Tuesday, 7 June 2022

Questions without notice and ministers statements

East Werribee employment precinct

Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (11:37): My question is to the Minister for Local Government. Minister, in your meetings with the City of Wyndham have you discussed the East Werribee employment precinct and the Andrews Labor government’s plans for the precinct? If so, what was the nature of those discussions? If not, will you meet them to discuss the East Werribee employment precinct?

Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Suburban Development, Minister for Veterans) (11:38): Mr Davis, I have had many conversations with many local governments about a lot of their aspirations and a lot of the good work they are doing in a number of areas, and Wyndham would be no different. I always invite councils to present their main priorities. This area of Wyndham may have been one of those priorities—

Mr Davis interjected.

Mr LEANE: I am getting there. You need to relax. I have still got 2 minutes. I have really enjoyed conversations that I have had with Wyndham and all the other councils that I have had an opportunity to meet in person or via electronic means in Teams. I am trying to get through all the questions. I know you have a right to ask only one, but, being the very generous person that I am, I am trying to accommodate every one of your questions, so you need to relax and I will get there.

In terms of any concerns and aspirations that any council has and their wanting to meet me, I am happy to meet them. Understanding that there are a lot of aspirations and issues that fall outside the portfolio of local government, I have always been available and always happy to hear, as I said, any aspiration. It may fall out of my portfolio, but I am happy to hear any aspiration, have conversations with my colleagues, pass on any ideas and get some great initiatives. A lot of councils have some great initiatives that may fall out of the portfolios that I represent, but I am always really keen and excited to share the information and advice that I get from the local government sector. As I said, they pretty much have done a fantastic job in the last few years. There are some issues in some areas, but as a rule the 50 000-plus workers that work in this sector do a fantastic job every day. So I welcome any invitation to—

Mr Davis: On a point of order, Deputy President, it was a highly specific question about one council and about one project in the council area and whether he had been briefed on it and, if so, what the nature of that briefing was.

Ms Pulford: On the point of order, Deputy President, Mr Davis has just added another question to the pile of questions he asked in the substantive through his point of order. He has no point of order. He has shot out a whole bunch of questions, and the minister is, according to our customs, practices and rules of this place, able to answer them as he sees best. I might add the minister is doing, I think, a very good job of this given that Mr Davis’s question was all over the shop.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: As Mr Davis knows, I cannot direct the minister on how to respond, but the minister has 14 seconds in which to be relevant.

Mr LEANE: To try and answer your question, the nature of the conversation I imagine would have been cordial and professional, as is every interaction I have with local government. If that helps you with ‘nature’, I hope that I have helped you there.

Mr DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan—Leader of the Opposition) (11:42): It is clear that he has been briefed by the City of Wyndham, and it is inconceivable they did not raise their major project. I refer to the clear policy position of Wyndham that the East Werribee employment precinct be reserved for job-creating investments and a major employment hub around food research, innovation and manufacturing, and I ask: is it state government policy to support the development of the East Werribee employment precinct in line with current planning overlays and council policy, and will the minister indicate whether the policy of the Andrews Labor government is to sell some of the precinct for housing?

Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Local Government, Minister for Suburban Development, Minister for Veterans) (11:43): Mr Davis is asking a question outside of my portfolio—many questions. Once again I can reiterate that I am more than happy to speak to any local government about any of their aspirations, ideas or initiatives. I more than welcome that.