Legislative Assembly
Privileges Committee
Person Referred To In The Legislative Assembly
Mr Robert Larocca
Ordered To Be Printed
By Authority
Government Printer For
The State Of
No 90 — Session 2006–08
Members of the
Committee
Mr T Lupton MP Chair
Mr R Clark MP Deputy Chair
Mr C Carli MP
Mr H Delahunty MP
Mrs J Maddigan MP
Hon Dr D Napthine MP
Mr D Nardella MP
Mr B Stensholt MP
Mr M Thompson MP
Staff
Ms B Noonan, Assistant Clerk Committees, Legislative Assembly
Ms K Murray, Manager Procedure Office, Legislative Assembly
REPORT
1.
On
2.
The submission referred to statements made by the Member
for Kilsyth, Mr David Hodgett, during the adjournment debate on
3.
The Committee met in private session on
4.
The Committee suggested some changes to the text of the
draft response prepared by Mr Larocca.
On
5.
The Committee met again in private session on
6. The Committee draws attention to Standing Order 227(9) which requires that, in considering a submission under this Standing Order and reporting to the House, the Committee shall not consider or judge the truth of any statements made in the House or in the submission.
Recommendation
That a response by Mr Larocca, in the terms specified at Appendix
1, be published with this report.
Committee Room
Appendix One
Response by Mr Robert Larocca
under Standing Order 227
Statement:
The Eastern Transport Coalition (ETC) is made up of seven council
[…] Its primary objective is to have the
federal government fund public transport in
If you look hard you will discover that the public relations consultant
doing the work for the ETC is Labor Party member and former Labor mayor of
Moreland, Robert Larocca.
If you look deeper you will uncover that Robert Larocca was a former
adviser to both the member for Footscray and her husband, the federal member
for Wills, Kelvin Thomson. He was the
electorate officer to Kelvin Thomson when a liquor licensing character
reference was written for Tony Mokbel.
And — guess what? — he was the mayor when a controversial $18 million,
10-storey development in
Given Robert Larocca’s history and the fact that his firm has
deep-rooted links to the Labor Party, the real reason behind the pressure to
have the federal government fund state public transport is quickly exposed. Premier Brumby is behind this. He cannot have it both ways: he screams when
the federal government picks up in areas where the state is deficient, but he
is happy for a behind-the-scenes campaign to offload the state’s doomed public
transport system. Our local councils
have been conned by Larocca’s PR firm, CPR.
How much of ratepayers money has been spent on this con job? This stunt has no credibility. All the government wants to do is get off the
hook for its public transport failures.
[Hansard, pp 2647–8,
Response:
The member made comments about me which were factually inaccurate and
may cause me harm in a professional and personal manner. I was distressed by the baseless allegation
that I am associated with a convicted felon.
For the record facts of the matter are:
‘… he was the mayor when a
controversial $18 million, 10-storey development in
a)
The
development that he refers to was decided on at the Moreland Urban Planning
Committee, a fully delegated committee under the Local Government Act of
Council on
b)
I was
not a member of that committee so had no legal role in the decision.
c)
I was
elected Mayor on
‘despite the wishes of his own
internal department…’
d)
The
development was recommended for approval by the Director City Strategy.