Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I apologise. I'm afraid I'm a little bit like Premier Andrews: I didn't know that I was cheating. Let me just name the individual members of parliament who cheated the taxpayer. Let's start with John Lenders. He's now the retired member for Southern Metropolitan Region. He was the architect of the scheme to defraud the taxpayer. This man was once the Treasurer of Victoria. He was the architect of this scheme. He was rewarded by the Labor Party for his audacious fleecing of the taxpayer, with a $90,000-a-year chairmanship of a government-run organisation, a company called VicTrack. He's since resigned from that position—thank heavens for that—because he knows that you cannot defend the indefensible. And then there is Martin Pakula, the member for Western Metropolitan Region. He's actually the current Attorney-General—the highest lawmaker in the state. Yet not only was he a willing participant in the scheme but he was responsible for the extra $1 million of taxpayer money spent to try to fend off the investigation by the Ombudsman and protect the cover-up.

Gavin Jennings, the member for Southern Eastern Metropolitan Region, was the Special Minister of State. His job description is supposedly to oversee government transparency, integrity and accountability. What a joke! Jenny Mikakos, the member for Northern Metropolitan Region, the Minister for Families and Children and the Minister for Youth Affairs, was one of the largest contributors to the scheme. Gayle Tierney, the member for the Western Victoria Region, was—the irony!—the Minister for Corrections. Perhaps she could tell us which correctional facility houses those who have stolen from the taxpayer and subverted the democratic process. And then there is John Eren, the member for Lara, the Minister for Tourism and Major Events and the Minister for Sports. It was his staff member who became the whistleblower.