Operation Richmond to parliament<\/a>, this development comes after multiple delays spanning the seven years since the investigation first began.<\/p>\nThe highly secretive probe launched in 2019 centred on enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations that took place in 2016 between the powerful United Firefighters Union and the Andrews government. Those negotiations ultimately led to the splitting of the state\u2019s fire services into Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) and the Country Fire Authority (CFA).<\/p>\n
It\u2019s understood key to the probe are closed-door meetings between Andrews government members and firefighters\u2019 union boss Peter Marshall.<\/p>\n
The EBA dispute was a massive issue for the government in 2016, prompting former Victorian Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett to famously resign from Cabinet as former Premier Daniel Andrews sought<\/p>\n
to push a disputed enterprise agreement with the firefighters\u2019 union through.<\/p>\n
Ms Garrett, who died in 2022 from breast cancer at age 49, staunchly opposed to the deal being negotiated, which prompted her to stand down. <\/p>\n
She had also previously accused union boss Peter Marshall of making serious personal threats against her and her staff, including threatening to put an axe in her head, an allegation Mr Marshall has always furiously denied.<\/p>\n
After her standing down, Mr Andrews moved to split the fire services in a bid to end the industrial dispute. <\/p>\n
The Operation Richmond investigation has been the most secretive in the state\u2019s history, with those hauled before the inquiry barred from speaking publicly and little is known about the original referral and the ongoing probe. <\/p>\n
Some Allan government MPs say state members are bracing for potential fallout once the document lands, and are concerned it will compound the public\u2019s perception of integrity concerns with unions due to the CFMEU Big Build scandal. <\/p>\n
Several sources told the Herald Sun that Mr Marshall\u2019s years-long attempt to block the investigation results from being made public was a clear sign of damaging evidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amount of money that\u2019s been spent on legal matters to do with this report coming out is just astronomical, so obviously its not good\u201d one Labor MP said.<\/p>\n
However, others have pointed to the drawn-out nature of the legal battles as evidence that IBAC\u2019s powers need strengthening, which the state government have finally committed to do.<\/p>\n
Another government MP said many were not convinced the report will be an issue as it may not find corrupt findings, and is so old that the public would likely not be held against the Allan government.<\/p>\n
The Integrity Oversight Committee tabled a report in December 2025, proposing 31 recommendations to bolster IBAC\u2019s legislative framework, with investigations and reporting delays on Operation Richmond being raised as an issue in the hearings.<\/p>\n
There have been several legal challenges to block the report from being released since the draft report was handed over to those involved several years ago.<\/p>\n
In the most recent battle in the Supreme Court, anonymous applicants sought to suppress the report\u2019s release at the eleventh hour, before the Supreme Court unmasked them in June 2026 as the UFU and Mr Marshall.<\/p>\n
This was despite Mr Marshall claiming on camera at the Labor state conference that the applicant was not himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever is in it, it must be bad for someone, and that most likely is the UFU and Peter Marshall, given how many times he\u2019s tried to keep it under wraps,\u201d a senior union source told the Herald Sun.<\/p>\n
Operation Richmond is one of the longest running corruption investigations in Victoria\u2019s history with many pointing out it has lasted longer than some world wars. <\/p>\n
While very little is known publicly about it, it\u2019s been revealed previously that both Peter Marshall and former Premier Daniel Andrews were among those who were quizzed in hearings.<\/p>\n
The Victorian Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) issued a statement in July saying it was \u201cpleased\u201d with the Supreme Court\u2019s July 2026 decision to dismiss a legal challenge against issuing the report publicly.<\/p>\n
\u201cReporting to parliament and the public on IBAC\u2019s investigative findings is a crucial part of our role in exposing and preventing corruption and misconduct in Victoria.\u201d<\/p>\n
But they have declined to announce a date the report will be tabled in parliament.<\/p>\n
Peter Marshall was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victoria\u2019s corruption watchdog is poised to release a bombshell report into alleged secret deals struck between the Andrews…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[63273,63223,50024,63235,63326,63220,63314,63280,63237,63282,63258,63277,49275,38577,32730,63249,39152,63239,63229,63228,37996,63227,63281,63303,63224,63269,63222,63238,36783,63284,37726,63232,63242,63270,63319,63309,63250,42985,63231,63288,22,21,43100,63292,63307,34344,5489,54293,27367,63294,63322,63272,63260,3115,63236,2747,63310,63253,10485,19064,5091,63240,63293,20092,63286,51125,40802,63252,63230,63247,63234,21208,63257,33828,63320,63316,38590,59762,156,63301,41715,63244,8937,3691,63306,49682,63302,63321,63216,63261,63221,63290,3218,63267,31458,63296,34889,63315,63256,63279,63246,63251,40428,63287,63219,63278,46124,63308,39564,63311,48471,63265,63283,38652,63275,63317,63274,63248,63327,63225,63254,63299,63295,63241,47672,23380,63217,5606,63271,63276,39402,41012,63325,63259,63233,63305,63266,63285,63297,63255,63262,63289,63323,63226,37118,63243,63218,37964,40686,63300,38234,63313,63312,49527,63291,63268,63245,38964,63318,63264,63324,63263,1009,68,63304,63298],"class_list":["post-58639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-s-corruption-watchdog","tag-s-fire-services","tag-s-history","tag-s-independent-broad-based-anti-corruption-commission","tag-s-investigative-findings","tag-s-july-2026-decision","tag-s-legislative-framework","tag-s-own-the-state","tag-s-perception","tag-s-powers","tag-s-release","tag-s-years-long-attempt","tag-49275","tag-38577","tag-32730","tag-31-recommendations","tag-a-bid","tag-a-bombshell-ibac-report","tag-a-bombshell-report","tag-a-clear-sign","tag-a-complaint","tag-a-crucial-part","tag-a-disputed-enterprise-agreement","tag-a-former-labor-government-insider","tag-a-legal-challenge","tag-a-massive-issue","tag-a-probe","tag-a-referral","tag-a-report","tag-a-senior-union-source","tag-a-statement","tag-age-49","tag-ago-in","tag-agreement-negotiations","tag-alleged-secret-deals","tag-an-allegation","tag-an-axe","tag-an-issue","tag-andrews-government-members","tag-anonymous-applicants","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-authorities","tag-bombshell-firefighters-union-corruption-probe","tag-both-peter-marshall","tag-breast-cancer","tag-cabinet","tag-camera","tag-cfa","tag-closed-door-meetings","tag-corrupt-findings","tag-corruption-investigations","tag-damaging-evidence","tag-days","tag-december-2025","tag-delays","tag-do-another-government","tag-enterprise","tag-evidence","tag-fire-rescue-victoria","tag-firefighters","tag-former-premier-daniel-andrews","tag-former-victorian-emergency-services-minister-jane-garrett","tag-frv","tag-hearings-the","tag-her-and","tag-her-head","tag-her-staff","tag-her-standing","tag-highly-secretive-probe","tag-how-many-times","tag-ibac","tag-integrity-concerns","tag-investigations","tag-its-final-report","tag-its-not-good","tag-july","tag-june-2026","tag-labor","tag-labor-figure","tag-landing","tag-legal-matters","tag-money","tag-mp","tag-mps-and-labor-insiders","tag-mr-andrews","tag-mr-marshall","tag-mr-marshall-this","tag-multiple-delays","tag-one-labor-mp","tag-operation-richmond","tag-our-role","tag-parliament","tag-peter-marshall","tag-place","tag-potential-fallout","tag-public","tag-reporting","tag-secret-deals","tag-serious-personal-threats","tag-several-legal-challenges","tag-several-sources","tag-several-years","tag-some-allan-government-mps","tag-some-world-wars","tag-state-members","tag-the-report","tag-the-allan-government-the-integrity-oversight-committee","tag-the-amount","tag-the-andrews-government","tag-the-applicant","tag-the-cfmeu-big-build-scandal","tag-the-country-fire-authority","tag-the-deal","tag-the-dealings","tag-the-document-lands","tag-the-draft-report","tag-the-drawn-out-nature","tag-the-eleventh-hour","tag-the-explosive-findings","tag-the-fallout","tag-the-fire-services","tag-the-firefighters-union","tag-the-firefighters","tag-the-first-time","tag-the-government","tag-the-hearings-there","tag-the-herald-sun","tag-the-herald-sun-operation-richmond","tag-the-industrial-dispute","tag-the-inquiry","tag-the-investigation","tag-the-investigation-results","tag-the-labor-state-conference","tag-the-legal-battles","tag-the-longest","tag-the-most-recent-battle","tag-the-most-secretive","tag-the-ongoing-probe","tag-the-operation-richmond-investigation","tag-the-original-probe","tag-the-original-referral","tag-the-powerful-united-firefighters-union","tag-the-probe","tag-the-public","tag-the-seven-years","tag-the-splitting","tag-the-state","tag-the-state-government","tag-the-sunday-herald-sun","tag-the-supreme-court","tag-the-ufu","tag-the-ufu-and","tag-the-victorian-parliament","tag-their-own-government","tag-this-development","tag-this-report","tag-this-week","tag-those-negotiations","tag-union-boss-peter-marshall","tag-union-boss-peter-marshall-the-eba-dispute","tag-union-through-ms-garrett","tag-unions","tag-victoria","tag-victorian-independent-broad-based-anti-corruption-commission","tag-wraps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}