Tuesday, 10 September 2024

Housing

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (12:16): (655) My question is to the Minister for Housing. Minister, on 10 April you met with John Setka and others from Victorian Trades Hall regarding housing matters. What assurances did you seek from Mr Setka that the CFMEU’s history of sordid behaviour would not be repeated on Victorian government housing projects?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (12:16): The only form of recycling that the opposition believes in is questions. On 10 April, and this is borne out by the fact that you can actually read publicly available information, I went to a meeting – one of more than 70 meetings for the relevant reporting period – to meet with Trades Hall stakeholders and members of the building industry group to discuss the housing statement. I do not accept the premise of your question, Mr Mulholland, as tricky as it may be, around presupposing a number of factors that I do not necessarily accept. What I do say is that, again, as indicated in my answer to the last question, I think I exchanged three words with that person at the outset of that meeting. When I exchanged those words, it was shortly before he left.

Members interjecting.

The PRESIDENT: The minister to be heard in silence.

Harriet SHING: Again, when I attended this meeting at Trades Hall, it was part of dozens and dozens and dozens of meetings that I have with builders, with developers, with industry representatives, with superannuation funds and with trade unions, Mr Davis, because unlike you, I think that it is of fundamental importance to make sure that people can have conversations about the priorities, the issues and the opportunities that sit within the relevant parts of the portfolios for which I have responsibility.

Mr Davis, as I have indicated, and Mr Mulholland, as I have indicated, it is probably somewhat of an anticlimax for you to note, as I did in the answer to my first substantive question, that I exchanged about three words with relevant representatives that you have named from the CFMEU when I attended that meeting. They departed the meeting. I continued to have conversations, as is appropriate, as is necessary and as is a really positive set of opportunities, to make sure that when we get on with the job, as we are doing, to deliver thousands and thousands of new homes across the state, tens of thousands of maintenance repairs and upgrade jobs across the state, targets for First People’s housing, for women, for people who are in dire need of safe and secure accommodation, we are doing that in partnership with all stakeholders who can make that happen, because delivering on more housing takes collective effort and that is something we are determined to continue with.

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (12:20): Minister, given you refuse to answer with what assurances you sought, did you raise any concerns with Mr Setka at the meeting regarding bullying, standover tactics, corruption or bikies on Victorian government housing projects?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (12:20): All right, batter up for the fourth strike. Let’s go. At the meeting that I attended on 10 April there was a period of a couple of minutes in which about three words were exchanged before there was an ongoing conversation with the entire table of unions and representatives of workers who were at that meeting. Now, it may be something to which you are congenitally averse – to have conversations with unions – but this was, again, an important part of the discussion to understand –

Georgie Crozier: On a point of order, President, Mr Mulholland has been asking a series of very important questions that are of great concern to the Victorian community. I know the minister refuses – we can list who was at that meeting that we seek to ask about in these questions to the minister –

Members interjecting.

Georgie Crozier: If the backbench could just quieten down a bit, President, these are very, very concerning issues to the Victorian public. The minister has refused on four questions to actually answer Mr Mulholland’s questions, and I would ask you to draw her back to this very simple question.

The PRESIDENT: The minister has been relevant to the question. I think she has answered quite clearly what interaction she had as far as the question being asked goes.

Harriet SHING: I will just finish by saying this: Mr Mulholland, if you or indeed any of your colleagues – current, former, soon-to-be-former colleagues – have any issues, questions or concerns about conduct on building sites or projects around Victoria, there are many opportunities for you to report that conduct and those allegations. Mr Davis received allegations and did absolutely nothing about them back in 2020 as the local member. Again, that avenue is available to you now as it was then.