Victoria's ombudsman, Deborah Glass, has criticised Premier Daniel Andrews' response to a recent report from the state's Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC). 

Glass has renewed calls for urgent action to improve integrity in politics in light of the Operation Daintree report, which found that Victoria's government advisers pressured public servants to award a lucrative contract to a Labor ally before the 2018 election. 

The report described this behaviour as “grey corruption”, which falls short of criminal conduct but is still improper.

In an interview with ABC Radio Melbourne, Glass highlighted the report's findings as “disturbing” and compared them to previous findings she made in relation to the Labor Party's “red shirts rorts” in 2020 and the results of Operation Watts, a joint Ombudsman-IBAC probe that uncovered “extensive misconduct” by Victorian Labor MPs.

“The problem for me is not so much about the threshold or definition as what happens when behaviour falls short of that very high criminal threshold but is unethical, is wrong, and there are no consequences,” Glass said.

She suggested that the government set up a non-government-controlled parliamentary ethics committee and appoint an independent parliamentary commissioner, as recommended by Operation Watts, to address integrity issues.

The government has committed to implementing those recommendations but has not set a timeline.

Premier Daniel Andrews had described the report as “educational” and said the ministers and advisers named in it no longer worked in the government. 

He noted that there was no finding of corrupt conduct and rejected the report's finding that power in the government had become centralised in his private office.

Glass criticised the Premier's response, saying that it was at odds with the report's contents.

“Describing it merely as an educational report that made no findings does not in any way describe that report,” she said. 

“It's a damning report. I think that simply speaks volumes for his views on integrity and corruption. Not accepting that there are in fact damning findings within that report I think is disappointing.”

When asked about Glass's comments, Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said the government would “respond appropriately” to the report in due course.

“The Premier's been very clear that the contents of the report will be well considered in cabinet, and we will make decisions and announcements in relation to that in due course,” Symes said. 

“This isn't a report that is being ignored.”