IBAC’s Operation Daintree report once again damns Andrews’ government

Victoria’s IBAC has once again damned the Andrews government less than proper practices, to say the least, with the release of the Operation Daintree report, covering the awarding of $3.4 million by the government to the Health Workers Union (HWU) in 2018. 

The money, awarded in two tranches, was ostensibly intended for the union to hire outsource training in dealing with violent and aggressive users of health services and hospitals.

But most of the money was never used for this purpose, presumably because COVID intervened, and the training that was delivered was assessed by its trainees to be shoddy and useless, with no expertise, according to the report. 

The report notes that public servants awarding the money had major reservations about giving such grants to the HWU (formerly known as the Health Services Union, Number One — the HWU is a name used to cover its past history), which has a long past of corruption and incompetence. The HWU was the union run by Kathy Jackson, who became a whistleblower to the Tony Abbott-led Trade Union Royal Commission.

She later pled guilty to numerous charges of misuse of union funds. 

Jackson was replaced by Diana Asmar, the current head, with the late Kimberley Kitching hired as general manager. Kitching was later found to have sat a number of workplace entry certificate tests on behalf of union organisers, allegedly on the orders of Asmar.

Charges against Kitching were recommended but never pursued.

Following this, the union reported deficits that required it to sell its own headquarters, in circumstances still to be fully explained. 

Asmar is associated with the Bill Shorten-AWU-aligned faction within Victoria, “the Shorts”, as it were. 

Shorten himself has been on a media blitz over the past day or so, talking about an overhaul of the NDIS, and rooting out corruption. What an incredible coincidence.

The Daintree report has 17 recommendations arising from the matter, all of which are concerned with executive procedure, the scope of the parliamentary integrity commission, lobbying and other concerns. 

There are no recommendations for further specific action as regards the HWU, or the fate of the payments made by the government to the union.