Beleaguered Labor MP Don Nardella must repay the more than $110,000 he claimed for living in Ocean Grove rather than his Melton electorate, Premier Daniel Andrews has declared.
Mr Andrews spoke to the embattled MP over the weekend and made it clear that the money must be repaid, after Fairfax revealed that he was living in Ocean Grove and claiming a lucrative second residence allowance.
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Premier Andrews to tighten MP entitlements
Tightening of MP entitlements will be rushed through state cabinet on Monday after the city-based speaker and deputy speaker resigned after claiming cash for living on the Bellarine Peninsula.
The Premier is under increasing pressure to force Mr Nardella to repay the $113,000 but there are limited technical mechanisms for him to do so.
Some are calling for Mr Nardella to be kicked out of the ALP, others hope that the court of public opinion will convince the MP to do the right thing by taxpayers and the government.
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"It is my view that he should repay the money, he should do exactly the same thing as Telmo Languiller has done," Mr Andrews told reporters at Avalon Airport on Tuesday.
Mr Languiller quickly announced he would repay nearly $40,000 that Fairfax Media revealed he had claimed for living at Queenscliff, away from his Tarneit electorate.
Parliament's internal audit committee, chaired by the Bruce Atkinson, a Liberal and President of the upper house, and involving Price Waterhouse Coopers, met on Tuesday morning.
It hopes to complete its investigation into the pair in two weeks.
Mr Atkinson said the investigation would be expedient and thorough.
Others point to the fact that Mr Nardella has not broken any law, although they concede that what he has done is not in the spirit of the law.
Mr Nardella, a heavy metal enthusiast, has so far refused to repay the money, avoiding the media in recent days.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said Premier Andrews needed to match his talk of responsibility with action.
"If Don Nardella refuses to pay this money back then Daniel Andrews needs to kick him out of the Labor Party, otherwise he will be be accepting a tainted vote," he said.
A parliamentary audit committee will examine both MPs behaviour, with Mr Andrews saying the work would be done as soon as possible.
An overhaul of entitlements has also been approved by cabinet, including restricting access to the second residence allowance to genuine country MPs and requiring greater documentation to prove claims.
The Premier conceded the current rules were "opaque".
The veteran Melton politician has been a vocal critic of MPs behaving badly in the past, including rogue Frankston MP Geoff Shaw.
Mr Nardella sat on the powerful privileges committee inquiry that oversaw Mr Shaw's rorts allegations.
Mr Andrews' plea that Mr Nardella repay the cash, has been echoed by his constituents.
Gregory Heston owns a second-hand store off Melton's main street, just down the road from Mr Nardella's office and 90 kilometres from Ocean Grove.
He was shocked by Mr Nardella's behaviour.
Gregory Heston with his dog Lucy outside his Melton second-hand furniture store. Photo: Justin McManus
"He's in an electorate where people are battling or on social security, and the fact you've got people like him living far away and rorting the system sets a bad example," he said.
"We were under the impression he was living here – we all thought he had our best interests at heart and lived in the area."
Grandmother Tania Karikis said she had always believed that their local MP had lived in the area – but said he was not very visible in the community.
Tania Karikis outside Melton Primary school, one kilometre away from Don Nardella's electoral office. Photo: Justin McManus
"How else would he know the issues we face if he didn't live here day to day? How can he properly do his job – that we're paying for?"
"He really needs to go. It is dreadful what he did and if he wasn't found out he would have kept on doing it," she said.
"It's a lot of money that he has claimed and he should pay it back."
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