Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews called a journalist pursuing millionaire property developer John Woodman “an arsehole” and sought to apologise to the businessman for the government’s deferral of a rezoning decision, according to sensational claims aired in a corruption inquiry report.

The alleged exchange followed years of interactions including a lunch with the premier at the Flower Drum restaurant in Chinatown in 2017, after Mr Woodman placed a winning bid of more than $10,000 at a political fundraiser event.