Tuesday, 29 August 2023

Questions without notice and ministers statements

Commonwealth Games

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:01): My question is to the Premier. When asked about the gag order inserted into the $380 million compensation settlement, Commonwealth Games Australia told yesterday’s Senate committee inquiry that they ‘didn’t ask for it’ and ‘didn’t suggest it’. Why did the Andrews government demand that a gag order be included in the settlement?

Daniel ANDREWS (Mulgrave – Premier) (14:01): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question, and I would take issue with the way he has described the terms of –

John Pesutto: Someone had to ask for it.

Daniel ANDREWS: No, I am taking issue with the way you have described the standard form.

Members interjecting.

Daniel ANDREWS: Well, it is very difficult. The Leader of the Opposition asks a question and then is completely uninterested in the – you know, yap, yap, yap, yap, trying to gag everyone else, it would seem. That is what he is trying to do. The Leader of the Opposition has asked his question. I wonder, does he want an answer.

John Pesutto: Yes.

Daniel ANDREWS: Okay, good. So the first point: I am taking issue with the way the Leader of the Opposition has described the standard form – the standard terms – within a commercial settlement. That is the first issue. The second issue –

John Pesutto: They’re not mandatory.

Daniel ANDREWS: Well, they are.

John Pesutto: They are not mandatory terms.

Daniel ANDREWS: Goodness me. Again, I make the point yet again –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Through the Chair. The Leader of the Opposition will come to order.

Daniel ANDREWS: The Leader of the Opposition seems unwilling and disinterested in the answer. The only thing that cannot be talked about is the opening bid that the Commonwealth Games Authority put on the table, similarly the opening bid we put on the table and the back and forth across the negotiating table. That is the only thing we cannot talk about. Much as I might like to be able to stand up and say what the opening bid was from the other side – because it was a fair bit higher than where we settled – that would be a breach of the agreement, and that would do only one thing: it would send us off into a lawyers’ picnic. Again, the Leader of the Opposition can actively, wilfully misdescribe this agreement all he likes. It will not make it true. The only things that cannot be disclosed are the opening bids and the back and forth across the negotiating table – nothing more, nothing less. These are standard provisions within a commercial settlement. I would have thought someone who at least pretends to be a lawyer would know that.

The SPEAKER: I will call the Leader of the Opposition on a supplementary question. I hope that members will want to hear the answer.

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:04): Thank you, Speaker. Commonwealth Games Australia told the Senate committee inquiry that all legal and negotiating costs linked to the settlement were subject to the gag order, which we know was demanded by the Andrews government. Knowing that there is intense public interest in the $380 million compensation payout, will the government lift its gag order and allow Commonwealth Games Australia and the other parties to speak publicly about the Commonwealth Games debacle?

Daniel ANDREWS (Mulgrave – Premier) (14:04): Again, the Leader of the Opposition seems to be under the impression that if he says something often enough it will become true – that if he says something often enough his warped sense of reality, his wholly insufficient and warped sense of reality, will become true. I reject each and every one of the imputations and assertions in his question. The Leader of the Opposition can keep on asserting whatever he likes. It will not make it accurate. It will not make it true. Again, someone –

John Pesutto: And it won’t disclose it.

Daniel ANDREWS: Well, again, I am not at liberty to go to only what their opening bid was, what ours was and the back and forth across the negotiating table – standard terms in a commercial settlement. I would have thought that the Leader of the Opposition, who at least pretends to be a lawyer, would know this.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The member for South-West Coast can leave the chamber for half an hour.

Member for South-West Coast withdrew from chamber.