IBAC report finds Metropolitan Fire Brigade employees improperly accessed executive emails to help union

An investigation into a now defunct fire agency more than half a decade in the making. “Operation turton is damning indictment into the culture of Victoria’s fire services.” The IBAC probe found three senior public servants at the old metropolitan fire brigade leaked data to their union on at least five occasions. Even hacking into MFB executive emails all to further the cause of the united firefighters’ union and its boss peter marshall. “My only interest is in relation to the matter we brought to the minister and that is public safety.” IBAC in 2019 found Mr Marshall asked MFB employees to seek out information for him about an investigation into him. “This report is an absolute disgrace and we've referred it to our lawyers for action.” “This report was as a result of the complaint that was made in 2018 it was in relation to MFB. Obviously, MFB no longer exists.” The MFB was replaced by a new agency in 2020, fire rescue Victoria. The IBAC commissioner was not available for interview today. But in a pre-recorded video said, “At the time of publishing the report all the individuals involved were all employed by fire rescue Victoria.” Clearly there are lessons in the report for fire rescue Victoria, and we fully accept, welcome the report and accept the recommendations contained within. IBAC made four recommendations aimed at addressing information security and corruption risks as well as improving culture inside the fire service. “Some of the recommendations that are in the report, we've already made significant progress on in terms of strengthening the security around it systems and access.”