Government integrity
Gabrielle DE VIETRI (Richmond) (14:19): My question is for the Premier. According to the gifts register, seven Labor ministers and parliamentary secretaries accepted dozens of expensive gifts from the gambling industry last year. This includes the Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation Enver Erdogan, the person responsible for regulating the gambling industry, who accepted gifts valued at thousands of dollars from Tabcorp, Crown Casino and Endeavour Group, a pokies giant. This is a serious conflict of interest and one expressly prohibited under the ministerial code of conduct, even when it is disclosed. As the person responsible for enforcing the code, will the Premier take action or is integrity in fact negotiable?
Gabrielle DE VIETRI (Richmond) (14:20): The Premier’s answer is simply not true. Ministers are paid 450 grand a year to represent the public’s interest, not the interests of gambling corporations. These gifts are called inducements for a reason: because they are likely to persuade ministers to support these harmful industries instead of regulating them. Minister Erdogan watered down pokies reforms in the same period in which he accepted these gifts. The Premier has tried to distance himself from his predecessors, but true integrity means that your ministers cannot be bought by powerful interests. So, unlike his predecessors, will the Premier ban gifts to MPs from gambling corporations?
Anthony Carbines: On a point of order, Speaker, on Rulings from the Chair and Speaker Delzoppo:
A member may not use the opportunity to make a speech when asking a question.
The SPEAKER: I remind members that you do not actually need a whole minute to ask a question.