Slug Gate boss to run against Dan Andrews in 'Cook vs Crook' campaign

I Cook Foods owner Ian Cook / sluggate.com.au

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• By Avi Yemini

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Ian Cook will go head-to-head with Victorian Premier Dan Andrews for the seat of Mulgrave, running on an anti-corruption ticket in November's state election.

Cook, who made headlines when he accused a Greater Dandenong Council health inspector of planting a slug at his catering business which led to his family-owned business collapsing, will run as an independent against the Premier.

The council has denied planting the slug inside the I Cook Foods facility.

Nicknamed ‘Slug Gate’, the investigation turned into a nightmare for Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton.

It was alleged by Mr Cook that Sutton wrongly ordered I Cook Foods to be shut down after an elderly woman sadly died while at Knox Private Hospital. I Cook Foods is listed as one of their caterers.

I Cook Foods, established in 1985, used to provide 25,000 meals a week servicing the charitable sector for aged care and hospitals. Mr Cook has maintained that he believes the closure of his business was related to the creation of competing business Community Chef set up in 2009 by government figures – including the then Minister for Health Dan Andrews. The business in question went on to lose tens of millions in taxpayer dollars competing with companies like I Cook Foods.

More than 40 workers lost their jobs due to the forced closure of the company in 2019 under the direct order from Sutton.

“This is not a stunt and it’s not about revenge ... After three years of seeing first-hand how corruption is devastating Victoria, I can’t sit by and let Daniel Andrews pretend that he is fit for public office,” Cook told the media.

The Herald Sun reported that Cook has already hit the hustings over the weekend, in a campaign dubbed by his supporters as “Cook versus Crook”.