Rort probe continues but Vic MPs cleared

POLICE PROBE CONTINUES INTO VICTORIAN LABOR'S 'RED SHIRTS' SCANDAL

* Police have exonerated 16 state Labor politicians, but will pursue two men previously identified as architects of the scheme

* Two men, one believed to be former treasurer John Lenders, will be criminally interviewed by police

* Thursday's outcome follows a probe by the ombudsman, referral to the Office of Public Prosecutions and consideration by the police fraud and extortion squad

* In March 2018 Ombudsman Deborah Glass found 21 past and present Labor MPs breached parliamentary guidelines by wrongly approving that $388,000 be spent on campaign staff in the lead up to the 2014 election. She added it was an honest mistake

* Taxpayer-funded electorate office staff were used to campaign for Labor candidates in a move valued at $388,000

* Labor has repaid the funds

* "This is over for MPs. It means MPs, as they always have done, remain focused on delivering for Victorians" - Police Minister Lisa Neville

* "Any Victorian who rorted money from their workplace would expect to be charged with a crime" - Liberal opposition leader Michael O'Brien