Victoria’s opposition leader, Matthew Guy, has sought to distance himself from controversies involving the Liberal party’s campaign headquarters, as the state’s electoral commission said it was “looking into” reports that candidates have sent postal vote information to voters.
The party’s legal and compliance director, Chandra Lloyd, resigned this week, reportedly citing allegations that her legal advice had been ignored and there may have been legal breaches, including an alleged illegal distribution of postal vote applications.
Lloyd’s is the latest of a series of internal resignations, including that of the deputy director Scott Samson last week, as part of a wider restructure.
Speaking to reporters, Guy said he did not know if Liberal candidates had sent out postal vote applications but stressed that he trusted and had “faith” in the state director, Sam McQuestin, to manage any accountability issues.
“These are matters for the organisation,” he said. “The organisation conducts a campaign. These matters are matters for the secretariat … and I trust the secretariat implicitly to manage them well.”
The Victorian Electoral Commission said it was examining reports that “general postal voter applications” had been sent out by candidates.
But it also said third parties – including candidates – can legally distribute such applications for some voters, including those over the age of 70 or who have ongoing problems in getting to polling booths.
This is separate to the laws that state that only the VEC can distribute applications for one-off postal voting, for which any voter can apply.
Guardian Australia reported last week that Samson’s resignation was part of a restructure instigated by the party’s state president, Greg Mirabella.
Mirabella took that role in August after he lost his Senate seat at the May election.
Guy’s office has suffered a series of departures this year, with the chief of staff Mitch Catlin forced to resign amid a donations scandal, as well as losing the former media director Lee Anderson and the office’s diary manager.
Pressed on whether he should be across what was happening in the party’s campaign office, Guy said: “This is not a one-man band … I don’t conduct the logistics of any campaign. I don’t manage a postal vote campaign.”
He vowed that the party would adhere to accountability rules.
His commitment came as the state’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission warned of a lack of transparency and accountability on donations and lobbying, and called for a cap on campaign expenditure.
Ibac’s commissioner, Robert Redlich, flagged gaps in the state’s donation regulations, saying investigations in other states highlighted weaknesses in Victoria’s framework.
In response, the Andrews government committed to adding updated donation law recommendations to the terms of reference for an independent expert panel review on the 2018 electoral reforms – which won’t take place until after the election.
