Wednesday, 20 March 2024

Commonwealth Games

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:08): My question is to the Premier. The Auditor-General has found that the government’s $6.9 billion cost estimate for the Commonwealth Games was ‘overstated and not transparent’. Why was the Premier not transparent with Victorians?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:08): I thank today’s Leader of the Opposition for his question. I point to the Auditor-General’s report, and included in that Auditor-General’s report is a response from the departments of Premier and Cabinet and Treasury and Finance, where they stand by the advice that they gave to the government at the time – that the upper cost limit for proceeding with the games was in that $6.9 billion range. It was on that basis that the government made that decision that was announced on 18 July last year to not proceed with a 12-day sporting event where all the costs were going up and all the benefits that had initially been estimated were not going to be realised.

It was also at that point in time in making that decision that we had an opportunity to take the $2 billion that had been allocated for the delivery of the games and get on with the delivery of the reason why we agreed to step in and host the games in the first place, and that was delivering more homes for regional communities and getting on and delivering sporting infrastructure. I note the minister for tourism and major events was in Gippsland just this week announcing the four sporting venues that we will be proceeding with for that local community. I note in fact that the mayor of Ballarat has made some observations:

Despite the cancellation Ballarat is set to benefit from one of the biggest investments by any government –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Eildon is warned.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, the Premier is now debating the question.

The SPEAKER: The Premier was being relevant to the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: I will go back and repeat Mayor Des Hudson’s quote. I think it is a bit rude to interrupt the mayor as I was part way through his quote. Des said:

Despite the cancellation Ballarat is set to benefit from one of the biggest investments by any government in our city –

David Southwick interjected.

Jacinta ALLAN: we will let Des know what you think of him –

resulting in a generational investment into sporting and transport infrastructure.

This goes to the heart of why we made the decision at the point in time that we made the decision.

Peter Walsh: On a point of order, Speaker, I would ask you to bring the Premier back to actually answering the question as to why she was not transparent with Victorians.

The SPEAKER: The Premier was being relevant to the question that was asked in relation to the Commonwealth Games.

Jacinta ALLAN: I was asked about the advice I received and the government received at the time about the costs of the games. You want to talk about transparency. The Leader of the National Party wants to talk about transparency. I will be delighted –

The SPEAKER: Members will direct their comments through the Chair.

John Pesutto: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, the question did not refer to advice. It was referring to the figure of $6.9 billion, which came four days after you submitted to cabinet a figure for $4.2 billion –

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition knows that that is not the way to raise a point of order. The Premier was being relevant to the question that was asked.

Jacinta ALLAN: As I was saying, my reference to the mayor of the City of Ballarat goes to the reason why we made the decision at that point in time when the costs were going up for a 12-day sporting event when we wanted to make sure we could get on and deliver the benefits which were why we agreed to step in and host the games in the first place. If the Leader of the Opposition wants to have a debate about transparency, I say absolutely, because you know what, we made the decision and told the Victorian community the very next day, unlike this mob opposite.

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:13): The government has been found by the independent Auditor-General to have wasted hundreds of millions of dollars to not hold the Commonwealth Games and to have misrepresented the true costs of them proceeding. Does the Premier accept the criticisms in the Auditor-General’s report?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:13): As I said I think in answer to the first question from the Leader of the Opposition in question time today, I have acknowledged and thanked the Auditor-General for their report and the government has always maintained that it was the appropriate independent agency to undertake an inquiry of this type. So I have acknowledged the receipt of the report. I have acknowledged the content of the report. However, I do also point to the fact that the report validates the decision of the government to not proceed with a 12-day sporting event, because it would have cost more than $6 billion, a position the Leader of the Opposition himself supported and agreed that he would have made the same decision if he was presented with that set of circumstances. The Auditor-General’s report validates that decision that the government made and announced on 18 July last year.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Caulfield! Assistant Treasurer! You will both be removed from the chamber if this keeps up.