Daniel Andrews will be investigated by Victoria’s workplace safety watchdog after a rogue MP claimed his office bullied her for years.
WorkSafe Victoria launched an investigation into allegations of bullying by a former advisor to the premier of Labor MP Kaushaliya Vaghela.
The watchdog is understood to be making inquiries into how the premier’s private officer managed Ms Vagahela’s complaints, the Herald Sun reports.
The Labor MP called Mr Andrews a ‘misogynist’ and felt personally let down by the state leader and his party.
‘He has a problem with women, but he also has a problem with anyone who doesn’t hold the same views as him or doesn’t do what he wants,’ she said.
‘People don’t see his real side. He’s a misogynist, that is what he is. He talks about respecting women but that’s not what I saw.’
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews (pictured) will be investigated by Victoria’s workplace safety watchdog after a rogue MP claimed his office had bullied her for years
Earlier this week, the upper-house MP said she had been ‘bullied, harassed and intimidated’ by unnamed men in a series of explosive tweets.
In texts she claims to have sent to top staffer Lissie Ratcliff in December of 2019, she said the unidentified men were ‘trying to defame me and malign my name.’
‘I am sick and tired of these men trying to bully, harass and intimidate me in all the ways they can,’ she wrote in the text.
She then referenced one Labor member whose name was redacted, and claimed they ‘actually want to hurt me and my family’.
‘I am really scared for my safety,’ she continued. ‘I really need your help for my and my family’s safety.’
‘Before I speak to the premier, as a last resort, I am seeking your help to look into this matter. Please take required action.’
Ms Vagahela claimed she was forced to wait up to two years for her complaints to be taken seriously, saying she first voiced her concerns in April 2019.
Ms Vaghela shared a text she sent to the premier’s Chief of Staff in 2019 where she claimed she was scared of her safety from another staffer
WorkSafe Victoria has launched an investigation into allegations of bullying by a former advisor voiced by Labor MP Kaushaliya Vaghela (pictured)
The state government rejected this and insisted swift action was taken after a formal written complaint was received in May 2021.
The premier’s office said there is no such claim of bullying from 2019.
Vinayak Kolape, who formerly advised Mr Andrews, was fired following an investigation into Ms Vagahela’s claims.
The Labor MP said she became a victim of intimidation and harassment after she defected to the party’s Right faction.
The WorkSafe investigation was initiated by a referral from the state’s opposition last Wednesday, with the watchdog due to report by May.
Ms Vaghela is poised to be expelled from the Victorian Labor Party after she crossed the floor during a vital vote to support a motion by disgraced MP Adem Somyurek.
Without her vote, the motion brought on by the former Victorian Labor powerbroker would have been defeated.
It called on Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass to reinvestigate the 2014 ‘red shirts’ scandal and specifically any role Premier Andrews may have played in it.
Ms Vaghela has since slammed the premier (pictured with his wife Catherine) as a ‘misogynist’ after saying she felt personally let down by Mr Andrews and his party
During an interview with the Herald Sun, Ms Vaghela said that members within the party are ‘scared of the premier because they know he is so spiteful’.
‘I’m scared of him and I’m scared about what he’s going to do. I was scared before I crossed the floor. He will take revenge. Everybody’s scared,’ she told the Herald-Sun.
‘That’s why nobody says anything against him. And anyone, any woman that does, they disappear (from prominence), like Jenny Mikakos.
Ms Vaghela also made the sensational claim she was afraid of being alone at events or in Parliament for fears of the Labor Party’s ‘gang’.
She claims the unnamed person who threatened her – presumably a party member – had ‘physically assaulted’ her husband at a public event.
‘The gang says if people do what they say, then in return the gang will advise the Premier or the relevant minister in deciding who should get such roles, in returning favours,’ she wrote in the May letter.
Mr Andrews confirmed a government staffer had been sacked after a complaint was made but said Ms Vaghela’s claims were ‘fantasy’.
‘Frankly, these claims are just fantasy, fantasy, and I’m not getting into that. No basis in fact,’ the Victorian Premier said last week.
Mr Andrews (pictured) confirmed a government staffer had been sacked after a complaint was made but said Ms Vaghela’s claims were ‘fantasy’
‘I won’t dignify the stuff that’s been said about me. I’m just not going to.
‘To suggest that that’s not dealing with matters promptly and appropriately, I can’t think of a stronger rebuttal to that than the fact that it was taken very seriously, it was dealt with appropriately, and the person was essentially dismissed.’
Ms Vaghela shared a statement later on last Sunday claiming she was never told the staffer had been sacked.
‘Nor did I receive an apology from (the) premier or his office, leaving (the staff member) in that position for years despite my complaints, thus perpetuating his bullying against me,’ she said.
A spokeswoman for Mr Andrews referred Daily Mail Australia to remarks made by the premier at recent press conferences.
