Former premier Ted Baillieu, whose private conversation is at the centre of the dictaphone scandal that has enveloped Victorian politics, has slammed Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews and demanded he come clean.
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It comes as Premier Denis Napthine said if people working for him had behaved in a similar manner to Mr Andrews' staff they would be sacked.
Mr Baillieu said the Opposition Leader's admission on Monday that his staff were involved in the saga raised more questions than it answered.
"I don't think anyone could take that story with any credibility whatsoever," he said.
"Let's face it, senior people in the Labor Party have known for more than two months that they were an integral part of what, by any measure, was an unlawful act and they have said nothing."
Mr Baillieu said Labor's story was implausible and If the party retained Mr Andrews as leader, it would have no credibility.
He said it was "blatantly obvious" that Labor knew what was going on when it failed to ask any questions about the scandal — "the biggest issue of the day" — in Parliament last month.
"They have been right in the middle of this from the start," Mr Baillieu said.
Premier Denis Napthine also weighed in and said Mr Andrews' version of events "completely failed the believability test".
"It is disappointing that Daniel Andrews couldn't say why the dictaphone wasn't simply returned to its rightful owner," he said.
He said Victorians should be concerned about Mr Andrews' character and if staff working for him has behaved in a similar manner "they wouldn't be working for me".
On Monday Labor assistant state secretary Kosmos Samaras admitted listening to the dictaphone of an Age journalist after it was handed into lost property at the party's state conference in May.
The dictaphone contained a private conversation between the journalist and Mr Baillieu, in which the former premier was critical of his colleagues.
The conversation was emailed to hundreds of Liberal MPs and members.
The Liberal Party is investigating.
Mr Andrews dismissed Mr Baillieu’s comments as someone from the other side of politics trying to take political advantage of the situation.
Mr Andrews also dismissed calls that his handling of the scandal had affected his leadership or the election, saying no one had raised it with him while meeting and talking to locals.
“My judgement is that the people of Victoria will be focused on those things that matter so much to them; schools and hospitals, roads and public transport, whether they’ll have their job at Christmas,’’ Mr Andrews said.
The alternative premier stood by his comments on Monday repeating that the tapes scandal office had nothing to do with his office.
“No one in my office, no one on my staff had any involvement,’’ he said.
Mr Andrews also said nobody in his office had been involved in the public broadcast of the tape.
With Richard Willingham
