Minister for Local Government Adem Somyurek has named Member for McEwen Rob Mitchell as one of the Labor MPs he was gunning to replace as part of a branch stacking fiasco.
Mr Somyurek was sacked from from the State Government cabinet yesterday, in the wake of allegations of branch stacking.
Mr Somyurek allegedly handed over thousands of dollars in secret drop-offs and stacked branches with fake members, The Age and Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes revealed on Sunday night.
Mr Somyurek reportedly ordered people to forge signatures, create false statements in an effort to seize power within the Labor Party at both a state and federal level.
He was also caught on tape making threatening and derogatory comments about several ALP members, including state Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and Women Gabrielle Williams.
In a statement on Monday morning, Premier Daniel Andrews said Mr Somyurek has been sacked and the Attorney General has referred the allegations to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission and to Victoria Police for investigation.
“Adem Somyurek’s conduct and commentary are unacceptable and fall well short of the standards I expect,” he said.
“Mr Somyurek’s comments are derogatory and offensive and are unacceptable to the government.
“I have also written to the national executive of the Australian Labor Party asking that Mr Somyurek’s membership be terminated.”
According to The Age, Mr Somyurek swore to force Mr Mitchell out of Federal Parliament and told Mr Mitchell to ‘think about his future’.
Mr Mitchell told the Review he was more focused on the Wallan interchange.
“Internal party matters are something that I’m not particularly interested in and my day was spent talking about the Wallan interchange with the Prime Minister and deputy Prime Minister, that’s my focus,” Mr Mitchell said.
Mr Mitchell did not want to elaborate further on the internal Labor issue.
You got the last laugh Rob!