Wednesday, 3 May 2023

Jarrah Resource Management

David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (14:12): My question is to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. It has been revealed that labour hire firm Jarrah Resource Management has been contracted as part of Major Road Projects Victoria’s Mickleham Road upgrade project. Jarrah Resource Management is a company with links to underworld figure Mick Gatto. Does the minister consider it appropriate for this Gatto-linked company to be involved in taxpayer-funded projects that she is responsible for?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Commonwealth Games Delivery) (14:12): I thank the member for Caulfield for his question. If the house could perhaps give me a little bit of an opportunity to provide some context – I feel the member for Caulfield could do with the assistance of some context in answering this question. Of course, to deliver projects we have contractors and we have subcontractors.

John Pesutto: And you have rules.

Jacinta ALLAN: Yes, I am getting to that. Just wait. It is not your party room, mate. It is not your party room where you get to speak over women. It is not your party room.

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, through the Chair.

Jacinta ALLAN: We have contractors and we have subcontractors.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! I would like to hear the answer.

Jacinta ALLAN: And just as there are settings around requiring contractors to work with Indigenous firms to support Indigenous Victorians to get more opportunities on our projects, it is a requirement of contractors to engage with their subcontractors to deliver these projects and ensure that they comply with all the relevant provisions – workplace provisions, industrial relations provisions – and this is entirely consistent with how projects have been delivered for a very, very long time.

Now, of course, if you have never delivered a project, if you wasted those four years in government and did not deliver a project, if you spent your –

Members interjecting.

Jacinta ALLAN: Oh, you are so predictable.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, on standing order 58 again, relevance, the question related to whether the minister considered it appropriate for the government and taxpayer funds to be linked to Mick Gatto, and I would ask you to ask the minister to return to that question.

The SPEAKER: The Manager of Opposition Business knows that a point of order is not an opportunity to repeat the question. The minister was being relevant to the question that was asked. I rule the point of order out of order.

Jacinta ALLAN: As I was saying, there are requirements for all companies that work on all projects. It does not matter whether they are government projects, private sector projects, projects for the federal government, projects for the New South Wales government – there are requirements around the workplace and requirements around industrial relations legislation, and we expect our companies to comply with and meet those requirements. This instance is no different. What is different is that we have a pipeline of infrastructure projects in our state that is supporting tens of thousands of Victorians. These tens of thousands of Victorians rely on these jobs and rely on these pay packets. These are the jobs that were at risk of course if those opposite had had their way. They were going to audit every single project and cut the infrastructure program in this state. They were going to cut into that.

Members interjecting.

Jacinta ALLAN: Mate, this is not your party room where you get to scream over women, okay? This is the floor of the Parliament.

The SPEAKER: Order! When a question is asked, I expect silence so we can hear the answer.

Jacinta ALLAN: We are proud of this pipeline. We will not be shouted at by those opposite, who delivered nothing, who promised Avalon rail, Rowville rail, Doncaster rail. We will keep on delivering for Victorian communities.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, again on standing order 58, for two questions the minister has been abusing the forms of the house.

The SPEAKER: Order! I ask you to state the point of order.

James Newbury: I ask you – on relevance – to ask the minister to come close to answering the question.

The SPEAKER: The minister was being relevant to the question. There is no point of order.

David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (14:17): Minister, last month Major Road Projects Victoria published a promotional video featuring Jarrah Resource Management on social media. After questions were raised with the government about the ownership of Jarrah Resource Management, the promotional video was immediately removed – it vanished. Was Major Road Projects Victoria instructed to remove the promotional video from the government’s social media platforms as a result of the Gatto link?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Commonwealth Games Delivery) (14:17): Do you know what vanished? Rowville rail, Doncaster rail, Avalon rail, the Metro Tunnel – all these commitments that were made –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, on standing order 58, the minister knows better than to debate the question. This question related to the government advertising a Gatto-linked company. I would ask you to refer the minister –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has just commenced her reply and answer. If you ask a question, I expect that you want to hear the answer. The minister had just commenced. I ask her to finish her answer.

Jacinta ALLAN: Thank you, Speaker. And do you know what would have vanished if those opposite had their way? The Suburban Rail Loop and all the other projects in our pipeline – and not just those projects but jobs. This is a question that fundamentally at its heart is about jobs – jobs for Victorians that exist because the Andrews Labor government has a determination to support a pipeline –

James Newbury: On a further point of order, Speaker, this is an abuse of the forms of the house. Clearly the response from the minister is not even remotely relevant. This related to the minister’s department advertising a company owned by Mick Gatto. I ask you to ask the minister to return to that important question of integrity.

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will come back to answering the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: Thank you, Speaker. Whether it is a road project, whether it is a rail project, we will continue to make sure that the jobs on these projects are providing support to Indigenous Victorians, women across the community, people working in small business – a program that would not exist if you had your way.

David Southwick: On a point of order, Speaker, the minister is ignoring your ruling. She is not being relevant to the question. I ask you to bring her back to the question. This is not about Mick Gatto’s jobs, this is about the website that vanished, the social media website that vanished under the minister’s –

The SPEAKER: Order! Can I ask members who are raising points of order to be succinct. There is no need to extrapolate on points of order. The minister has concluded her answer.