Victorian ministers have opened up their diaries to the public for the first time, revealing their meetings with media bosses, union leaders, sports stars – and even a Hollywood celebrity.
After changes introduced last year under the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, ministers now have to disclose diary summaries outlining scheduled meetings with lobbyists, stakeholders and other external organisations.
December’s summaries were released on Friday afternoon, though they will be published quarterly from now on.
The treasurer, Tim Pallas, who also holds the portfolios of industrial relations and economic growth, was among the busiest ministers, kicking off the final month of 2023 with a meeting with the Sichuan Communist party.
According to the summary, the purpose of the meeting was to “develop the Victoria-Sichuan sister-state relationship”, a commitment made by the former premier Daniel Andrews during his visit to China in 2023.
Pallas also met the head of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry head, Paul Guerra, and the chief executive of Crown Resorts, Ciarán Carruthers, in a joint meeting on 6 December that involved a “discussion on the economy”.
A day before the government announced its first contract for works on the Suburban Rail Loop, Pallas had a “discussion on the economy” with a former Labor staffer widely considered one of the project’s architects, Tom Considine, now a partner at consulting firm Sayers Group, and James MacKenzie, who chairs the Suburban Rail Loop Authority and Development Victoria.
MacKenzie was listed in the summary of the meeting under his role as chair of Slater and Gordon. Peter Konidaris, a consultant at Korda Mentha, and Michael Kapel from mRNA Victoria also attended the 11 December meeting.
Pallas also met with the Police Association to discuss “workforce issues” on 14 December, six days before the union announced a deal had been brokered to suspend their industrial action and defer negotiations until May.
Deputy premier, Ben Carroll, had 10 meetings, including with Penny Fowler, niece of media baron Rupert Murdoch and chair of the Herald & Weekly Times and the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.
His summary states the 21 December meeting was related to his portfolios of “education and medical research”.
Health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, also met with Fowler to discuss the Good Friday Appeal.
The newly installed minister for agriculture, Ros Spence, had an “introductory meeting” with James Wagstaff, the editor of the Weekly Times.
Fowler and Wagstaff were the only media bosses to officially meet with the ministers in December.
Allan, meanwhile, held several meetings with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and other first ministers before national cabinet.
She also met with the head of the CFMMEU’s manufacturing arm, Michael O’Connor, and Jenny Kruschel from the union’s textile, clothing and footwear industries and three-time Paralympic gold medallist Dylan Alcott.
Several MPs met local religious and community groups affected by the war in Gaza, including Carroll, who met the Islamic Shia Council, the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Zionist Federation and Zionism Victoria, and the attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, who met with Palestinian and Islamic community leaders.
The minister for creative industries, Colin Brooks, visited the set of the film Inside, and met actor Guy Pearce and director Charles Williams, while the sports minister, Steve Dimopoulos, met the North Melbourne Football Club and the Afghan women’s football team, which has been based out of Melbourne since the fall of Kabul.
Some ministers had noticeably few meetings as the festive season neared, including Natalie Hutchins, who had one meeting in the month of December, Anthony Carbines, who had two, Enver Erdogan, who had three and Harriet Shing and Danny Pearson, who had four. Guardian Australia understands all five took leave at this time.
The manager of opposition business, James Newbury, said the diaries exposed the “sheer laziness and inactivity” of the ministers and he criticised the government’s timing of the release.
“Instead of trying to bury more bad news on a Friday afternoon, the premier should be calling the relevant ministers in and demanding they lift their game,” Newbury said.
The Greens’ integrity spokesperson, Tim Read, who called for the government to release ministerial diaries for several years, said it was a “good first step” and brought Victoria into line with New South Wales and Queensland, where ministers have been required to publish their diaries since 2014 and 2013, respectively.
“But it’s important that Labor doesn’t treat this as a tick and flick exercise,” Read said, criticising the lack of detail on the purpose of the meetings.
“Publishing appointments with little to no detail only serves to keep Victorians in the dark,” he said.
The executive director at the Centre for Public Integrity, Catherine Williams, said Friday marked a “significant milestone on the path to greater transparency and accountability”.
She said she was hopeful government will continue to make improvements to ensure disclosures “actually serve the purpose for which they are made”.
