The corruption watchdog says Labor has used its taxpayer-funded electorate officers in a way that was ‘fundamentally undemocratic’ – risking serious misconduct. Whilst the CCC didn’t make adverse findings against any Labor figures, it has issued a clear warning to the party.
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TVTranscript
00:00The CCC probe started here, in the Premier's electorate office.
00:07In 2022, one of his former electorate officers claimed that during the COVID-19 pandemic,
00:14she was tasked with fast-tracking the G2G pass applications of Labor associates.
00:20We extensively explored that, but came to the view there was no evidence to support
00:25that allegation.
00:27But what they did find was widespread use of taxpayer-funded electorate office staff
00:32for election campaigning.
00:34I suspect it's been going on for years, but it's wrong.
00:39This is state money, and it should be used for state purposes, and not for party political
00:45purposes.
00:46The report highlighted a slide at a training session for incoming Labor electorate officers,
00:51which said,
00:52Everything we do in electorate offices is campaigning.
00:55Every time we talk to voters, we are campaigning.
00:59Labor claims any hours electorate officers spent on party campaigning were made up later,
01:04something the CCC was unable to prove or disprove.
01:08But what it draws our attention to is the importance to make sure that members of parliament
01:12continue to act with integrity, and that goes for their staff as well.
01:17This investigation isn't over yet, with the CCC now looking into how a draft copy
01:21of this report was illegally leaked to a journalist last month.
01:26Clearly it was leaked for a political purpose.
01:29I don't know what that purpose was.
01:32If it was, as it were, a controlled detonation of a bombshell, well, here we are today.
01:37The CCC has recommended changes, including tracking the use of time by electorate officers.