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

Lily D'Ambrosia, the member for Mill Park, is the worst minister for energy that this state has ever seen. If only she would put as much energy into keeping the lights on in Victoria as she did into rorting the 2014 state election. Adem Somyurek is my favourite. He was the Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade. He may wield a butterknife like nobody else in the parliamentary dining room, but siphons are his weapon of choice when it comes to taxpayer funds. Cesar Melhem, the former government whip, former national secretary of the AWU and the man behind the Clean Event payments, was referred to authorities by the Heydon royal commission. He's no stranger to using other people's money for political gain. There are so many other members of the Victorian parliament named in the Ombudsman's report who cannot possibly look their constituents in the eyes: Anthony Carbines, Marsha Thomson, Nazih Elasmar, Shaun Leane.

These are just the current members of the Victorian parliament; there were retired members involved, too. They have since been rewarded for their obedience and their silence with very comfortable jobs on the taxpayer teat. Former Dandenong MP John Panzadopoulos earns up to $30,000 a year with three separate government boards. Retired member for Northern Victoria Candy Broad earns about $51,000 a year as the chair of PrimeSafe, a statutory authority for the meat industry.

Liz Beattie, the former member for Yuroke, receives $20,000 for a board position on the Greater Metropolitan Cemetery Trust. There are other retired members: Brian Tee, Margaret Lewis, Johan Scheffer. My favourite, though, is Joe Helper. Let me tell you the story of Joe Helper. He was the former member for Ripon who used funds that should have been dedicated to his electorate to fully fund a red-shirt campaigner, whose name is Juliana Addison. Well, Ms Addison had the last laugh. She campaigned alright, just not in his electorate of Ripon! She campaigned for Sharon Knight in Wendouree, and poor old Mr Helper lost his seat. He must have been hopping mad, but Ms Addison has done okay out of this. She was illegally paid taxpayers' money but she's now the ALP's candidate for Wendouree at the upcoming state election. Well, good luck to Ms Addison. Every time you think the Victorian Labor Party has stooped to a new low, they surprise you once more by plumbing a depth previously unthinkable.

Where was the ALP campaign team in all of this? Surely, the campaign team knew what was going on. Let's ask Senator Carr, who was on that campaign team. When he saw the Ombudsman's report, he said it was 'imprecise, vague and partisan'.