s federal election, said: “Any time integrity is in the spotlight, it casts a light on the ways that we can improve the way politics is done.”
Hodgson is part of community-backed group Hawthorn Independents, which is aiming to seize the inner-city Labor-held seat from the government. Another independent group is also aiming to win the neighbouring seat of Kew – also in the federal electorate of Kooyong – from the Liberal party.
Both groups are hoping to capitalise on the success of the so-called “teal” candidates at the federal election.
A spokesperson for the Animal Justice party also said the Operation Watts report highlighted the importance of public trust in parliamentarians.
“It is clear that more than ever: Victorians are concerned about integrity in politics. It’s one of the many reasons why the minor party and independent vote continues to grow,” the spokesperson said.
The opposition leader, Matthew Guy, on Thursday called for the report to be referred to Victoria police. The opposition has promised to boost Ibac’s funding by $10m a year and give it broader powers for public hearings if it wins the November election in a bid to rebuild a “system of integrity and honesty in government”. It would also increase the Victorian ombudsman’s funding by $2m a year.
But a spokesperson for upper house crossbench MP Fiona Patten said the report highlighted “internal” Labor party issues and would not influence her campaigning.
The Andrews government currently holds 55 out of the 88 lower house seats in the Victorian parliament.
