Documents obtained by The Age show Guy was registered as a Freemasons Victoria member in 2018 in the rank of “mark mason”, which is the third level of membership of the secret fraternity. Guy lost the state election that year to Labor’s Daniel Andrews.
It is not known what year Guy’s membership began, but Bucca said it had ceased in recent years, without providing an exact date, and dismissed questions about potential or perceived conflicts during the politician’s membership.
“What a minister chooses to do and doesn’t is a matter for the minister,” Bucca said. “What’s it got to do with us? Did we deal with Matthew Guy personally? Did we approach him on a one-to-one? I very much doubt it.”
One former senior freemason, who had a leadership position in the fraternity from 2000 to 2011, said he was aware of Guy’s membership during that period.
“He would have been a rising star in the Liberal Party. It would come up when we were looking for support. Whether anything ever happened, I don’t know,” he said.
Two other freemasons said they were aware of Guy’s longstanding membership but could not recall what date he joined.
Freemasons meet regularly at the organisation’s all-male clubs to raise money for charity, network and practise ancient rituals. Once a community of society’s most powerful – notable past members in Australia include Sir Donald Bradman and Sir Robert Menzies – membership has declined in recent decades.
Guy has not disclosed the membership on his parliamentary register of interests, which are annual statements that require politicians to report investments and associations with clubs, religions or groups that could represent an actual or perceived conflict of interest.
Dallas Brooks Hall
In 2018, Guy did declare membership of the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge and the Sir Henry Bolte Lecture Trust.
The Age is not suggesting that Guy acted inappropriately in making any planning decisions or that he made those decisions based on any relationship with the Freemasons, only that he may not have made necessary declarations.
Guy declined an interview request saying he would not be “replying to a vague fishing expedition”. “I’m not a member. Go away and cease harassing me,” Guy said.
An opposition spokesperson later clarified that Guy was a “non-financial member” in 2018 and “hadn’t been a financial member for many years before that”. The spokesperson did not answer specific questions about the duration of Guy’s membership.
Victorian Nationals leader Peter Walsh is a current member of Freemasons Victoria and appears regularly on the organisation’s newsletters to promote its charitable work.
Public records show Walsh discloses membership of organisations including the Echuca Workers Club, Swan Hill Field & Game, Geelong Football Club and the Athenaeum Club, yet does not disclose his Freemasons membership.
When contacted for comment, Walsh accepted that he had been Freemason for many years but did not think disclosure was necessary.
Former Victorian MP Ken Coghill, who is a founding member of the Accountability Round Table and an adjunct professor at Swinburne University, said Freemasons was a membership that Guy should have disclosed.
“There is an obligation to disclose any interest that might be affected by decisions you make,” Coghill said. “I certainly would have expected it [disclosure] in this case. There is a possibility that he would be influenced by his membership of Freemasons, whether as an opposition member or government member.”
Centre for Public Integrity director Joo-Cheong Tham, also a Melbourne Law School professor, said the omission of Guy’s Freemasons membership “strongly appears” to be a breach of his obligation under laws to disclose membership of organisations.
“This is especially so because of the perceived conflict of interest [if he was a Freemasons member] when he was Victorian planning minister and made consequential decisions in relation to the commercial interests of Freemasons Victoria,” he said.
Tham supported greater transparency of these memberships. “There is a good case for members of parliament to disclose their membership of Freemasons Victoria as its size and influence mean that such membership could give rise to a conflict of interest in the discharge of parliamentary duties.”
Guy was planning minister for four years to December 2014, during which time Freemasons Victoria was involved in two major property development projects, in East Melbourne and Box Hill. It’s not known whether Guy was a Freemasons member during those years, and The Age does not suggest he made decisions based on any relationship with the Freemasons.
The largest and most controversial was the re-development of Freemasons Victoria’s East Melbourne headquarters, the Dallas Brooks Hall, in a $450 million partnership with Mirvac.
The proposal was first lodged with the then Coalition state government in 2013 and generated 11 objections, including from the City of Melbourne and Epworth HealthCare. The objections related to heritage concerns, height, overshadowing and privacy concerns for the neighbouring hospital.
Mirvac and Freemasons Victoria sought permission from Guy, as minister, to substantially increase the development to two towers with 17 and 11 levels respectively.
Guy appointed an expert panel to advise the government on the project, and it reported just after the 2014 election. Labor’s then planning minister, Richard Wynne, ultimately approved a plan for the site in 2016.
Wynne said he had to make significant adjustments to ensure the development did not overshadow Fitzroy Gardens, directly opposite. “The initial application was way over the odds,” he said.
Guy was also involved in a planning decision at about the same time another property was eventually developed by Freemasons Victoria.
Freemasons Victoria mounted a strong objection when its 90-year-old Masonic centre in Box Hill was considered for heritage protection in 2011, as part of a wider planning change.
Freemasons Victoria’s expert consultant argued that there was insufficient justification for heritage protection.
“From an architectural and aesthetic perspective, the Box Hill site is a typical building from the 1920s of which there are many examples developed throughout Melbourne,” its submission from the time stated.
However, Whitehorse City Council found this did not detract from the “importance”, “historical significance” and “social memories associated” with the building.
An independent panel ultimately agreed with Freemasons Victoria and recommended to the minister that the centre not receive heritage protection. Guy approved the amendment in March 2013, according to the government gazette.
Freemasons Victoria then backed a project that razed the centre to make way for a 10-storey apartment complex.
Freemasons Victoria’s 2017-18 annual report noted the last four apartments had been sold, signalling the completion of the project.
During the same planning process another masonic lodge, in Blackburn, was granted heritage protection. This was not opposed by Freemasons Victoria, but it did request consideration be given to acknowledging its development potential.
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