Another day, another right-wing Australian Labor Party (ALP) power broker in the dock. This time, it’s Adem Somyurek’s turn. Formerly the convener of Victoria’s Labor Right faction, this month he testified before the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC).

Prior to being exposed, Somyurek served in Victorian Labor premier Daniel Andrews’s cabinet as the minister for small business and local government. In June this year, Somyurek resigned from the ALP after the party’s federal leader, Anthony Albanese, moved to expel him. With no principles or power left to lose, Somyurek has opted for a scorched-earth strategy. Last week, he posed as an unlikely defender of democracy by pledging his upper-house vote against Daniel Andrews’s controversial pandemic laws, earning praise from the right-wing Daily Mail and Murdoch’s Herald Sun.

The week before, Somyurek decided to lay all of his cards on the table before the IBAC. Because he knows more than perhaps anyone about the Victorian ALP’s systematically corrupt practices, his testimony is a fascinating insight into Labor’s party machine. It’s also a window into the mindset that regards this corruption as completely normal.