Australian Labor MPs’ text messages reveal colourful language

Abusive text messages written by federal MP Anthony Byrne have plunged the Labor Party into further crisis after three Victorian parliamentary members were forced to quit in the same scandal.

In the private text messages Mr Byrne said he wanted to ‘p**s on the corpse’ of former federal Labor MP Alan Griffin, called a female politician a ‘drunk’ and an unnamed female Labor activist a ‘ratf**ker’.

Former Labor leader Bill Shorten, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and retired federal MP Michael Danby were also criticised in the text messages.

The text messages were released as political payback by Victorian powerbroker Adem Somyurek, according to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Mr Somyurek was sacked by Mr Andrews after recordings indicated branch stacking, his boasting of controlling who became Premier, and foul-mouthed abuse of colleagues and staff.

The secret recordings obtained by Channel Nine were made in Mr Byrne’s Melbourne electorate office in Cranbourne West. 

In response, the leaking of Mr Byrne’s messages to Mr Somyurek included promises to ruin the career of a Labor operative.

‘Because if she mucks you up I will make sure she guest stars in the next Four Corners hatchet job on China. Which I will be on. Watch her, she’s a ratf**ker,’ he wrote.

The Victorian backbencher used strong language to express his disdain for Mr Griffin: ‘I want Griffin destroyed. I want his head cut off and then I am going to p**s on his corpse’.

In the private text messages Mr Byrne says he wants to ‘piss on the corpse’ of Alan Griffin, calls a female MP a ‘drunk’ and an unnamed female Labor activist a ‘ratf**ker’

Adem Somyurek (pictured) reportedly released the text messages as political payback against Mr Byrne 

He wrote to Mr Somyurek on another occasion: ‘On the plane with Bill (Shorten) and the drunk (female Labor figure). She’s dribbling s**t.’

Mr Byrne also expressed his anger towards the Victorian Premier: ‘Hope Daniel (Andrews) enjoys the victory. I hope this signs his death warrant politically’. 

Mr Byrne said Mr Somyurek had ‘selectively released a hand-picked selection of text messages I sent over two years’. 

He said the leaks came ‘just hours after I made a public statement that I had contacted authorities and would assist with their corruption investigations into him. That speaks for itself.’

The potential problem for Labor was more acute than Victorian state politics, given Mr Byrne’s position on federal parliament’s powerful intelligence committee.

‘On the plane with Bill (Shorten) (pictured) and the drunk (female Labor figure). She’s dribbling s**t,’ he wrote on another occasion

‘In respect of the misinformation circulating, I want to make clear that I take the matters raised recently seriously and have been in touch with authorities to offer my full assistance,’ Mr Byrne told AAP.

‘I welcome investigations into corruption, which has no place in the party I love.

‘Because I do not want to cross over or impede any investigations that may be occurring, I’m unable to comment further at this point in time.’

Attorney-General Christian Porter described the installation of a recording device with an MP’s office as a serious concern.

Mr Porter questioned why Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese had not questioned his backbencher about it.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg poked fun at the scandal during Question Time, when the intelligence committee’s Liberal chairman gave him a free hit.

Mr Byrne also expressed his anger towards the Victorian Premier: ‘Hope Daniel (Andrews) enjoys the victory. I hope this signs his death warrant politically’

‘He, unlike other members of that committee, has informed me that he doesn’t have any secret hidden cameras in his office,’ Mr Frydenberg told parliament.

The prime minister also put the boot in when fielding a crossbench question about plans for a national integrity commission.

‘I would be very surprised if those opposite in the Labor Party would be asking questions about integrity today,’ Scott Morrison said.

Both attempts at humour elicited audible groans from those on the Labor benches.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said he had not spoken to Mr Byrne about the branch-stacking scandal, which is being investigated by Victoria Police and the state’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.

Under Victorian law, recording a conversation does not require the consent of the person being recorded, unlike some other states.

Three ministers out of a job, a police investigation and a furious premier on a warpath: Inside Labor’s ‘appalling’ branch-stacking scandal – as mystery surrounds who leaked secret tapes

Daniel Andrews appeared to be on the warpath as he vowed to ‘clean-up’ his party after a major scandal claimed three of his ministers and sparked a police investigation.

The Victorian Premier apologised to hard-working Labor supporters on Wednesday after allegations of ‘industrial scale’ branch-stacking were levelled in a 60 Minutes programme on Sunday night.

Branch-stacking is when new party members are recruited to influence the outcome of internal elections. The practice is against both Liberal and Labor guidelines and can be illegal if it involves faking addresses or forging signatures. 

Adem Somyurek (pictured in May, 2019) has been sacked over allegations of branch stacking

Former Victorian minister Marlene Kairouz (left) resigned from her post after she was caught up in the scandal. She denies any wrongdoing

The 60 Minutes show aired a series of recorded CCTV footage and phone calls which allegedly showed former minister for local government Adem Somyurek plotting and carrying out a huge branch-stacking operation involving creating fake members, which he denies. 

Mystery remains over who made the secret tapes, but the day after the show a furious Premier Andrews sacked Mr Somyurek and said: ‘I have ended his career.’ 

Mr Somyurek was a powerbroker within the Victorian right and some analysts say his downfall benefits former Labor leader Bill Shorten, who now stands to increase his influence over the Labor right. 

Since then two other ministers whose staff were allegedly involved in the scandal have resigned from their positions, Minister for Consumer Affairs Marlene Kairouz and Minister for Veterans Robin Scott.

Both vowed to clear their names but said they didn’t want to cause a distraction for the government or add to their families’ distress. 

Premier Andrews, determined to find and stamp out any wrongdoing, has referred the allegations to the police and Victoria’s anti-corruption commission. 

Last night he also made the extraordinary move of asking the national executive to block Victorian ALP members from voting in internal elections while every one is verified as a real and willing member who paid their own membership fees. 

Adem Somyurek (centre) pictured at a meeting in May, 2019. Mr Somyurek is still an MP although he has resigned from the Labor Party

Former Victorian minister Robin Scott (pictured) resigned from his post after he was caught up in the scandal. He denies any wrongdoing 

There are fears that up to 25 per cent of the members have been hoodwinked into signing up or faked altogether.  

In a letter to the executive, Mr Andrews said he had ‘no confidence in the integrity of any voting rolls’ and asked national leadership to appoint former premier Steve Bracks and former federal minister Jenny Macklin to oversee the clean-up.

Speaking to reporters outside parliament this morning, he said: ‘We have got to go through a process where each and every rank-and-file member re-establishes that they are genuine, consenting and self-funded members of our great party.

‘We need to clean this up and we will’.

Premier Andrews, who has been praised for effectively handling the scandal by swiftly sacking Mr Somyurek, apologised to innocent party members who have had their voting rights stripped until 2023.

‘I’ve got a message for all of those true believers, those genuine hard-working local branch members, who hand out how-to-vote cards, who make phone calls, who knock on doors, who debate policy – I thank you for your work and your passion. I apologise for your pain,’ he said.  

Meanwhile, questions are being raised over who took the secret recordings of Mr Somyurek and how they came into the hands of 60 Minutes. 

Phone call recordings and footage taken in Victorian federal MP Anthony Byrne’s electoral office showed the former minister calling a female colleague a ‘psycho bitch’, branding gay staff members ‘slimy little f***ers’ and boasting he was more powerful than the premier.

Mr Somyurek said: ‘It is clear that I was taped and surveilled in a federal electorate office without my knowledge and that this material was published without my knowledge of its existence or my consent.

‘I will be taking steps to seek a police investigation into these matters.’

Victorian Labor MP Tim Richardson has also called for an investigation on national security grounds. 

‘We don’t know who put those recordings in, we don’t know what has been compromised,’ he said.

Jaclyn Symes, Gabrielle Williams, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, Melissa Horne and Adem Somyurek in 2018

‘That is a great concern for our Commonwealth and our national security.

‘The notion that there is an unknown covert recording is a great concern on our democracy and on our sovereignty and that needs to be investigated by the Australian Federal Police, and if it’s a national security risk, ASIO.’

Asked about the recordings on Monday, Labor leader Anthony Albanese said: ‘There were a range of other calls taped, somehow. 

‘I don’t know all of the circumstances of it. That will all come out, no doubt, over a period of time. That really isn’t the story here.’

Mr Somyurek claims he resigned but Premier Andrews said he sacked the minister at 9am on Monday.

‘Mr Somyurek was not offered an opportunity to resign. He is not worthy of an opportunity to resign. He was sacked. And that is the fact of the matter,’ Premier Andrews said.

‘He offered no defence of his actions. It was not a meeting where I was having a debate or discussion with him. I was simply doing him the courtesy of informing him in person of the decisions that I had taken.’

‘The conduct is appalling and unacceptable and will not be tolerated and I have taken action to deal with that.’ 

Party powerbroker Adem Somyurek (pictured) has been banished from Labor after allegedly being caught branch stacking, which he denies

The Premier said the first he heard of the allegations was when he watched 60 Minutes on Sunday night. 

The programme claimed to reveal the upper house MP handed over thousands of dollars in cash and used parliamentary employees to create fake branch members and amass political influence within the Australian Labor Party. 

Footage shows Mr Somyurek on April 13 withdrawing $2,000 in cash from an ATM, before handing it and dozens of party membership forms to an adviser working for fellow Labor minister Marlene Kairouz, who then delivers the forms and cash to ALP head office.

The advisor reportedly carried out a similar cash drop-off earlier in the year.

‘Well, if he (the advisor) gets caught on the street, he’d better not say he’s doing f***ing this stuff,’ Mr Somyurek is recorded saying after the April 13 drop.

Mr Somyurek was also allegedly recorded ordering people to forge signatures and create false statements, in which Labor branch members claim to have paid for their own memberships.

He also talks about directing taxpayer-funded parliamentary employees, meant to be working for other MPs, to conduct party political operations. 

In one recording, Mr Somyurek boasts of controlling two-thirds of the Labor party in Victoria.

‘I’ll be just running the joint,’ Mr Somyurek says.

‘It’s who I say is going to be the f***ing premier.’

It is against Labor rules to pay for other people’s memberships and members are required to sign a form declaring they have paid their own fees.

In the recordings, Mr Somyurek also takes aim at his colleagues, including Ms Kairouz, who he describes as holding a ‘meaningless’ portfolio ‘made up just to make it look like we’re interested in the suburbs’.

He labels the Minister for Women and the Prevention of Family Violence Gabrielle Williams a ‘stupid b****’ whom he will ‘f***ing force … out of the ministry’.

Somyurek also describes these young staffers helping him as ‘patronising and annoying’, and ‘real little f***ing slimy little f***ers, little passive-aggressive f***ing gay kids.’