Pressure on Harriet Shing to explain what she knew about Victoria’s Commonwealth Games cancellation

Victorian Housing Minister Harriet Shing, left, and Premier Jacinta Allan. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

Harriet Shing’s appearance at Thursday’s hearing of the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the state’s Commonwealth Games bid may be the closest the Andrews-Allan government comes to being publicly held to account for the debacle.

The fact that it is an upper house inquiry means neither former premier Daniel Andrews, nor the current Premier Jacinta Allan, who was the minister responsible for delivering the Games, could be compelled to appear.

But no such loophole applies to Housing, Water and Equality Minister Ms Shing, who when the Games were axed held the portfolio of “Commonwealth Games legacy”.

While it is not known when Ms Shing first learned of plans to cancel the Games, the government has confirmed that Ms Allan first knew on June 14 — the same day the government engaged lawyers to begin the process of extricating Victoria from its contract with the Commonwealth Games Federation.

Six days later, Ms Shing was assuring Victorians in answers to questions in state parliament that the government had budgeted $2.6bn towards “making sure that we can deliver the games of a lifetime.”

She backed this up the following day, declaring the commitments the government had made would “deliver around 7500 jobs before, during and after the Commonwealth Games.”

It was not until July 18 that Daniel Andrews stood alongside Ms Allan and Ms Shing to reveal to Victorians that the Games were to be axed.

As the then minister for Commonwealth Games legacy, it is almost inconceivable that Ms Shing would not have been aware by June 20 — six days after lawyers were engaged and Ms Allan was made aware as minister for Commonwealth Games delivery — that the cancellation of the event was being actively considered.

Her relationship with her partner, Daniel Andrews’ then chief of staff, Lissie Ratcliff, makes it even less likely that she would not have known. The decision was directly relevant to the roles of both women, and it is difficult to understand how or why one would have known for any length of time without the other being made aware.

If Ms Shing did know that the Games were likely to be cancelled, it is very difficult to view her Question Time assurances about delivering “the Games of a lifetime” as anything other than a clear case of misleading parliament.

But don’t expect contrition from Ms Shing on Thursday.

Highly intelligent, and as good at verbal ducking and weaving as any Allan government minister, Ms Shing’s most prominent previous role in a parliamentary inquiry involved her ordering public servants to “cut the feed”, in a bid to prevent the live-streaming of questions about why then premier Daniel Andrews had been grilled by corruption watchdog IBAC in private, rather than publicly.

Thursday’s inquiry will be livestreamed whether she likes it or not, but the pressure will very much be on Coalition and crossbench MPs to ask the questions necessary to get Victorians the answers they deserve.