Thursday, 20 September 2018

 Mr GUY (Bulleen—Leader of the Opposition) (11:32): My question is to the Premier. You lost your Speaker and Deputy Speaker for rorting the second residence allowance, your Deputy President went for rorting his printing allowance, your TAFE minister resigned for chauffeuring his dogs in his ministerial limo, your emergency services minister was bullied out for daring to stand up to you, and your small business minister was dispatched in a factional hit. We have witnessed Labor members abusing each other, knives wielded in the parliamentary dining room and sordid text messages by your health minister against the Deputy Premier, and you distrust your own cabinet so much you even tried to audit their mobile phones. Premier, a fish rots from the head.

Honourable members interjecting.

Mr GUY: A fish rots from the head. Will you finally accept responsibility for the sordid, corrupt mess of a government that you lead?

 Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (11:33): I have got to say, it is pretty gutsy, talking about seafood, I would have thought. A pretty gutsy effort there. Good on you. What a hero you are. Where does a lobster rot from, I wonder? And surely even a rotting lobster would taste okay if you washed it down with Grange?

Mr Burgess interjected.

Mr ANDREWS: You were there.

Mr Burgess: On a point of order, Speaker, perhaps the Premier would like to tell the house where he got his free fruit from every week. Where did you get your free boxes of fruit, Premier, every week? Who was it? Are you prepared to answer that question?

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Hastings will resume his seat. There is no point of order.

Mr ANDREWS: I do thank the member for Hastings for that stunning interjection to protect his leader, having asked on the last day about seafood.

Honourable members interjecting.

Mr ANDREWS: No, I won’t move past it. I will say it again: he just asked me a question about seafood. Apparently what I put in my kids’ lunchboxes is on par with what this one puts in his pocket — Mafia money.

Mr Walsh: On a point of order, Speaker, on the issue of relevance, the Premier has clearly said numerous times that he will take responsibility for whatever happens on his watch. The question very clearly says: will he take responsibility for the stinking, corrupt government that he has led? I ask you to bring him back to answering that question, please.

Honourable members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! It was a very broad, long question. I do ask the Premier to come back to addressing the question.

Mr ANDREWS: They can take 50 points of order, but it will not change the fact that the tactical genius over here asked me about seafood on the last day of Parliament. And that is my answer to your very, very helpful question. We probably could not have written it better ourselves.

 Mr GUY (Bulleen—Leader of the Opposition) (11:36): Victoria is going into this fire season at risk because you trashed the Country Fire Authority. We risk blackouts this summer because you closed Hazelwood, and Victorians are living in fear because of your soft-on-crime policies. Bushfires, blackouts and bashings — and all the while, six of your ministers remain under police investigation. Premier, don’t Victorians deserve better than your rorting, cheating, corrupt and incompetent government?

 Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (11:36): And here I was, thinking he would want to send them home happy. Talk about the Bs from the B team over here. I have had the great honour of being here for a while, a few years, and you know what? In my judgement, I reckon the member for Malvern would have asked a much better question than that. And you know what? I think an increasing number of his colleagues think the same — and I reckon he might just get the chance to ask a lot of questions in a few months time.