Daniel Andrews (pictured) has explained why he is not resigning
Daniel Andrews has explained why he is not resigning after reports he is being investigated by Victoria's anti-corruption watchdog over a deal struck with firefighters two years ago.
The Opposition said Mr Andrews should follow the lead of former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian who stood down last week after it emerged she was being investigated for corruption over her relationship with ex-boyfriend Daryl Maguire.
Ms Berejiklian denied any wrongdoing but said she had no choice but to step down because of her own policy requiring ministers to stand aside if they were being investigated.
Mr Andrews said he would not be resigning because he does not have the same stand-down policy regarding investigations by IBAC, Victoria's Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission.
'Just because you were assisting IBAC or were involved in some way, that that without any question or as a binary thing, you would have to step down, no, I don't believe that's accurate, I don't believe that's fair,' the Victorian Premier said on Thursday.
IBAC has been secretly investigating the United Firefighters Union's role in Victoria's fire services reform since 2019.
But The Age newspaper on Wednesday revealed the watchdog is also examining Mr Andrews and a senior public servant's interactions with the union and has interviewed several former and serving Labor MPs and staffers.
According to the report, IBAC has seized mobile phones, laptops and dozens of USBs in its investigation.
No evidence of corruption has been reported publicly.
Speaking outside parliament on Wednesday and again on Thursday, Mr Andrews repeatedly declined to confirm whether he was being investigated by the watchdog.
After four days of hiding in a CBD hotel after her resignation, Gladys Berejiklian (pictured) turned up at her electorate office in Northbridge on Wednesday morning
Legally he may not be able to as it can be an offence for individuals to confirm that they have been interviewed by IBAC or are subject to an investigation.
'If you want to know what's going on at IBAC, who they're talking to and what they're talking to them about, then you should go and have a chat to IBAC,' he told reporters on Wednesday.
'In everything I do, I behave appropriately. I'm very conscious of the oath that I swore and the duty I have to every single Victorian and to suggest otherwise is completely wrong.'
The commission refused to comment on whether it is investigating Mr Andrews.
'As a matter of practice, IBAC does not comment on whether it has a complaint or investigation before it,' it said in a statement.
Mr Andrews said he had not spoken to UFU secretary Peter Marshall in more than a year and that he was proud of the Government's 2019 reforms to the fire services, which involved merging Metropolitan Fire Brigade members and career Country Fire Authority firefighters into the new Fire Rescue Victoria.
When she arrived home Ms Berejiklian (pictured) picked up a bunch of flowers outside her gate and entered her property
The UFU championed the reforms, while volunteer firefighters and the Victorian opposition said it would hand the union too much power.
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