Introduction
Danny O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (12:14): I was interested to see who was drawing the short straws over there, but obviously nobody wanted to speak. Nobody wanted to, because nobody on that side wants to defend this corrupt government.
Jess Wilson interjected.
Danny O’BRIEN: They cannot say what they are doing, Leader of the Opposition, that is right, and that is why the opposition is acting to actually protect Victorians from the corruption that has been bedevilling this state – $15 billion of corruption, as reported by Geoffrey Watson SC, the CFMEU-appointed investigator. I have had people on my social media in the last couple of days saying ‘Where’s your evidence?’ It came from the CFMEU’s own appointed investigator and was only revealed because of a Queensland Parliament commission of inquiry, because those on that side of this Parliament are not interested in knowing anything about this. The Age has been raising this for years, and the government has said, ‘I referred it to the police. We did this, we did that. I referred it to IBAC.’
The SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the Nationals, this is a procedural debate. I ask you to speak to the procedural motion.
Danny O’BRIEN: I am doing so, Speaker, because I am explaining why we need to have this legislation introduced and debated. This is very important for the Victorian people, who have seen $15 billion of their hard-earned taxpayers dollars diverted to bikies and criminals because a government absolutely turned its eyes away from what was going on despite repeatedly being warned over the years. That is why we need this legislation today. The member for Brighton has indicated exactly why we are bringing in this legislation – to give IBAC those follow-the-dollar powers. The Premier was advised by IBAC that IBAC could not investigate these claims, because it did not have those powers, and what did the Premier do? Nothing. The Premier did nothing. The Premier did not respond to IBAC’s directions.
Mary-Anne Thomas: On a point of order, Speaker, the member on his feet is required to be factual. He is simply outlining things that are not true, and I ask that you call him back to –
The SPEAKER: Order! Under standing order 58, there is a requirement that all members be factual.
Danny O’BRIEN: If we are going to be factual, let us remind ourselves that a couple of weeks ago the Premier released the letter that she wrote to IBAC, from 2024, asking them to investigate, but she neglected to tell the rest of the Victorian people that IBAC wrote back to her and said they do not have the power. I would invite the Leader of the House to explain what the government did after that. What did they do to actually satisfy themselves that anything was being done about the corruption on the Big Build projects? The evidence so far says they did very, very little. They have not given IBAC the powers. They have not followed up with police. They have not followed up with the AFP, with the ATO, with WorkSafe – any of those. They have sent off emails and said, ‘We referred it. We referred it and nothing has happened.’ And Victorians are continuing –
Mary-Anne Thomas: On a further point of order, Speaker, the member on his feet is defying your ruling. You have reminded him that contributions are required to be factual, and once again the member on his feet is neglecting –
The SPEAKER: I have made this point before. Standing order 58 requires members to be factual. It is not for me to determine. It is a rule of the house.
Danny O’BRIEN: Thank you, Speaker. I was not defying your ruling, because you gave that ruling. If the government would like to get up and explain the facts, it can do so. We saw the first speaker from the government sit down after 30 seconds. They are so embarrassed about this. They know that they have overseen abject corruption – $15 billion of taxpayers money. As the Shadow Minister for Roads and Road Safety, have a think about how many roads we could fix for $15 billion. The government is saying it is doing 200,000 a year. It could do 2 million a year if it was actually putting that money towards roads. Yet we have got a government that is not interested. It does not want to find out about the extent of corruption in this state.
Mary-Anne Thomas interjected.
Danny O’BRIEN: The Leader of the House says that that is not true. If it is not true, speak up and vote for this legislation today.
The SPEAKER: Leader of the Nationals, I remind you it is disorderly to respond to interjections and that you should address your comments through the Chair.