James Newbury: Shadow attorney-general puts “Labor cronies” on notice regarding board positions
Labor members and associates would be sacked from Victorian government boards if the Coalition is elected in November, with shadow attorney-general James Newbury declaring “Labor cronies” are officially on notice.
“I’m telling you. Clean up your resume because it is time to clean house in Victoria.”
The commitment comes after The Age revealed more than one in every 10 of the highest fee-paying board positions in the state were filled by either a Labor member or someone with close ties to the party.
ALP members make up just 0.17 per cent of Victoria’s population, raising concerns the boards do not accurately reflect the community they serve.
The findings raise questions about the integrity of an appointment system that is specifically meant to be merit-based and reflect community diversity.
The state’s 843 boards oversee everything from the pipes delivering the state’s water, to health services and cemetery trusts – with some director roles commanding annual salaries of up to $160,000 for part-time work.
“Our clear intention is to actively improve the quality of Victoria’s boards,” he said.
“I say to every Labor crony, and there are hundreds of them in taxpayer roles, I am putting you on notice today.”
Newbury said some ex-MPs were put onto government boards before the ink was dry on the press release announcing their retirement, turning the appointment process into a joke.
“Come November, Victorians I hope are going to vote out this Labor government,” he said. “And if you are some crony on a government board, quit. Because a day after the election, you are not going to have any good news.”
An Allan government spokesperson responded to Newbury’s comments to say the Liberal Party is “obsessed with sacking people”.
“They won’t stop at boards. They’ll come after nurses and teachers and sack them next,” they said.
Peter Frost, a member of the Accountability Round Table, said the figures on Labor-linked board appointments confirmed a pattern that had been flagged by integrity experts for years.
“Public officers, whether elected or appointed, are trustees for the people,” he said.
“When board appointments are handed to political allies, there is a risk that trust is broken.
“Victorians have no way of knowing whether the people overseeing their hospitals, their water authorities and their infrastructure are making decisions in the public interest or the party’s interest,” he said.
Frost, who was previously head of the Office of Public Sector Management and special adviser on public sector reform, said this was an issue that extended well beyond the current government, and had been going on for years.
“It is not just a minor governance concern. It creates a risk to the integrity of public institutions.”
While smaller board positions, which are typically unpaid, are filled by departments, any appointment deemed “significant” must pass through the cabinet room.
Frost said this system was designed to keep political control over appointments and did not provide independent checks or meaningful transparency.
“Oversight of such appointments by a parliamentary committee is required,” Frost said.
Premier Jacinta Allan on Sunday defended the current system of appointing board members.
“There is a thorough process that is always followed for board appointments and Victorian government boards have on those boards the best people for the job,” she said.
On Monday, The Age revealed that David Feeney, a former federal Labor MP and shadow assistant defence minister, had been appointed as Victoria’s key intermediary to the defence industry while working at a lobbying firm that has clients in the sector.
That firm, Dragoman, confirmed they had discussed potential conflicts of interest with Feeney to ensure they were avoided.
This masthead is not suggesting Feeney or the government has failed to appropriately manage any conflict of interest between his positions.
The Coalition did not go into detail about how their plan would work in detail, other than to say that if elected, they would actively spill board positions, or entire boards, where there was suspected political interference.
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Chip Le Grand leads our state politics reporting team. He previously served as the paper’s chief reporter and is a journalist of 30 years’ experience.Connect via email.
