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Extraordinary legal action has been commenced to stop the publication of potentially damning findings of a corruption investigation which has ensnared former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.
The Herald Sun can reveal the findings from IBAC’s long awaited Operation Richmond, which were finally due to be published in coming weeks, have now been shelved because of the action.
The report probes the dealings between the Andrews government and the powerful United Firefighters Union and interviewed the former Premier as part of its investigation.

IBAC wrote to key witnesses this week to advise of the unprecedented legal bid to block the report being made public.
“We write to update you/your client that the publication of IBAC’s special report on Operation Richmond has been delayed due to court proceedings commenced against IBAC,” it said.
“We remain committed to the release of the special report, which is ready for publication, pending the resolution of this matter.”
IBAC commissioner Victoria Elliott said last month she planned to publish the findings from the watchdog’s long-awaited investigation before July 1.
It is understood the action has been filed in the Supreme Court. It is not clear by who, but the militant United Firefighters Union has previously taken the matter to the High Court.
Peter Marshall did not respond to requests for comment but is understood to have told people privately the UFU was not behind the case.

The pending release of the report is expected to deliver a devastating blow to Labor’s election hopes, and amplify concerns around corruption amid the ongoing Big Build scandal.
Operation Richmond has been one of the most secretive operations in the history of IBAC and has involved scores of witnesses being called before secret hearings.
The investigation is understood to have probed the United Firefighters Union’s role in the amalgamation of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade and Country Fire Authority into Fire Services Victoria.

It is understood it began after a complaint was lodged with IBAC alleging misconduct on the part of the government in its dealings with the union.
Conversations with members of the government, and its support for the ALP forms part of the intercepted material, are also understood to be key to the probe.
Senior government MPs including Daniel Andrews emerged as figures of interest during the investigation.
Publication of Operation Richmond’s final report has been delayed by years because of legal challenges going all the way top the High Court.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has taken a swipe at the commonwealth’s lack of action on bracket creep, saying the current top marginal tax rate of 47 per cent means employees spend half the week working for the government.

In an endorsement of Angus Taylor’s pledge to fix tax brackets, Mr Minns said families were being “stung” as pay rises pushed workers into higher tax brackets.

Asked if he would have preferred personal income tax cuts to have been contained in the federal budget, Mr Minns said the state’s pay deals with nurses, paramedics and teachers were hurting their take home pay.

“Whether it’s in this budget or it’s in the future, we do need to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to hand more money back to working Australians,” he said.

“The top marginal rate of 47 per cent, as I said in parliament last week, you’re working Monday, Tuesday, and half of Wednesday for yourself, and then Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for the government.

“In a general sense, whether it’s now or in the future, we do need to make sure we’re taking urgent action when it comes to personal income taxes because at the moment, a lot of working families are getting stung.”

Opposition Leader Steven Miles has become only the second Labor leader to be found guilty of contempt of parliament after he was deemed to have misled parliament.

His predecessor Annastacia Palaszczuk was found guilty of contempt in 2019 for stripping the Katter’s Australian Party of its resources when its MPs would not denounce then-Senator Fraser Anning.

The powerful Ethics Committee recommended the parliament issue a finding of contempt against Mr Miles after he accused Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie of failing to disclose a conflict of interest before the 2024 state election.

In March last year Mr Bleijie wrote to the Speaker alleging Mr Miles, Deputy Opposition Leader Cameron Dick and Labor frontbencher Grace Grace deliberately misled parliament after they accused him of not disclosing that his Kawana home was adjacent to the planned Sunshine Coast direct rail line.

All three made comments alleging Mr Bleijie did not disclose the conflict of interest before the election.

Later, in a joint submission to the speaker, they denied they misled parliament and argued that Mr Bleijie should have directly disclosed his interest to constituents during the election campaign, while conceding he had made disclosures on the Register of Members’ Interests.

Mr Miles later argued he was referring to declaring the conflict of interest directly to Kawana voters.

“The committee found that the statement ‘ … the impact on his property was never disclosed at any point in time’ (emphasis added) is clearly factually incorrect due to the disclosures made by the Deputy Premier in both the House and on the register and which the Leader of the House stated he was aware of,” the committee found.

The committee concluded that each of the elements of contempt were established and determined an appropriate penalty for Mr Miles was to make an “unequivocal apology” at the earliest opportunity.

Mr Dick and Ms Grace were not found to be in contempt of parliament.

In March the committee wrote to Mr Miles advising him of a preliminary finding of contempt.

Shortly after the committee tabled the report, Mr Miles apologised to parliament.

“I accept the findings of the report, I offer my unreserved and sincere, unequivocal apology to the house,” he said.

The committee report was finalised last month but chair of the Ethics Committee LNP MP Ray Stevens did not table it until Thursday – just a few days away from the critical Stafford by-election.