The Victorian government is facing a factional fallout after former minister Adem Somyurek blamed a union plot for his sacking and his alleged victim broke down while recounting his “abusive and inappropriate behaviour”.
The premier, Daniel Andrews, acted swiftly on Tuesday morning to force the resignation of his small business minister after an investigation found Somyurek had grabbed his chief of staff Dimity Paul by the chin, shaking it from side-to-side while telling her to “calm down” and “put a filter on it”.
The report by Justice Michael Strong also found that the minister – who was stood down after the complaints surfaced in May – had sacked a staff member who stood up for Paul.
But any hopes that the minister’s ousting would be the end of the story were dashed as Somyurek and Paul both fuelled the controversy with their own media conferences.
First, Somyurek claimed it was he who was the victim, blaming the bullying allegations, which he denied, on a union revenge plot.
He said leaving the Labor-right aligned Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association trade union in February had led to the union waging a campaign against him. The union had a powerful influence over the Andrews government, Somyurek told reporters.
He then called for the sacking of the deputy premier, James Merlino, and the premier’s chief of staff, John McLindon, both members of the right faction
“It’s been a painful two months of sitting silently not being able to profess my innocence,” Smoyurek said.
But then Paul, to whom Andrews had apologised for “the way she was treated”, held a press conference with her lawyer, Josh Bornstein, a principal of the legal firm Maurice Blackburn.
She broke down as she described how one media outlet had sought to tarnish her reputation while the investigation into her complaints against Somyurek took place. There have been questions as to who leaked the information about Paul to the media, since many of the sources were unnamed.
“I didn’t anticipate the extent to which I would be unfairly targeted by the media and others since making the complaint,” Paul said. “I have faced continuous scrutiny, including media outside my house. It has been devastating.”
She had not wanted to report the bullying at first, she said. “I didn’t report it because I feared doing so would have a detrimental impact on my career but also because I did not want to think of myself as a victim,” Paul said.
“When a colleague who stood up for me was asked not to return to work by the minister, I decided I had to say something. While working for the minister I was subject to a pattern of abusive and inappropriate behaviour.”
Bornstein said his client intended to return to her workplace as soon as possible. “The most important thing is for Dimity to have her health and career restored,” he said.
The allegations against Somyurek and his subsequent resignation are reported to have fractured the Labor party and risk triggering a factional fallout.
Bornstein dismissed Somyurek’s comments. “There are people without much to do in their lives aside from playing silly factional games,” Bornstein said. “The government, hopefully, is not going to influenced by nonsense.”
Somyurek’s replacement will be decided by a ballot vote on Friday.
