Top surgeon Greg Malham under investigation after shocking late-night footage surfaced of him ranting and tearing down a female MP’s election poster

A private hospital group has launched an investigation into an acclaimed surgeon who trampled an MP’s campaign sign in the tense run-up to the federal election.

Footage circulated this week on social media showed Melbourne-based Professor Greg Malham binning the board of teal Kooyong member Dr Monique Ryan and telling viewers to ‘bury the body’.

Private hospital group Epworth HealthCare, with whom Professor Malham works at  the Richmond branch, said they were launching an investigation on Saturday.

‘Epworth HealthCare is deeply concerned by the unacceptable behaviour displayed by surgeon Professor Greg Malham in a video on social media,’ the group’s chief executive, Professor Andrew Stripp, told Daily Mail Australia.

‘[The group] requested an explanation from Prof. Malham about the incident.

‘As a result of those initial enquiries Epworth decided to commission an independent investigation to provide advice on appropriate action to be taken in this serious matter.’

Professor Malham has agreed to fully co-operate with the independent investigation. He has also agreed to take leave while the inquiries are made.

‘He has advised Epworth he has self-reported to the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency and will be fully accountable for his behaviour,’ Professor Stripp said.

In the recording, the senior spinal neurosurgeon placed Dr Monique Ryan’s campaign sign in his car in the middle of a dark street

Private hospital group Epworth HealthCare is investigating Professor Greg Malham, one of the neurosurgeons operating in their Richmond branch (pictured)

In the recording, the senior spinal neurosurgeon placed Dr Monique Ryan’s campaign sign in his car in the middle of a dark street.

When an unidentified woman asked if he had anything to say, Professor Malham raised a fist and said ‘Go Trump’.

The footage also included a shot at a different location where he removed the sign, stamped on it and addressed the camera.

‘Just finishing the job, boys. Always gotta bury the body.

‘Just remember these tutorials. It is all about technique, Nigel. Always remember guys, good technique, then dispose of the evidence.

‘Always remember boys, bury the body under concrete.’

After the video was slammed by Dr Ryan and other politicians, Professor Malham released a statement apologising for his behaviour.

‘I am deeply sorry and regret my actions in the video and fully understand the serious distress it has caused in the community,’ he said.

Professor Malham (pictured) said he is fully cooperating with the investigation and has apologised for his ‘lapse in judgement’ during the video

‘There is no excuse for my unacceptable behaviour and I will be fully cooperating with the independent investigation commissioned by Epworth HealthCare.

‘I will be fully accountable for my actions.

‘I sincerely and unreservedly apologise for this lapse in judgement that does not reflect my core values and beliefs.’

Professor Malham runs a private practice in neurosurgery in Melbourne and is an adjunct professor at Swinburne University.

His website refers to him as ‘one of Australasia’s premier spine surgeons’.

Professor Malham also told The Age he had refunded the cost of the sign for Dr Ryan’s campaign plus ‘a bit extra’. The campaign said it rejected and refunded the money.

‘We’ve seen groups from both within and outside Kooyong stoking division through aggressively negative advertising,’ Dr Ryan told the Melbourne publication.

‘It’s creating a climate of hostility that is distressing to candidates, volunteers and the broader community.’

Dr Ryan (pictured) has said her opponent, Liberal Candidate for Kooyong, Amelia Hamer, has experienced similar behaviour during the run-up to the federal election

Dr Ryan said she is aware of similar incidents that affected her opponent.

‘I unequivocally condemn this behaviour in all its forms. There’s no place in Australian electoral campaigns or society for violence and aggression.’

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Dr Ryan for comment.  

Other politicians have come out against Professor Malham’s behaviour.

Independent Federal Member for Goldstein, Zoe Daniel called the video ‘an apparent endorsement of violence against women’.

Meanwhile, the Liberal candidate for Kooyong, Amelia Hamer, said there is no place for intimidation or destruction in politics.

The Kooyong election race, which could prove a vital seat for the Liberals in Victoria, has been particularly heated over the last few weeks.

Dr Ryan’s husband was caught on film ripping down a poster of Ms Hamer, refusing several times to say who he was when confronted by a Liberal supporter.

Two days later a pair were captured on CCTV allegedly vandalising a Liberal poster hung on the front gate of a home in the upmarket suburb of Toorak.

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