Federal Liberal MP for Aston Chris Pearce has been slammed by opponents for taking an unnatural interest in both the City of Knox Council and his wife's wardrobe.
ONCE A LIBERAL HERO
Pearce was - until recent revelations - known to the OC and most in politics as a dutiful Costello faction operative who did a sensational job in winning the Aston by-election against young Crean staffer Kieran Boland prior to the 2001 election, marking a return to strength for the previously ailing Howard government.
Pearce's victory led the then Prime Minister to declare "I believe that the Government is well and truly back in the game."
It was a meteoric rise for the largely unknown Liberal, some-time piano salesman and one-term local councillor, because the initial intention was to preselect Carol Nugent, the widow of the deceased Liberal wet MP Peter Nugent whose sudden death prompted the by-election. She was an early scratching though when it was discovered she was a UK citizen.
Pearce received a hero's welcome from delighted and relieved colleagues when he arrived in Canberra and was even eventually promoted to become Parliamentary Secretary to then Treasurer Peter Costello but as we will see had a seething mass of intrigue and weirdness going on back at home.
NOW OVERCOME BY MAYORAL ENVY TRIGGERING A COUNCIL OBSESSION
The OC Investigations Unit has uncovered claims that Pearce is a fully-blown obsessive when it comes to the leafy green eastern suburban Knox Council, one of Victoria's largest municipalities with over 150,000 residents in suburbs like Ferntree Gully, Boronia and Bayswater.
Locals say that Pearce spends "half of his waking hours" on the phone moaning about the local council and plotting to regain control of it.
Pearce's unhealthy pre-occupation is attributed to what some locals call "mayoral envy", a condition they say he developed due to his frustration at failing to become mayor of the municipality when he served on the council.
The former piano salesman (specialising in Yamaha keyboards, the OC has been told by a source preferring to remain anonymous due to the intense rivalries within the robust music equipment supply industry), Pearce has devised a large network of small business and property development players in the Knox area, who are expected to supply large sums of money to back Pearce candidates in local elections.
MORE FRONT THAN FOY'S
Pearce has previously established more front groups than a Palestinian jihadist in his quest to seize control of the City of Knox. They are used by Pearce to cloak the true source of campaign funds and to retain maximum control over their disbursement.
One such group, the Knox Ratepayers' Association Inc. received many tens of thousands of dollars from local businessmen who were asked to contribute personally by Pearce over the phone and at fundraising functions.
The Association is registered with the Victorian Incorporated Associations registry but is understood to be essentially inactive locally with no more than fifty members. Despite this, Pearce is believed to have ensured the flow of very large sums of money through its healthy bank accounts.
Local informants tell us that six of nine elected Knox city councillors disclosed that they had received money from the Knox Ratepayers' Association yet were not required under the Local Government Act disclosure regime to divulge who had supplied the Association with the money.
Given the trouble the cardigans in the Local Government department went to hound one Geelong councillor over disclosure, this example does show the sheer uselessness of the disclosure laws they produced.
Pearce's large warchest was used to sustain an Unholy War of searing smear of a kind that had not been seen in local elections in that part of town. One observer familiar with the matter told the OC that Pearce's negative campaigning "was the grubbiest ever seen in Knox." And of course, confirming the OC's doctrine about negative campaigning, it worked.
LAPDOGS BITE THE HAND THAT FED
Despite the Knox Ratepayers Association's "Knox Reform Coalition" ticket seizing majority control of the Knox council at the last election with six of nine councillors, Pearce has struggled to control the big egos he elected and has now abandoned any prospect of working co-operatively with them
"It was like shepherding cats" one source close to Pearce told the OC.
One of the recalcitrant councillors, a successful local businessman and old-timer Mayor Jim Penna was once a Pearce loyalist but grew unhappy with his increasingly dictatorial demands, so no longer returns the federal member's phone calls and snubs him at community functions. Penna's friends say Pearce is "disrespectful and rude" to the Mayor.
Pearce's supporters say that Penna's public criticism of his parliamentary performance is a "public declaration of war."
GET SQUARE TIME
As a result of what Pearce sees as impertinence and ingratitude, he has issued edicts to lieutenants like local Liberals Peter Baird and occasional partner-in-sleaze Richard Thomas, reputed to be a disgraced former St Kilda councillor, to "destroy" most of the incumbent councillors and replace them with more obedient folk. Jim Penna is #1 on the hit list.
The OC understands that Pearce, using the KRA or another shadowy front group, will be running a full slate of councillors at the next election which might only include two incumbents.
LUPPO'S LUNCHES OF SLEAZE
Believed to be operating in tandem with Pearce in the plot to nobble the Knox council is former mayor and state MP Hurtle Lupton. Under the brand "Luppo's Lunches", Lupton is believed to run his own powerful high-level fundraising group of small businessmen, property developers, land-owners and others seeking to gain power within the local council for commercial reasons.
It is not unusual for over 150 businessmen (yes, mainly men) to attend Luppo's Lunches where large sums of money slosh around at venues like the ritzy Kingston Links Golf Course.
Operating as a fundraiser and bagman for well over a decade, Lupton dispenses the loot to favoured Liberals in an attempt to exercise political control in the area.
The OC has not found any public disclosures to authorities, such as the Australian Electoral Commission, for the operation of Luppo's Lunches.
FORTUNES TO BE MADE IN THEM THERE FOOTHILLS
The opening up of the EastLink freeway presents great opportunity for developers in the Knox municipality with its large amounts of vacant land and many are very keen to cash in on the boom by making nice with the council and those seeking to control it, like Pearce.
Local political figures are believed to have targetted a number of prominent land owners in the municipality for donations, some of which are believed to have been made in untraceable and large quantities of cash.
One of the area's largest property owners, who owns a marina outside the municipality and other substantial holdings, is believed to have grown tired of these calls and believes he has given "more than enough".
Others - including former market garden owners who are sitting on a fortune - are believed to "understand how things work" in Knox and know that one ought not have to be asked twice to donate to candidates backed by Pearce's political machine.
PEARCE THE WARDROBE WEIRDO
A federal MP who spends half his waking hours meddling in a local council is unusual, but without question the strangest aspect of Chris Pearce's weird life is a widely known story the OC heard several times about his dealings with his wife.
The OC understands that Pearce insists that he and he alone can purchase and select his wife's clothing, including underwear. He reputedly often goes on women's clothing shopping trips alone to Chadstone, Chapel Street and Brighton, carefully evaluating items in the mirror before purchasing them. We do not believe - and do not in anyway wish to imply - that he tries the clothing on at the stores.
Pearce has explained that he purchases all of his wife's clothing because "she does not know how to dress appropriately as the spouse of an MP". Charming. Some think she should just put on her walking shoes and get the hell out of there.
Former Pearce staff also complain that he attempts to exercise control over all aspects of their lives to an extent one described as "creepy" and "over-bearing". Some worry about rumours that the then Prime Minister Howard himself warned the MP about "padding his CV", even reportedly having emergency talks over the matter during the 2007 election.
Local government elections in Victoria will be held across the state in November. Looks like it will pay to keep an eye on the control freak's office, local frock shops and Luppo's Lunches in the months ahead.
Game on.
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