The Victorian Ombudsman will not refer the Labor Party's so-called "red shirts rorts" to the anti-corruption watchdog or police, after a fresh report into the scandal found no evidence Premier Daniel Andrews facilitated the scheme.
But Deborah Glass has criticised Victoria Police's handling of its 2018 investigation and said it should apologise to the 17 former Labor staff it arrested in dramatic pre-dawn raids.
The Victorian Parliament asked the ombudsman to consider referring the red shirts scandal to IBAC in February, after sacked Minister Adem Somyurek claimed Mr Andrews knew about the scheme in the lead-up to the 2014 election.
"It is time to end this debate," Ms Glass said.
"I cannot, of course, rule out that further evidence may yet come to light, but with the passage of time and difficulty in proof I am not prepared to spend further public resources on these matters."
In 2018, Ms Glass found Labor had misused $388,000 of public money through the red shirts rorts to campaign at the 2014 election. The party repaid the money and police did not lay charges.
Ms Glass said she did not find any significant differences in this investigation compared to the 2018 investigation.
"I concluded very clearly. I said it was wrong, I said it was an artifice, I said 21 members of parliament breached the members guide," Ms Glass told ABC Melbourne radio.
"But I never said it was criminal."
Since that report was released, the ombudsman said the only evidence that indicated Mr Andrews had any involvement in the scheme came from statements made by Mr Somyurek, who claimed Mr Andrews told him it was necessary for an election win.
"While Mr Andrews openly confirms he was aware of the scheme, there is no evidence available to me showing that he had any role in designing, propagating, or facilitating it," Ms Glass said.
Somyurek 'changed version of events'
The report said Mr Somyurek "changed his version of events" between his accounts of the conversation he had with Mr Andrews and he would not hand over emails which he said supported his claims.
Mr Somyurek also refused to provide the evidence he gave publicly to police, when he was contacted by a detective in November 2021, according to the report.
"It would be a breach of the parliamentary privilege of freedom of speech for me to question Mr Somyurek's motives or credibility," Ms Glass said.
However, she confirmed no new evidence had been presented to her and that Mr Somyurek gave conflicting testimony.
"There is no doubt his account changed. He provided several different accounts," she said.
"I refrain from comment and allow the evidence, presented in its entirety, to speak for itself."
The ombudsman found there was no evidence to justify further investigation by Victoria Police, or a referral to IBAC.
The latest report follows a damning a joint investigation by the ombudsman and IBAC last week, which found "extensive misconduct" and widespread misuse of public funds by the Labor Party.
The release of the report has devolved into mudslinging, with Mr Somyurek referring to the Ombudsman as a dog and as "Deborah Glass Jaw" in a tweet.
Ms Glass responded, saying she was accustomed to the abuse as part of her role.
"Of course I care but you have to have a pretty thick hide to be an Ombudsman," she said.
"That doesn't mean that people should get away with vile and misogynistic behaviour and I would very much hope that people will judge that for themselves and that parliament will judge it too."
Mr Andrews apologised for the "absolutely disgraceful" behaviour within his party and vowed to implement a raft of changes to stamp out corruption in parliament.
Ms Glass said until the matters were addressed with the "necessary rigour", the scandals would not be the last.
"That these issues continue to loom large in the public consciousness as an example of unpunished wrongdoing is a product of many factors, including the police operation in 2018," the ombudsman said.
"But it is also a product of the unsatisfactory state of the law in relation to the misuse of public funds, and an inadequate system for investigating and sanctioning MPs who break the rules."
Ombudsman says Victoria Police should apologise
The ombudsman did not begin her initial probe into the red shirts scandal until Victoria Police had completed its first investigation in 2015.
Ms Glass questioned why police had chosen to reopen an investigation into the matter after her 2018 report, which found criminal action was not required.
"Despite this strong hint that no further action should be necessary, in July 2018, ombudsman investigators were advised that Victoria Police intended to commence an investigation," the report said.
"In my view, given that the core evidence remained essentially unchanged since 2014, the 2018 Victoria Police operation contributed to misleading the public perception of the conduct in question."
The ombudsman said it was "a pity" senior members of Victoria Police did not intervene to stop the dawn arrests of Labor Party campaign staff in 2018 and suggested the force should apologise.
"It is not clear why MPs were not treated in the same, allegedly heavy-handed, fashion as their staffers," Ms Glass said.
"It may relieve the sense of unfairness that at least some of those arrested must have felt, if senior police command would acknowledge this and apologise to them."
Ms Glass said the "main gap" in her 2018 investigation was the lack of evidence from upper house MPs, who did not respond to ombudsman requests for information about their knowledge of the scheme.
"If I were to successfully compel the 20 MPs who did not provide evidence in 2017, to give evidence now … they could credibly claim not to remember conversations some eight years after," she said.
"I expect my ultimate findings would have remained the same, had I sought to compel members of the Legislative Assembly to give evidence."
