Firefighters leaked info to union: IBAC

Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog has found public servants at the Metropolitan Fire Brigade hacked management emails to “further the interests” of union boss Peter Marshall.

In a report handed down on Wednesday, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) identified five incidents where information was accessed or disclosed without authorisation between April 2018 and May 2019.

The probe, dubbed Operation Turton, began in 2019 after the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) referred the allegations to IBAC.

The report found three individuals accessed email accounts of Brigade executives and shared information with the United Firefighters Union to advantage the union or its Secretary Peter Marshall.

“The impact of the conduct varied but included breaches of privacy, risks to the integrity of investigations and impeding the efficient operation of MFB,” the report notes.

“It was clear these incidents were facilitated by a workplace culture where employees did not trust management and did not believe them to be acting in the best interests of the organisation or its employees.”

Incidents highlighted in the report include Mr Marshall requesting employees access information relating to a bullying investigation into himself and disclosing that executive contracts were being renewed.

In another instance, Mr Marshall was given unauthorised access to a PowerPoint presentation on a software program used to allocate resources — which he later handed to the then-Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville.

The former MFB chief executive later told IBAC the believed the union boss had “influenced the Minister … with the intention of stopping MFB purchasing the software”.

The report notes during examination Ms Neville could not recall receiving the PowerPoint but accepted she, or her office, received it from Mr Marshall.

She told IBAC the document did not appear to be confidential or a leak, and it was appropriate to discuss with the MFB because they would require her approval to retain the software.

Responding to a draft report, Mr Marshall argued IBAC had mischaracterised the substantive matter by referring to it as a purchase of software rather than an concern for the safety of firefighters and the public.

In the report, IBAC notes the watchdog repeatedly heard throughout the investigation that union influence over the MFB was “unprecedented”.

The report flags corruption risks identified in the MFB’s systems and policies transferred over to the Fire Rescue Victoria agency in 2020, recommending four changes to address the risks.

“Operation Turton highlights how information misuse can enable misconduct and can be used to advance personal and industrial interests,” IBAC commissioner Victoria Elliot said.

“More broadly, I urge every public sector employee, particularly leaders, to champion and cultivate a healthy workplace culture; it is the most powerful antidote to prevent and deter corruption and misconduct.”

In a statement, the United Firefighters Union called for an investigation into IBAC for misuse of power, saying there had been no findings of corruption in the “4-year witch hunt”.

“The report lays bare IBAC’s complete and abject failure to play its role in an impartial way – ignoring real examples of corruption by MFB officials, in the misguided and feverish pursuit of the union,” the union said.

“This report was based on selective analysis and quotations of evidence and snippets of dubious evidence taken out of context and provided by individuals with an axe to grind against the union.”