Victoria’s corruption watchdog will withhold the release of its probe into a council’s allegedly dodgy property deals until after a court hearing involving a key figure named in its report.
Melbourne property developer John Woodman has sought an urgent Victorian Supreme Court injunction to prevent the watchdog tabling its report in state parliament.
Mr Woodman was named a key figure during public IBAC hearings in 2019 and 2020 probing allegations of corrupt conduct involving councillors and property developers in the City of Casey in Melboxjmtzywurne’s southeast.
Mr Woodman’s lawyers have sought the injunction, arguing IBAC denied Mr Woodman enough time to respond to adverse material concerning him in its report, as required by law.
They are attempting to prevent IBAC from sending its report to the Victorian parliament for tabling until it complies with its statutory obligations and requirements of procedural fairness.
Mr Woodman’s lawyers have also asked for more details of IBAC’s evidence in support of the report.
Both parties briefly appeared in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, agreeing to adjourn the hearing until later this month.
Mr Woodman’s counsel Nick Wood SC said IBAC had provided additional material over the last two days.
“We’ve now been given about 50-odd A3 pages of footnotes which we’re reviewing,” he told the court.
“It will take us a while to figure out how much longer we need.”
Justice Tim Ginnane adjourned the matter until April 29 to allow the parties extra time.
Counsel for IBAC said its report on the investigation would not be presented to parliament until after that date.
Costs of the hearing were reserved.
It comes after former Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon was found dead just days after she received the IBAC’s draft report in January. There were no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death.
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