Thread by @bridgerollo

A parliamentary inquiry's begun to hear evidence of whether Victoria's integrity agencies are properly managing the welfare of witnesses following the suicide of former @CityOfCasey Mayor Amanda Stapledon, who was under investigation by IBAC as part of Operation Sandon #springst

@CityOfCasey .@ibacVic Commissioner Robert Redlich being asked about why some witnesses are questioned in public & others in private. He says there has been a lot of misinformation about the process of public hearings

@CityOfCasey @ibacVic Redlich says in the case a 'critical witness' called only in private, it related to the medical state of the witness.

@CityOfCasey @ibacVic Opposition MP @KimWellsMP asks Robert Redlich specifically about why Premier Daniel Andrews was questioned by @ibacVic in private.. Chair @ShingvWorld asks for the public feed to be cut
#springst

@CityOfCasey @ibacVic @KimWellsMP @ShingvWorld Earlier Robert Redlich told the inquiry, to his knowledge there has never been a witness who asked for a private hearing. He says the only reason private hearings are held are because one or more of the mandatory criteria can't be satisfied.

@CityOfCasey @ibacVic @KimWellsMP @ShingvWorld Before the feed was cut, Robert Redlich told the inquiry IBAC was "aggrieved" that the committee is so limited he cannot explore specifically the issue of a witness committing suicide. The inquiry is generally looking at how integrity agencies are managing witness welfare

@CityOfCasey @ibacVic @KimWellsMP @ShingvWorld Robert Redlich tells the inquiry he does not have an example where IBAC should have treated a witness in a more specific or compassionate way

@CityOfCasey @ibacVic @KimWellsMP @ShingvWorld Redlich tells the inquiry every witness called under a coercive process is subject to some level of stress and anxiety and that will obviously be greater in the public domain. He says parliament says that is OK as long as there is no unreasonable damage to the witness welfare.

@CityOfCasey @ibacVic @KimWellsMP @ShingvWorld .@KimWellsMP asks Redlich if changes are needed to be made to the legislation to give IBAC more power to call public or private hearings?
Redlich says in a long winded answer public hearings are preferred over private hearings and IBAC has limitations

@CityOfCasey @ibacVic @KimWellsMP @ShingvWorld Redlich tells inquiry any suggestion IBAC has ever ignored information about suicide ideation and not addressed welfare issues if it's known, is simply wrong.

@CityOfCasey @ibacVic @KimWellsMP @ShingvWorld Redlich asked about resourcing. He says it needs to be understood no matter the volume of additional resources IBAC receives, it is only going to be able to investigate a small portion of matters referred "We can't change the harsh reality."

@CityOfCasey @ibacVic @KimWellsMP @ShingvWorld *sympathetic