Wednesday, 20 March 2019

 Ms STALEY (Ripon) (11:08): My question is to the Treasurer. The Treasurer admits—

Mr Andrews interjected.

Ms STALEY: Oh, you are unhappy that you are not getting it.

Members interjecting.

Ms STALEY: The Treasurer admitted on 3AW in July 2015 that he had secret discussions with Transurban—

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Ripon is entitled to ask her question in silence, and I ask the member for Ripon to direct her question through the Chair.

Ms STALEY: The Treasurer admitted on 3AW in July 2015 that he had secret discussions with Transurban about the West Gate Tunnel prior to the 2014 election. The now government took a different project, the West Gate distributor, to the 2014 election. Why did the government decide to ditch its election commitment and take up the unsolicited bid from Transurban which the Parliamentary Budget Office has now found will generate billions of dollars of windfall gains for that company?

Mr Richardson interjected.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Mordialloc is warned.

 Mr PALLAS (Werribee—Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Industrial Relations) (11:09): I thank the member for Ripon for her question. I think I would first make the startling observation that if in fact I had secret discussions with Transurban, I would not have discussed them on 3AW radio. That would mean they were not secret—I am just saying.

Can I also make the point that this government not only sought a mandate to improve access from the west and Geelong in the 2014 election, but we doubled down and we went to the last election advocating—not just in concept but in content—exactly what we wanted to do. In fact, it was not just a conceptual thing; we had people actually working. We provided in the concession deed arrangements that those opposite could pursue an alternative view if they wished.

Mr M O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, the question related to why the government ditched its election commitment in 2014 in favour of an unsolicited bid from Transurban. The Treasurer has not addressed that question. I ask you to bring him back to that.

The SPEAKER: Order! I do ask the Treasurer to come to answering the question. The Treasurer, to answer the question.

Mr PALLAS: We have been very clear that our commitment was to improve transport linkages from the west. Now the question seems to be: why didn’t we, with some degree of engineering certainty, specify exactly what the best possible outcome would be? We certainly identified an alignment, unlike those opposite. Remember the triple bypass, the dotted line—‘We think we might build something here or here, we’re not sure exactly where’—and they were seeking a mandate for it—

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Treasurer will resume his seat. Just before calling the Leader of the Opposition on a point of order, I warn the members for Mordialloc, Macedon from earlier on, Ferntree Gully and South-West Coast about their behaviour. In fact I warn all members to cease shouting across the chamber or they will be removed from the chamber.

Mr M O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, the Treasurer is again debating the question. There was not some vague promise of general upgraded transport links. The West Gate distributor was shovel-ready, according to the Premier, and fully costed, according to the Premier. The question is: why was that specific project ditched in favour of an unsolicited bid from Transurban? I ask you to bring the Treasurer back to answering that question.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! That is not a point of order. It may be a supplementary question, but the Treasurer is being responsive to the question that is asked.

Mr PALLAS: The shovels were ready and those opposite tried to stop them. They tried to put a lot of people out of work, and they tried to withhold from the people of the western suburbs the sort of economic uplift and jobs that flowed immediately from this proposal. So, instead of trying to stop people getting on delivering the infrastructure that this community so desperately needs, that Victorians voted for not just once—if there was any doubt about exactly what we were proposing, they absolutely knew; they absolutely knew at the last election— (Time expired)

 Ms STALEY (Ripon) (11:13): In signing up to an unsolicited bid for a project that was never taken to the 2014 election, which delivers massive benefits to Transurban but huge costs to motorists, is it just the case that Transurban saw you coming?

 Mr PALLAS (Werribee—Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Industrial Relations) (11:13): No.