Conflict of interest row over Consumer Affairs Minister Danny Pearson wife, Nicole Marshall

The Andrews government has quietly shifted an agency chaired by the wife of Consumer Affairs Minister Danny Pearson out of his portfolio.

‘I’ve always declared my interests’: Victorian Assistant Treasurer Danny Pearson on Wednesday outside state parliament in Melbourne. Picture: David Geraghty

The Andrews government has quietly shifted an agency chaired by the wife of Consumer Affairs Minister Danny Pearson out of his portfolio, in an apparent attempt to avoid perceptions of a conflict of interest.

The Assistant Treasurer, who holds the portfolios of government services, Worksafe and the Transport Accident Commission, is married to lawyer Nicole Marshall, who is paid an annual salary of between $18,992 and $53,254 to chair the board of Victoria’s Business Licensing Authority.

Questions over his wife’s board roles come after Mr Pearson responded to allegations relating to shareholdings worth hundred of thousands of dollars earlier this week by opening a blind trust and apologising for his “error of judgment” in not recognising the “potential for a perception of conflict of interest”.

Since its establishment by the Kennett government in 1998, the Business Licensing Authority has been overseen by the consumer affairs minister.

Nicole Marshall and Danny Pearson. Picture: Facebook

It administers areas of the law directly relating to the consumer affairs portfolio, including the Estate Agents, Motor Car Traders, Owners Corporation, Sex Work, Second-Hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Acts.

But on December 19, a fortnight after Mr Pearson was sworn in as Consumer Affairs Minister, the government gazetted that it was transferring the board to Small Business Minister Natalie Suleyman’s portfolio.

No explanation was provided.

Ms Marshall was also listed on government websites as recently as Wednesday as the deputy chair of the Motor Car Traders Claims Committee, which continues to fall within Consumer Affairs.

However, the Andrews government said she had resigned from that role on December 5, the same day Mr Pearson was sworn in. “The minister has at all times disclosed relevant interests to the parliament,” a spokes­m­an said.

Ms Marshall is a former councillor in Moonee Valley, which overlaps with Mr Pearson’s inner-northwestern Melbourne seat of Essendon.

Her positions on the boards were disclosed in Mr Pearson’s parliamentary register of interests, which was most recently publicly updated in July 2022.

The questions over potential conflicts between the offices held by Mr Pearson and his wife come after The Australian revealed on Monday that he held between $10,000 and $50,000 worth of Commonwealth Bank shares when he announced a government deal worth tens of millions to the bank in August 2021.

Mr Pearson confirmed on Tuesday he was placing his share portfolio, declared as being worth between $300,000 and more than $800,000, in a blind trust.

On Wednesday, he faced further questions about shares he holds in another five companies which have directly benefited from decisions made by the government since he entered cabinet in June 2020, but for which he was not the responsible minister.

Mr Pearson’s register of interests shows he has shares in companies including the Common­wealth Bank, ANZ, Macquarie Group, Telstra, Wesfarmers, Coles, Myer, Bunnings Property Trust, BHP, Beach Energy, Origin Energy, Woodside, South32, CSL, Medibank Private, Regis Healthcare, Monash IVF, Health and Plant Protein Group, Sydney Airport, Bega Cheese, JB Hi-Fi, Computershare and Tassal.

He also has a Vanguard indexed international shares fund, a Hostplus superannuation account and a self-managed super fund, and receives rental income from four investment properties, which he owns as well as a primary residence and holiday house.

Recent government decisions benefiting companies in which Mr Pearson holds shares include the November 2021 announcement of a $95m incubator to be delivered through the Breakthrough Victoria Fund and funded in part by CSL, the government’s $64m Digital Jobs program, offering $5000 subsidies for interns, in which Computershare was a participant, and $250m for the delivery of 1108 mobile infrastructure projects in partnership with companies including Telstra.

Beach Energy’s share price shot up following the discovery of gas beneath Port Campbell Nat­ional Park, after the government granted the company a gas exploration licence in 2020, and Bega Cheese was included in a $31m Business Recovery Energy Efficiency Fund to help 110 businesses reduce energy costs.

Mr Pearson said he played no part in any of the government ­decisions.

Asked why he should not be required to divest himself of his shares, as is the standard set by Anthony Albanese for federal Labor ministers, Mr Pearson said: “Well I mean that’s a matter for the federal government.”

Asked whether that meant standards were lower at a state level, he said: “No.”

“I’ve always declared my interests. In relation (to the Commonwealth Bank) tender process, I was not a decision-maker, and I’ve indicated there’s been the potential for a perception of a conflict and that’s why I’ve taken these steps. In relation to the establishment of a blind trust, I have been in contact with my accountants since yesterday to commence that process … that has commenced and will be ongoing.”

Daniel Andrews said any “perception” of conflict of interest, as defined under the Ministerial Code of Conduct, should be viewed “through the lens of an ordinary person, rather than somebody who’s got a political imperative”.