DOCUMENTS KEPT SECRET
Dear Editor,
Daniel Andrews is again spending Victorian taxpayer dollars fighting against an order to hand over documents that question the integrity and conduct of the Labor Government.
Information Commissioner Sven Bluemmel has ordered the Premier’s personal office to release documents detailing secret COVID-19 surveys that monitored public reaction to Labor’s lockdowns in 2020, at the height of the pandemic.
Among other things, the survey – conducted by QDOS Research, a polling company led by Labor strategist John Armitage – asked Victorians to give the Premier and his leadership a score out of ten.
True to form, Labor is fighting the order with a last minute, taxpayer-funded bid to keep these documents secret.
It’s the latest in a long line of attacks the Andrews Labor Government has launched against transparency and accountability.
Under Daniel Andrews, Victoria’s anti-corruption and integrity bodies, including the IBAC, the Victorian Ombudsman and the Parliamentary Budget Office, are being starved of funds and resources.
Last month, Labor MPs blocked a move to immediately provide $10M for the IBAC and $2M for the Victorian Ombudsman – a policy already committed by The Nationals.
Concerningly, Labor’s funding squeeze comes as the Premier and his Government Ministers are subject to multiple corruption investigations by the IBAC and the Ombudsman.
Victoria’s integrity agencies should be strengthened, supported and resourced to prevent corruption in public office.
But Daniel Andrews is stopping at nothing to keep the truth hidden from Victorians.
Peter Walsh
Leader of The Nationals
Member for Murray Plains
