Banyule Council candidate Craig Langdon has been blasted by North-Eastern Metropolitan MLC Nick McGowan,.
Using Parliamentary Privilege, Mr McGowan said: “Back in the 2020 election in the municipality of Banyule in my area of North-Eastern Metropolitan Region there was a former Labor member by the name of Craig Langdon.
“I am sure some in this place remember that name all too well; perhaps you remember that name too, Minister, and President, for that matter. You have all been around long enough. “Well, very sadly, Jenny Mulholland OAM and her son David Mulholland were defamed, and they received, rightly, damages and costs due to Mr Langdon’s malicious actions – that is the only way to put it.
“But that is not the end of the story. The story is actually the failure of the Victorian Electoral Commission in the first instance to actually intervene, as was asked for by the Mulhollands at the time.
“The VEC’s complete failure to do this meant that the Mulhollands, like very many people in Victoria and very many who may contest elections in the days and weeks to come, may find themselves at the pointy end of the VEC, which just simply fails to act.
“I certainly do not want anyone to be in that position, because when it is your name and your reputation on the line, these are people’s lives we are dealing with.
“I would like to ask the Premier to investigate their particular case – because there is a County Court record of this. It went all the way to court, and it cost them an enormous amount of time, stress, energy and effort.
“No-one should be put through that. I do not want to see anyone who stands for any party have to go through what the Mulhollands went through, and I would appreciate the Premier investigating that case to ensure that the VEC performed its duties adequately,” Mr McGowan told the Legislative Council.