Wednesday, 3 December 2025

 Jess WILSON (Kew – Leader of the Opposition) (14:03): My question is to the Premier. The Ombudsman has today confirmed the VMIA spent $22.8 million on top-tier law firms to run an adversarial campaign against the families affected by home builder collapses. How is it fair that this government used almost 23 million taxpayer dollars to legally bully Victorians into submission rather than completing their homes?

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:04): In answering the Leader of the Liberal Party’s question, can I agree that what happened to the former clients of Porter Davis was absolutely not fair. They were put in such tremendous financial distress as a result of some quite inappropriate action from Porter Davis. What is also not fair is the characterisation by the Leader of the Liberal Party as to the work that was undertaken. As the minister has already today acknowledged, as reported in the Ombudsman’s report, where the behaviour of some staff was inappropriate, there has been an apology, and the minister has spoken to the VMIA. But let us also reflect, as I said, that what happened to those former clients of Porter Davis was unprecedented. It was an extremely stressful time. I would have thought that the Leader of the Liberal Party would not have wanted to add to the distress of home owners by misrepresenting the situation.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, this was a very specific question, and the Premier has been debating the matter rather than dealing with the question put to her.

The SPEAKER: I ask the Premier to come back to the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: Indeed as a result of the circumstances around Porter Davis there has been substantial reform work led by the minister that has resulted in the establishment of the Building and Plumbing Commission, led by commissioner Anna Cronin, who is doing outstanding work. She is someone who is firmly on the side of consumers and has worked to both reform the regulator and also strengthen protections for consumers. Those protections for consumers come through the buyer protections bill, which we brought to the Parliament and was opposed by the Liberal Party, who clearly were not interested in fairness then for home owners.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, the Premier has not dealt with the $23 million in legal bullying from this government.

The SPEAKER: Order! I ask you to raise points of order in the correct manner. If your point of order was to do with relevance, the Premier was being relevant. The Premier has concluded her answer.

 Jess WILSON (Kew – Leader of the Opposition) (14:07): The Ombudsman stated:

Many homeowners found VMIA’s use of lawyers intimidating. Being contacted by a law firm about their claim gave people the impression that VMIA was essentially on a litigation footing from the outset.

Why did the government treat these Victorians, who had lost everything, with such contempt?

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Finance and the member for Nepean can leave the chamber for half an hour.

Minister for Finance and member for Nepean withdrew from chamber.

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:07): The Leader of the Liberal Party has read from a section of the Ombudsman’s report, and we have acknowledged that where there were behaviour and actions that were seen as inappropriate the minister has unreservedly apologised and has spoken to the VMIA. But I would also like to ensure that the Leader of the Liberal Party is accurate in acknowledging other parts of the Ombudsman’s report that acknowledge that using law firms increased the VMIA’s capacity to manage claims and processes more quickly, because of course what occurred with Porter Davis and their deeply inappropriate behaviour was unprecedented and stressful, and there was action taken to support home owners as quickly as possible.

The SPEAKER: I would like to acknowledge a delegation from the County Assembly of Bomet in Kenya to our gallery: the Honourable Eric Kirui, the Honourable Peter Mutai, the Honourable Josphat Kipkirui, the Honourable Catherine Chepngetich and the Honourable Monica Manyei. My apologies for my mispronunciation. Welcome.