Tuesday, 2 August 2022

Liberal Party

Mr CHEESEMAN (South Barwon) (17:46): It is with some pleasure that I rise this afternoon to speak on this particular grievance debate. I take the opportunity to acknowledge and congratulate you, Deputy Speaker, for this fantastic opportunity to be the first Cypriot to be the Deputy Speaker of this chamber. That is a fantastic honour for you, and I congratulate you.

This morning when I got to work I took the opportunity to have a look at the Age, as I indeed do most mornings of my adult life. I like to read the newspaper and keep myself informed of the various machinations that might be taking place in politics. This morning’s Age was quite extraordinary, and I have brought a copy of the front page in today. I took some time to very carefully read the article put together by a couple of Age journalists, and what I found absolutely remarkable in today’s Age was that the Leader of the Opposition’s chief of staff has been used, it would appear, according to that article, as a person who would accept illegal donations on behalf of the Liberal Party to ensure that they could fund their election campaign for this coming year. It was quite an extraordinary read, and I wondered intently what this means. Of course the article very clearly states that a $100 000 donation was sought from a private donor to help increase the staffing pool, as I understand it—something that the various integrity agencies would find, I am sure, illegal behaviour. And of course that individual has subsequently resigned.

But also, in reflecting very carefully on that article, it occurred to me that maybe this is not the first time that this practice has been used by the Liberal Party in this state, and I wonder whether the integrity agencies, if they do investigate this, may find that the Leader of the Opposition’s Hotmail account may be quite revealing in terms of other donations that have been made that are potentially illegal. In reflecting on that and in reflecting on the past conduct of the opposition leader it very much occurred to me that in his time as Minister for Planning he got himself into an enormous amount of hot water, where various meetings were held with key donors to the Liberal Party at which commitments were given that later had to be defended through court processes and ultimately settlements had to be made that no doubt cost the Victorian taxpayer an enormous amount of money.

In reflecting on that newspaper article and indeed on his previous practice that has been exposed over the years, it very much occurred to me: what might this mean for the Liberal Party, particularly given the preselection of a number of very, very conservative individuals to the Liberal Party to this place in very safe seats? One of the great issues that I have is that with the profound opportunity to be a world leader, as Victoria has been in responding to those great challenges of climate change, and using that as an economic opportunity to provide a way for working-class people to be able to access energy at a very affordable price, these dodgy and very loose arrangements that he has entered into will make the delivery of renewable energy that much more expensive to Victorians and will mean that the profound challenges of climate change will be that much more difficult to reach.

I further reflected on the Leader of the Opposition particularly in the lead-up to the 2018 election, I think, where he dined out with some notorious figures and enjoyed a crayfish meal as I understand it—again very, very dodgy individuals who the Leader of the Opposition should have known would have been seeking a leg-up in a way that would be onerous and horrendous to the Victorian—

A member interjected.

Mr CHEESEMAN: Individuals of police interest indeed. Again I grieve about where the Liberal Party is at with them. Victorians quite rightly expect people to be of absolute integrity who will make commitments to the Victorian community and will deliver those commitments. When I look at our track record of delivery in this place—that we say what we are going to do and we get on and do it—I think at this coming election there will be a very, very clear choice for the Victoria community. The mere fact that the chief of staff of the Leader of the Opposition has been used to generate illegal or at least alleged illegal donations to the Liberal Party, with a price of $100 000 for the chief of staff, I wonder very clearly what the media adviser might be worth. Is that a donation that might have been sought from another business donor, maybe of $80 000?

Mr Edbrooke: Who knows?

Mr CHEESEMAN: I wonder what the planning adviser might be worth —maybe more than $100 000.

Mr M O’Brien: On a point of order, Deputy Speaker, I have been trying to give the member for South Barwon the benefit of the doubt, but even I have to make the point, and I make the point of order to you, that he is scandalously close to if not crossing the line in relation to standing order 118. Imputations and personal reflections on any member can only be made by way of substantive motion. I ask you to bring the member back within standing orders. Alternatively, he could take those 10 steps to courage and go out and say it on the steps of Parliament.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. The member for South Barwon, please continue, but continue with the point that is before the house.

Mr CHEESEMAN: Yes, I was wondering out loud, and I perhaps should not do that, but it does very much occur to me that in about 15 weeks time the Victorian community will have a very, very clear choice about a government that has a profound record of achievement—a profound record particularly in terms of delivering on the great challenges of climate change—and a Victorian government that is prepared to work with Canberra to deliver in the very, very best interests of Victorians when it comes to those great challenges.

I can recall very clearly having that opportunity of getting out there, of doorknocking my electorate and talking with my community about the opportunity of putting solar panels on their roofs. Not only was this a good thing for responding to the challenges of climate change but it was also great for household budgets. I can also recall engaging with and talking to my community about the importance of having a property system in this state, a planning process, a planning system where Victorians have the opportunity to put forward their say in a proper, formalised planning arrangement. I must say that through that process my community had the opportunity to engage with the former Minister for Planning, the member for Richmond, through all of the formal planning processes that he put in place to consult the community on important things like town boundaries and height limits across the Surf Coast and the Bellarine. These were important issues that were very, very well canvassed through the state election campaign, and through that period I can recall vividly the litany of publicly known planning decisions made by the former planning minister, now the Leader of the Opposition, that left a lot to be desired in terms of providing the opportunity and the right for Victorians to be able to make their clear voice known through that planning process.

When I reflect on where the Liberal Party are at and on the individuals that they are preselecting, what I can say is this: very clearly I know, as every Victorian and every person in this chamber knows, that with those individuals being preselected by the Liberal Party the challenges of responding to climate change will be harder, the rights of women will be trashed and the rights of our gay, lesbian and gender-diverse communities will be trashed. These are rights that we have put in place, that we have built on. This is what a progressive state should do. But when you open the door, as the Liberal Party have, to those that they have let into their party, it is no wonder they are preselecting people that are so conservative.

It is important at the end of the day that this Parliament be a genuine reflection of our community. That is important. That is a thing that I cherish. I am sure all Victorians cherish that. But it is also important that we do not see arch conservatives dominate the Liberal Party, because as a consequence of that we see the quality of debate and the opportunity to reform the state in a good way lessened.

I am looking forward to the Victorian election at the end of this year. I am looking forward, as I know all of my colleagues are, to putting our case about why Victoria matters, why the Victorian Parliament matters and why our offering is the right offering for the Victorian community. I am looking forward to that challenge. I am looking forward to putting my case locally in South Barwon. I am looking forward to that really profound opportunity to put the case to make sure that we deliver for the communities of Highton and Grovedale and Victoria’s growth corridor. It is important that we provide a great opportunity, and this grievance debate has provided that chance.

Question agreed to.