Premier under pressure over secret police tapes

Published: 09:21:55 AM, Mon 04 March 2013 UTC

Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu will face senior Liberal MPs at a rare, single party room meeting this morning, amid further fallout from the airing of secret police tapes.

The MPs will meet without their Coalition partners, a day after Mr Baillieu referred his chief of staff Tony Nutt and Victorian Liberal director Damien Mantach to the state's new anti-corruption agency.

Recordings leaked to the Herald Sun newspaper reveal the Liberal Party paid the disgraced former ministerial adviser Tristan Weston $22,500.

Mr Weston had to quit working as an adviser to the Police Minister Peter Ryan after an Office of Police Integrity report found he waged a campaign to bring down the former chief commissioner Simon Overland.

The tapes also show Mr Nutt repeatedly offering to help Mr Weston find a new job.

Mr Baillieu is standing by Mr Nutt.

More damaging telephone recordings have been released today, detailing the rift in police command.

In the tapes, Mr Weston indicates to the sacked deputy police commissioner Sir Ken Jones that he will tell Mr Ryan about the conflict between him and Mr Overland.

"All right well look leave this with me, I'll speak to Peter," Mr Weston said.

"He's out of control, out of control...anyway Tristan, I've now got more time for my garden which I haven't got," Sir Ken said.

"Yeah take the dog for a walk. Just take care, look after yourself and I will take this up with Peter," Mr Weston said.

"The government can't sit on its hands forever on this, eventually they'll have to commit themselves to, yes we're supporting party A or party B."

Mr Ryan says he did not know about the plot to undermine Mr Overland.

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