The Victorian Labor MP Kat Theophanous says she has always acted appropriately, after the state’s corruption watchdog – which found no evidence of her doing anything wrong – concluded her father secretly lobbied for a developer in exchange for donations to her 2018 campaign.
The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (Ibac) findings, tabled in parliament on Wednesday, concluded former Labor minister 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 Melbourne’s western suburbs.
The three-year investigation did not identify any direct payments from AEC to Theo Theophanous for his work, but found there were “other arrangements that provided financial and in-kind benefit to people associated with [him]”.
“In particular the 2018 campaign for the seat of Northcote, which was contested by Mr Theophanous’ daughter,” the report said.
Ibac did not find any evidence to suggest Kat Theophanous was aware of her father’s relationship with AEC and made no adverse findings against the MP, who won the seat of Northcote in 2018 on a margin of 1.7% against the Greens.
In a statement on Wednesday night, Kat Theophanous noted the report “has made no adverse findings against myself or any member of the government”.
“I have always acted appropriately and Ibac’s report makes it clear that I had no knowledge of the circumstances outlined,” she said.
“All donations made to my campaigns were appropriately disclosed.”
At the time of the activity outlined by Ibac, Theo Theophanous was serving on the board of the Metropolitan Planning Authority, which later became the Victorian Planning Authority (VPA).
The VPA was responsible for seeking expressions of interest for the project in 2014 and continued to receive information and provide assistance to government about it when Theo Theophanous was approached by the AEC for help in early 2018.
Geoffrey Watson, a director at the Centre for Public Integrity, called on the Victorian Labor party to return the funds solicited by Theo Theophanous for his daughter’s campaign.
“It [the funds] should not remain to the benefit of the Labour party … I know it’s already been spent but tough luck,” he said.
Watson urged the party to speak to the Victorian electoral commission to determine where the funds be returned to.
“It can’t in good conscience hold on to that money,” he said.
A government spokesperson said the contents of the Ibac report “are damning and go to the judgement of Mr Theophanous”.
“Mr Theophanous has resigned from the VPA board. In light of Ibac report, the government has also asked him to resign immediately from his position as a board member of State Trustees,” the spokesperson said.
Theo Theophanous issued a seperate statement confirming his resignation.
Ibac’s report said Theo Theophanous was not formally appointed as an AEC lobbyist but engaged in activities including phone calls, text messages and in-person meetings with Victorian ministers and government representatives involved in the project, the report found.
In 2019, when the project was rejected by the state, Theo Theophanous texted three ministers urging further negotiation.
Theo Theophanous said he “absolutely and categorically reject[ed]” the allegations.
He said since leaving parliament he continues to speak to ministers and bureaucrats “on a wide range of topics as a trusted confidant and party elder”.
“I tried to explain this background to Ibac and presented evidence to them that I was not lobbying for the project but expressing support for it,” Theo Theophanous said. “It is a fine but important distinction.
“My support was as an interested public figure, and citizen. I strongly believed that the project, appropriately delivered, would contribute to much-needed investment, employment, and educational stimulus in an economically depressed area.”
Ibac’s report made four recommendations, which the government has supported in principle, including amending guidelines to ensure lobbyists are ineligible for appointment to public entity boards that relate to their line of work.
