As I reported recently, it’s been over a decade since the event and Dan Andrews has since left politics, but the stink around the 2013 car crash between the Andrews’ tank and a then-teenage cyclist just won’t go away. Now it’s official: Victoria Police engaged in a secretive cover-up on behalf of a rising political star involved in ‘a life-threatening’ incident.
The explosive 36-page assessment by a former police assistant commissioner asserts that the Andrews’ family SUV was “travelling at speed” and on the wrong side of the road when it struck teenage cyclist Ryan Meuleman in a Blairgowrie side street on January 7, 2013.
The former premier and his wife have always insisted that they came to a “complete stop” and “turned right from a stationary position” just “moments” before being “T-boned” by the bike.
From the start, sceptical observers pointed out that the damage to the car – not to mention the cyclist – suggested something else.
But the expert review, conducted by the state’s former Assistant Commissioner for Traffic and Operations Dr Raymond Shuey, concludes the police investigation which supported the Andrews’ version of events was “deeply flawed”, “unfounded” and “contrary to the available evidence”.
“The version as provided by Catherine and Daniel Andrews is considered improbable and implausible,” Dr Shuey asserts.
“The truth is still outstanding. It is most probable that the vehicle undertook a sweep turn at speed, cutting the corner and still on the incorrect side of the roadway in Ridley Street, 27 metres from Melbourne Road when the collision occurred.”
‘It is most probable that the vehicle undertook a sweep turn at speed, cutting the corner and still on the incorrect side of the roadway … when the collision occurred.’
The cover-up begins with just who was at the wheel. The Traffic Incident System report submitted by police in the hours after the crash records the driver as Andrews’ wife, Catherine – under her maiden name. The Andrews had been married for 15 years at this point. Initial police notes recorded the name ‘Andrews’ as driver. At least one witness reported Catherine Andrews in the passenger seat immediately after the crash.
But the Andrews name was becoming a very big one in Victoria, in 2013. Andrews had been opposition leader for nearly three years, consistently leading in the polls, and just over a year from becoming Victoria’s longest-serving premier.
Someone clearly didn’t want the name ‘Andrews’ coming to media attention in the wrong way.
It’s notable, too, that an unnamed female police officer from Rye police station on the Mornington Peninsula, where Catherine Andrews grew up and where the Andrews family have a holiday house, ‘jumped the call’ to take charge of the incident – two minutes after it had been allocated to another unit in closer proximity. The senior constable claimed she was closer to the incident, but was actually at Rye Police station, six kilometres away. She didn’t leave the station for another six-and-a-half minutes.
“This raises critical questions as to why ‘the senior constable’ (name redacted) wanted to take over the call and cancel a unit already en route. What external communications via telephone or radio with ‘the senior constable’ occurred in the time from the crash to being en route? […]
It is my opinion that this deception is part of a course of conduct and a component of an overt cover-up to avoid implicating a political figure in a life-threatening crash. Failure by supervisors and reviewers to identify this or seek explanation is inexcusable […] it demonstrates a high level of incompetence or alternatively a deliberate attempt to simplify the crash to rudimentary reporting requirements.”
Gosh, I wonder which it could be?
That was just the beginning of the lies.
The Shuey review, based on an analysis of FOI documents, witness statements and his own reconstruction of the incident, also questions the veracity of “collusive” and “unusual prepared sworn statements” given by the Andrews in the weeks after the smash and leaves open the possibility that the former premier – not his wife – was behind the wheel […]
“The statements from both Daniel and Catherine Andrews that their vehicle stopped at Melbourne Rd are not consistent with impact consequences, nor the report by (witness) Brad Morgan of the squeal of tyres prior to impact …
“The effective vehicle stopping distance of 19.2m following impact is indicative of a speed of 45km/h prior to impact.”
Then there are the apparent machinations to prevent the victim ever receiving justice. Labor-aligned law firm Slater and Gordon suddenly appeared at victim Ryan Meuleman’s hospital bedside claiming to represent him. His parents insist they never engaged the law firm.
The Meuleman family is suing major law firm Slater & Gordon, which acted for the injured cyclist in the aftermath of the crash, accusing them of failing to conduct “a full and proper investigation into the circumstances” of the accident and breaching their duty of care and obligations to him when negotiating his $80,000 Transport Accident Commission compensation payout.
Slater & Gordon denies the claims and says it will defend the proceedings.
A trial is scheduled for May next year.
Even in Dandrewstan, the truth must come out, however slowly and painfully.
