By Luke Voogt
Lara MP John Eren faces pressure to shed light on his dealings with Adem Somyurek following branch-stacking and fraud allegations against the now-sacked Labor minister.
Premier Daniel Andrews sacked Mr Somyurek from his ministry this week following revelations on 60 Minutes and in The Age on Sunday night.
The 60 Minutes report also featured recordings of Mr Somyurek using abusive and misogynistic language.
The disgraced powerbroker resigned from Labor before the party’s national executive could expel him.
Mr Eren had a heated public confrontation with Mr Somyurek in Parliament in February 2018.
The ABC later revealed expletive-laden text messages sent from Mr Somyurek to Mr Eren in the lead-up to the confrontation.
Mr Eren this week refused to provide further information about the incident or his dealings with Mr Somyurek, instead referring the Independent to a statement from Premier Andrews.
His silence angered Liberal Member for Western Victoria Bev McArthur.
“His constituents should hear it straight from the horse’s mouth, rather than be handballed off to a statement from ‘Dear Leader’ Dan Andrews,” she said.
“The residents of Lara have a right to know if their local MP was aware of, approves of, or was involved in, any of the allegations about his former cabinet and Labor Party colleague.”
Following further inquiries by the Independent Mr Eren still declined to provide information on his dealings with Mr Somyurek but condemned the former minister’s actions.
“The behaviour that was seen on 60 Minutes [on] Sunday night was appalling,” he said.
“I’ve long been a proud member of the party and want to be crystal clear [that] this kind of behaviour has no place within Labor.
“Our focus needs to be on representing millions of people that depend on us, not what we saw aired on Sunday night.”
The Independent is not suggesting any wrongdoing by Mr Eren in relation to his dealings with Mr Somyurek.
