The Faceless man: Dark underbelly of Australian power exposed | 60 Minutes Australia

graving and welcome to a special edition of 60 minutes I am Nick McKenzie tonight an explosive year-long investigation by 60 minutes and the age newspaper will reinforce the distrust and contempt many Australians have for our politicians this is a story which exposes one of the Labour Party's faceless men Adam Sami wreck his a Victorian cabinet minister on Labour's National Executive and a factional kingpin who's consumed by the power he's amassed through blatant corruption now normally we'd never know what goes on in the back rooms of Australian politics but we've obtained secret audio and video recordings that catch out the real Adam Sami wreck the evidence is unequivocal you'll be hearing his actual voice and the warning Sami Rex behavior is not only bullying and misogynistic his language is frequently offensive this anonymous middle-aged man withdrawing cash from an ATM in the suburbs of Melbourne has no idea that for months now he's been watched his name is Adams Sam Urick most Australians have never heard of him but he wears several hats his Victoria's Minister for local government and small business the title he's worked hardest to achieve though and the one he desperately wants to keep his most influential man in the Australian Labor Party just ask him anyone who's anybody in Australian law politics knows the name Adam some labour party politics is brutal it's vicious it's unregulated old school cage wrestling and when you win the way that Adams won first thing that happens is everyone scratches the head and says who is this guy and the second thing is they all comfy you're listening to actual audio of Adam Sonya and as you'll see adhere he thinks he's so mighty he'll never be caught the story I tell my god that's good for business bust tonight Adam Samir X in for a shock as we expose the rotten and corrupt operation this Labour heavyweight runs we're just gonna be really [ __ ] bad we don't be [ __ ] [ __ ] bad and loud people like some react and I've known a few of them over the years have one ambition which is to see themselves as the godfather of politics this is their life they relish it being able to influence and control others this is politics like you've never seen it before Adam song lyrics quest for supremacy has now backfired because he's become the target of a year-long covert surveillance operation 60 minutes and the age newspaper have obtained more than 100 audio and video surveillance files it's undeniable evidence which lays bare the dirty underbelly of the ALP what we reveal is as audacious as it is wrong it includes corruption and cash drop-offs it's just an incredible compilation of of damning material fake ALP members and orders to forge signatures commonly carries a heavy jail sentence not months years taxpayer funding and politicians turned into puppets [ __ ] [ __ ] psycho [ __ ] [Music] by Labour's faceless man I just find the joy till I say is gonna be the [ __ ] period [Music] to understand this highly organised operation you need to understand branch taking I grew up in the heyday of the New South Wales labour party I mean brain stacking was a common practice it was a common way of winning LP disputes internally who was about getting giant ethnic communities to join up on bulk to beat other communities and other candidates I mean it was framed as some kind of giant ideological conflict between the left and the right in hindsight it was always about power as former federal labor senator Sam - tre knows it's also against party rules and at its most corrupt branch stacking involves putting masses of fake members into a political party the more fake members the more control you have over the ALP and even who labour puts into Parliament this idea behind branch stacking or active recruiting or whatever you wanna call it simple it's about me making sure there are more of my supporters there then your supporters who show up as you'll see Adam Sami rec is a master in getting people to show up in January this year 100 people gatecrash to suburban labor branch meeting in outer Melbourne the homeowner and labour member says he was punched in the face for Sami Eric this is just another day at the office we've reenacted the vision but you're about to hear actual audio of Sonic boasting about the branch take over our little operation the acrimonious as it was and plant very successful take over that branch easily he jokes about the violence directed at the homeowner and labor member on its own it's shocking but this is just the start of Sonia X devious grab for political power coming up he became the Frankenstein of factional politics dirty deals and it's just wrong it's a spear evil and dodgy polities how Adam Sami record controls the party plus a very serious offense which carries a hefty Charlton that's next only 60 minutes Adam Sami rex journey to Labour Party kingpin wasn't simple a Turkish migrant from humble beginnings Sam Urick started out as a taxi driver with ambitions of one day entering Parliament the idea that a Turkish taxi driver from the outer suburbs of Melbourne can become a cabinet minister he's a great Australian story it's a story that we should actually be proud off that you can actually participate in the party you can win support you can build your base and you can use that to propel yourself into Parliament in 2002 his dream came true like former senator Sam - tre did with Iranian voters in New South Wales Adam Sami rec attracted a new group of labour members in Victoria's Turkish community Adam he's smart charming funny and in the half a dozen interactions I've ever had with him I can see why people would follow the guy now he's a likable charming book but it wasn't long before less charming side of Adam Sam Urick came crashing into public view it is alleged that his personal behavior was of a threatening intimidating nature accused of standing over his chief of staff the scandal threatened the stability of the Victorian Government for months I attempted to quote hold up premier daniel andrews called an investigation by a former judge insomniac resigned from the front bench in july 2015 my resignation should not be taken as admission of guilt I start on my innocence if history tells us anything about labour politics it's that the faceless men of the party don't relinquish power easily insomniac found his way back to cabinet most people thought that he wouldn't ever be able to make it back after that incident and to test them to him that he did why did Daniel Andrews let him back in the cabinet Daniel Andrews I can only assume made the assessment it's better than have him inside the tent than outsider you think Daniel Andrews was scared Daniel Andrews isn't the kind of guy who gets scared but is the guy who thinks tactically and it will always be more or less interest to have someone like Adam on his side than opposing exactly house on Eureka gained his power is only whispered about senior figures in federal and state labor refused to speak publicly about him but former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is prepared to say what everyone else in labor is too scared to what do you know about the political rise of Adam Sami wreck he began as I understand it as a factional underling under the control of people in Victoria until he became the Frankenstein of factional politics and that is having been nurtured in this environment and having been a willing accomplice he then became the kingpin himself [Music] the key to atoms on your xpower is brand stacking he controls two-thirds of all labour members in Victoria that give some Yorick huge sway over who gets tapped to run for the ALP and who gets gifted the biggest prize in politics a safe state or federal seat in parliament the first step in Sami Rex dodgy operation was finding loyal staffers to help him demanding senior ministers of the Andrews government provide taxpayer-funded parliamentary employees to do his dirty work again we've reenacted the vision but the audio is all real you never see political corruption this blatant but this time it's caught on camera these young men are getting paid by taxpayers to work for labour state government MPs but what are they really doing on the public dime behind the scenes Adam Sami Eric calls these parliamentary employees he's flying squad and today they're up to no good how's it working now meet Jake crypts and Nathan Croft they're getting paid by us the taxpayer to branch dak for summary helping him take over ILP branches and amass more power in the party well work most of these fashion substitute - that you - yeah and that's everything goes through you guys creeps claims he's been given a job as a parliamentary employee to work in the office of an MP called Chen kou yeah I'm Kent on Monday I can get you every craft is also employed by the Parliament to work for Minister Robin Scott who he says has also given him permission to branch dak at public expense eager to help the young men joke about how they're signing up new members of the party and then you Ethan oh go from not being factional to Ebay understand their international business to turn them into making friends and then you can get it down there here are their passions and it does have its worked and you're in this fashion I wish I could say I can't believe it but it's happened it's just wrong it's just very wrong why is the practice of using taxpayer-funded staffers to brands Dacron well it's a criminal offence if that was proved it would be a strong case for criminal offenses and multiple criminal offences I mean it's a diversion of public money for an ulterior or improper motive unless this misconduct in public office a very serious offence which carries a hefty jail term senior barrister Geoffrey Watson SC has seen his fair share of corrupt politicians he led the inquiry into former New South Wales labor kingpin Eddie obeyed in 2012 but the conduct captured of Adam Sami wreck is unlike anything he's seen before what does it tell you about Labour Party politics well what it tells me is things haven't changed since the inquiries that I did in New South Wales about the Labour Party the investigation was prompted by Labour's use of taxpayer-funded electoral staff for party political campaign work her kicker is that five years ago Victorian premier Daniel Andrews government was busted using parliamentary staff for party business they promised they'd never do it again labour has repaid three hundred and eighty eight thousand dollars is there any excuse for the Labour Party given they were warned no none at all there can't be any excuse for this it's bad and it's fundamentally bear this no innocent completion to place on it the fact that they were placed on notice so recently and told stop doing this only aggravates it Adams America tells parliamentary employees crips and Croft how he will make it appear as if they're doing what he calls proper work in the offices of MPs like 10-q the Minister Robin Scott but in fact they'll be working for him branch dougie Jake and Nathan they're gonna share the wrong in chances Jack's going to be the three guys nathan is going to be there two days but Nathan always also works in the system for Robert so he'll be doing working there Roland won't mind cats probably got him doing other stuff yeah if she gets me to do proper work yeah yes actually do a job it gets even worse the recording shows Sam Urick isn't the only powerful labor minister exploiting the public purse cabinet minister Marlene Carew's is sami rex trusted leftenant she's also Victoria's Minister for suburban development but with friends like Sam Urick who needs enemies he says his political ally doesn't do much as a minister so her taxpayer-funded office helps him to branch Marlene Kairos is in fact very busy helping Sami Eric take over the labour party branch by branch in this recording she's directing labour staffers to find even more fake members to join the party yeah where everyone looks to us now for leadership like whether it's in the parliament people come to Adam and odd to create a lot but I know anything so we are in charge now and I think when you guys know that but I think you need to show that we are but we don't want to treat people disrespectfully you know we're very big if we can continue to grow Marlene Cruz's senior policy advisor is this man Nick McClellan he's paid over $100,000 a year by tax payers my job Sami record got him with a 30 grand pay rise in January 2019 but he's actually being paid by the public to branch tack even if Sam Urick thinks he isn't great at it you get 30 $40,000 [ __ ] pay rise you do a quarter of the work you do in electro office there's actually hard work that's where you're mentally dying it's deserted [ __ ] punished tonight fault [ __ ] promoting him after that he's just so stupid I feel so betrayed coming up the sámi reg master plan sir rooster asking somebody to forged signatures that's just very disturbing taking over the suburbs little Islamic is trying to take over the government the stakes when it comes to winning a Labour Party are incredibly high that's next on 60 minutes [Music] one by one Adam Sam Urick has taken over labour branches all over Victoria his latest battlegrounds are the suburbs southeast of Melbourne but for victory he needs to amass an army of fake Labour Party members the stakes when it comes to winning the Labour Party are incredibly hard you're talking about seats in federal parliament seats and state parliament who the local me is going to be Premier's Prime Minister's the stakes couldn't be higher and when the stakes are that high there is always going to be a perverse incentive pushing people to go too far [Music] former labor senator Sam - tre says the ALP has had a problem with brain stacking for decades what does going to if I look like going too far is that moment where to beat someone in an LP pre-selection or to beat them in an ALP meeting you get people to turn up show up join up to the Labour Party who don't share your values who aren't there for the right reasons and in some cases don't even know they're members of the Labour Party one branch saw me rake has declared war on is grounded in outer melbourne and we've just got three little [ __ ] slimy little [ __ ] right little passive-aggressive okay Keith row it's just sort of doing what they do patronizing annoying and just marshalling people and making sure the paperwork's right Sami Rex master plan is to take over Cranbourne so he can replace sitting Labour MP Pauline Richards with one of his cronies possibly this man Manoj Kumar who is Brad stacking for him as well Sam Urick is not used to losing and the secret tapes reveal how furious he is that his political rivals are attempting their own branch tax using what he calls Anglos to take on the Anglos saw american lists the indian community to help parliamentary employees like Sybil Patel help deliver the Indians to Sami right now I'm working metal toxicity once in a month I'll make my people like their coordination so once I go I need four five four five people on the video Patel admits he's using fake addresses to get new members for Sonia a take this people who is this kind of and economic em to join in the fingerprint and they keep that is four four finger somewhere and after that they throw in that favor meeting you can ask them to using fake members is not only banned under Labour Party rules it may also involve misconduct in public office what you're about to see is vision showing some Eirik directing a Turkish businessman to forge signatures of branch members okay I use all my fugitives Yelp all my hips and push their apples on the confused businessman asks how he's meant to sign other people's signatures Sam Urick is insistent he tells him to forge the signatures of his relatives one more time sonic tries to get the businessman to do the wrong thing and sign other people's signatures but after a while he appears to give up it's just very disturbing an attempt to have somebody forged signatures and I mean that's just as bad as forging them yourself it seems like the businessman didn't go on to sign but that doesn't matter if you attempt to solicit a forgery that's just as bad as committing a forgery it's really very disturbing Sydnee silk Jeffrey Watson SC says some lyrics conduct not only breeches ALP rules it may also be criminal how seriously does the criminal law look at the forgery or attempted forgery of other people's signatures commonly carries a heavy jail sentence years not months years and if there's multiple attempts eller more so it's very serious would this be looked at as powerful evidence by say a court oh yes it's just so bad it's a minister asking somebody to forged signatures it's really awful [Music] what sort of a man do you see in the audio recordings in the video recordings one who shouldn't be in Parliament you just cannot have people who sit in Parliament one day and pass a law and they go out in their private might life and break that same law you can't have that it undermines any confidence that we can have in our politicians it's just very wrong following the trail of cash it's the living breathing definition of corruption how this ruthless politician pays police power good morning Adam I'd like to ask you some questions about branch taking that's next on 60 minutes for years Victorian government minister Adam Sameach was an all-powerful faceless man of the ALP until tonight he was confident his dirty dealings would never be exposed these secret audio recordings show he's not even concerned by this 60 minutes story he's also relaxed because he believes you'll have the backing of premier Daniel Andrews no matter what Sam Urick controls two-thirds of the Victorian labour party so there's a good reason to keep him happy but this immense power comes at a cost Wendy's branch taking move from okay to immoral or even illegal it's women people are being blindsided being conned being tricked fooled into joining a political party and it corrupts the whole process for everybody what does it corrupt the process it corrupts the process when those rules are being followed where people who don't live where they claim to live are fraudulently being put in when people from ethnic communities who aren't even aware that they've joined a political party are being used to push people out that's when it crosses the line Sam dusty re used to be a star of the Labor Party he knew how to play politics hard but even he says when it came to attracting new members there was always a clear line that shouldn't be crossed paying for other people's membership is a horrible dirty tactic it's also a full-scale it always ends badly you're so paying for other people's membership is a dirty game why dirty paying for membership can often only be a few steps away from having people who don't know their members a lot of party joint that's why the Labour Party is so strict in its rules when it comes to these matters [Music] in most cases Samira craze for members through men like this businessman Ramazan Ganesh pressured to forge signatures young hipster questionnaire song lyrics says Ramazan also comes up with the cash for Turkish members Ramadan will quite polluters the ones he's clean Sami rich claims he can also rely on wealthy Indian brothers a lakh in the cash Kumar to pay for new Indian members but on the audiotapes Sam Urick is rightly worried he know is paying for another's membership clearly breaks ALP rules in his blind quest for power and control though Sami rec makes a key error rather than relying on middlemen to do the dirty work he begins paying for fake members himself leaving him completely exposed [Music] we're following song lyrics money trail by tracing a recent branch DAC earlier this year dozens of new ALP members suddenly appeared we're on our way to ask them who really paid for their membership and if they even know if they've become a member are you a real member of the Labour for the police in India we paid for you some appear to have been forewarned of what to say if someone comes knocking you Tommy you they gave you a receipt that's not true is it I did not give you a receipt ok thank you for your time others are furious to be caught out but some are willing to admit that's someone else paid for their membership and your friend paid for you he paid for me but I said I am latter same pay him back did you pay him back oh maybe you didn't know that you have to pay for your own that most have only ever been to one branch meeting and none could name their local labor member or even the premier what's the name of the labor leader in Victoria you can't remember the name of the label later in Victoria do you know who your local labour party member is yeah this one you don't know how your local labor but only once so who really paid in this secret recording Sam Urick is organizing a cash drop-off at a suburban shopping center in South East Melbourne dressed casually he withdraws a stack of cash from the ATM using two bank cards he then walks back to his car soon he is joined by Nick McClellan the senior policy advisor so America uses two branch dag for him inside the blue folder his two thousand dollars in cash and thirty four new membership forms fake members that can help some Eirik take over labor branches how does this evidence strike it Oh being part of many inquiries I still find this really very disturbing this is money passing hands now for a totally improper purpose and these are real genuine personal benefit to doing all of these you stack branches you get power you control affection it's just terrible it's really actually I find it upsetting director of the Center of Public Integrity jeffrey watson SC isn't easily upset he's made a career out of shining light into dark places of power I've never seen anything nothing approaching this the effect is that corruption normally occurs in the dark you find out about it years later if you ever find out about it you don't catch people in the act it's incredible you use the word corruption that's a big word yeah why is that a fitting word the gentleman is a minister that's one of the most trusted characters in our democratic system you've got to be able to trust them because they wield so much power if their power is misused and if it's misused especially for an ulterior motive or for a personal benefit then that's the living breathing definition of corruption but it wasn't the first time these two men have exchanged cash for members in a suburban car park on April 14 Adam Samira arrived at the same shopping centre car park to hand over money this is a recording of Sami record describing the cash drop off the bagman was again Nick McLennon [Music] the cash totaled $1300 packaged it up giving him the dough the extract just so to take care of money orders and take care of I express price the Amana cut corners because it's got 26:15 hm like some UX money pays for fake members and by controlling hundreds of them Sam Urick can control who gets a seat in parliament this also allows him to promise his branch taking left tenants those doing his dirty work their own safe seats we repeatedly asked Adam Sam Urick for an interview and he repeatedly refused morning Adam sorry to bother you this morning I'd like to ask you some questions about branch taking why is it it's why is it that so many of your enemies so be you're involved in branch taking we're going through Parliament can you could you tell me how you environment right now I refuse to speak to us or my house let's just speak your Parliament I'm happy one or two in Parliament I've asked from the views you've seen that running away running a parliament I often branch I'm going to Parliament and this is my house one question I don't know golden brown stacking yes or no I'll speak in Parliament have you ever paid for somebody else's my machine on the old me yes sir I'll have to talk to your branch decking across Victoria is just going let's go I'm going to Parliament right now you know we're Parliament it's let's meet there and it's let's have a chat it's really simple really simple question up to you have you ever paid for somebody else's membership in the air - no that's an are you sure yes coming up losing the women's vote umbrella haircuts but who cares it's our this and not even the leader can escape our group zombie race arrogance we should be booted out that's next on 60 minutes the Gillard camp had branded Mr Rudd a disloyal psychopath who Rena paralyzed and chaotic government most Australians remember the tears when Kevin Rudd was rolled as Prime Minister rod has always blamed the faceless men of the party the branch tack is in factional warlords for killing his political career and acting like a cancer on our democracy if we believe that politics should be about ideas ideals and also policies to change Australia for the better then anything which happens in a darkened room and in secret to simply organize power for its own sake in my view has no place in any mainstream political party and I regarded as a corruption of the political process whether it's in the Liberal Party or the Labour Party the fact that one man Adam Sam Urick is arguably more powerful now than the faceless men who rolled you does that concern you the faceless men were powerful enough 10 years ago to remove a democratically elected prime minister of the country if we now have a faceless man with even more power then he has to be rooted out otherwise it is fundamentally destabilizing for our parties in our country's future [Music] it's hard to believe the faceless men of the Labour Party still wield so much power but seeing is believing and Adam Sami Erik is living proof they can as long as they control enough labour members via branch tagging why doesn't antthony Albin easy or premier Daniel Andrews take Adam Sami Reagan if you're such a cancer if he's such a Frankenstein capable and competent political leaders like Albert like Daniel Andrews have been doing the right thing in pushing back hard against this but let's face a few realities dealing with the Sam Urick forces is not for the faint-hearted I'll say that I'll make your people the secret video and audio tapes reveal just how Sami rec has earned his power in the party but how does he willed it as you're about to see Sami rec believes he has limitless influence over federal and state politicians including rising federal labor star Tim Watts Federal Opposition whip Joanne Ryan is another Sami reg boasts heat toys with the hoppers crossing bans that all people 326 I'm not the USA then there are those in the federal parliament that saw me Eric shields mark deputy chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee Labour MP Anthony Burt this is the actual audio of samuel 8 re-enacted the vision and there are those some eric is working to remove not via democratic means at the ballot box but by sheer behind-the-scenes power these still the right another on his hit list his left faction federal MP Julian Hill looking for successful in-between second councils and stuff I'll be second buoyant everywhere we go well we was an act of [ __ ] war you just shot the bomb on us and we're going to nuclear in the Victorian Parliament - Sam Urick has marked in pays for Korea execution and on his hit list is anyone who stands in his way Victoria's Minister for women then the prevention of family violence Gabrielle Williams is one of those planning to finish dangerous if it can end a political career he can also start one Sam Urick has been cutting deals with people who control labour branches the deal is simple if they hand over their branch tact members - Sam Urick he promises them a seat in parliament the beauty of the plan is he now owns them and when MP Hong Lim stood down in 2018 saw America gave his ally Ming hyungtak his seat it's alright delegates mine sent delegates with what should Bruce which in the engine this is a recording of some Rick actually calling him and directing him to stack a local ALP branch from now on every month we're gonna call thirteen people put thirteen people through the branches inverse okay we have to do this one this together okay I know Saamy Rick makes it clear that with his extraordinary power he can issue orders with impunity not even Anthony Albanese ease power in the party is a roadblock across government [Music] Sam Urick ultimately believes it is he and not the people of Victoria or the Labour Party who should decide who leads the state if Daniel Andrews steps down the bike so I say it's gonna be the [ __ ] premier if Adam Sami Rex involved in cash drop-offs in car parks encouraging people to Ford's signatures industrial-scale brown stacking what should Anthony Albanese II and Daniel Andrews do about it if these things are proven in the case of Sami Eric then there's no place for Sami reckon the Australian Labor Party none whatsoever he should be booted out very simple and if they've fallen foul the law throw the book at them [Music] and that's our program for tonight thank you for watching we'll be back next week with another edition of 60 minutes I'm Nick McKenzie good night hello I'm Tara Brown thanks for watching to keep up with the latest from 60 minutes Australia make sure you subscribe to our channel you can also download the 9 now app for full episodes and other exclusive 60 minutes content

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

Views: 631,447

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Charles Wooley, Tara Brown, Liam Bartlett, Allison Langdon, Tom Steinfort, Ellen Fanning, Peter Overton, Karl Stefanovic, Ray Martin, Peter Stefanovic, Jana Wendt, Jeff McMullen, Jennifer Byrne, Mike Munro, Richard Carleton, Tracey Curro, Paul Barry, Peter Harvey, Michael Usher, Ross Coulthart, George Negus, Ian Leslie, Gerald Stone, Sarah Abo

Id: Xm07CBiYoDM

Length: 49min 1sec (2941 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 24 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/absolutechefington]

Minor insignificant dickhead exposed instead of the actual dark underbelly of Australian power in a bid to keep people voting for Costello's rapist party. Thanks for sharing this garbage distraction, you're a fucking real hero.

When is 60 mins gonna produce an hour long piece on the bushfire recovery rorts? Have they done anything on robodebt victims? Have they shown anything regarding the federal governments lack of will power to do anything about the 100,000 stranded Australians? What about a piece on the gas led recovery? How about an hour on the rapes that have been swept under the rug til now?

[u/fraqtl]

I mean. Faceless? Really?

[u/squonge]

Isn't this a year old?