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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Benita Kolovos

Former Victorian minister lobbied for developer who donated to daughter’s election campaign, Ibac report finds

IBAC AEC Kat ophanous Victoria Northcote Labor Stephen Farrow VPA
Theo Theophanous
Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission found former MP Theo Theophanous misused his position on the planning authority board. Photograph: Julian Smith/AAP

A former Victorian government minister secretly lobbied for a developer in exchange for donations to the 2018 election campaign of his daughter, Labor MP Kat Theophanous, the state’s corruption watchdog has found. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Kat Theophanous.

An Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (Ibac) special report, tabled in parliament on Wednesday, found Theo Theophanous improperly lobbied in favour of a $31bn proposal by the Australian Education City (AEC) consortium to develop a large education, residential and employment district in the western suburbs of Melbourne.

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