A FRANKSTON councillor running for re-election says he has reported local MP Paul Edbrooke to IBAC.
Cr Steve Toms told his Facebook followers in a lengthy post that he had reported Mr Edbrooke to the state’s peak anti-corruption body, alleging that he was “interfering with a local council election”.
Cr Toms wrote that “Frankston’s State Labor MP Paul Edbrooke has tried to inappropriately interfere with our local council election by targeting and harassing me on social media multiple times, without telling the whole story.”
“He’s done this because he’s afraid I’ll win. Me winning means one less party slave on our local council for Paul. A State MP interfering with a local council election and trying to engineer a particular outcome for his own Labor Party is completely inappropriate, and a corruption of our democratic process. As such, I’ve reported Paul’s actions to IBAC,” he said.
Mr Edbrooke elected not to comment.
There is no love lost between Cr Toms and the Labor Party. Cr Toms was formerly a member, but was booted from the party in December 2017. He had clashed publicly with Mr Edbrooke over works at Young Street (“Councillor forced out of Labor Party”, The Times, 11/12/17).
Cr Toms’ four year stint on council has been littered with turmoil. He was suspended for four months late last year after a councillor conduct panel upheld a complaint that he had bullied a fellow councillor.