The scandal plagued Office of Living Victoria (OLV) has today been abolished by the Andrews Labor Government.
The move to shut down OLV fulfils a promise made by Daniel Andrews before the election. The decision will take effect immediately.
OLV was set up and overseen by former Water Minister and new leader of the National Party, Peter Walsh.
The Ombudsman found a number of allegations to be substantiated and identified a range of serious breaches of governance and procurement standards at OLV.
In shutting down OLV, the Government also announced an independent review of the entire office, with a particular emphasis on the grants awarded through the Living Victoria Fund.
Quotes Attributable to Minister Neville
“OLV has been a waste of millions of dollars and the Andrews Labor Government is putting a stop to it.”
“We will investigate the entire OLV operation, making sure all of the deals and poor practices set up by Mr Walsh and the Coalition are brought to light.”
“The public deserve to have confidence that taxpayers’ money for water programs is being properly spent and not wasted on projects with no benefit to our water system.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020