Victorian Assistant Treasurer Danny Pearson under fire yet again over $10bn Future Fund account

Andrews government minister Danny Pearson is facing questions over a seventh potential conflict of interest.

Victorian Assistant Treasurer Danny Pearson. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Andrews government minister Danny Pearson is facing questions over a seventh potential conflict of interest.

Documents obtained via Freedom of Information confirm that on July 18, 2022, Mr Pearson was briefed by his department as Victorian Assistant Treasurer on the “Opening of Social Housing Growth Fund Bank Account”, at a time when he held up to $100,000 in Commonwealth Bank shares.

Mr Pearson faced questions as state parliament returned from the Easter break on Tuesday over a separate $10bn Victorian Future Fund Commonwealth bank account he approved while a shareholder.

In February, Mr Pearson was forced to place his hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of shareholdings in a blind trust, after The Australian revealed he held Commonwealth Bank shares when he announced in 2021 that the bank would be one of three to share in a contract worth $120m for delivering Victoria’s banking and financial services. It then emerged the Andrews government had quietly shifted an agency chaired by Mr Pearson’s wife out of his consumer affairs portfolio, in an apparent attempt to avoid perceptions of a conflict of interest, that he held Telstra shares while minister responsible for signing off on a $120m telecommunications contract, and that he had been the minister responsible for opening at least three government Commonwealth bank accounts while a shareholder.

In March, he also faced questions over rental income he receives from four investment properties, given the role he plays in regulating the real estate industry as consumer affairs minister.

The latest bank account to raise questions holds what remains unspent of the government’s $1.38bn social housing growth fund. Under the Victorian government’s banking and financial services state purchase contract, all Victorian government bank accounts must be held with the Commonwealth, Westpac or NAB.

The Andrews government declined to say which bank the social housing growth fund account was opened with, indicating the bank was not specified in the brief Mr Pearson received from the Department of Treasury and Finance.

A spokeswoman said Mr Pearson had “at all times disclosed relevant interests to the Parliament.”

“The Minister was not a decision maker in the awarding of the opening of Social Housing Growth Fund Trust Bank Account in 2022,” the spokeswoman said.

“The process was run by senior independent public servants and there was a probity auditor engaged throughout who signed off on the process.”

Questioned over the $10bn Future Fund account outside parliament on Tuesday, Mr Pearson said state banking contracts had been established independently of him and overseen by a probity auditor.

“It’s within my job description as the Assistant Treasurer to approve any departments or agencies who are seeking to establish a bank account, and in relation to the future fund they sought to do not one, not two but three bank accounts with the three providers on the central panel. They sought that approval from me and I gave it,” Mr Pearson said.

“What I’ve indicated in the past is that I recognise that this could have created the perception of a potential conflict of interest, and that’s why I have unreservedly apologised before. It’s why I again unreservedly apologise, it’s why I’ve placed my interests in a blind trust.”

Premier Daniel Andrews defended Mr Pearson, saying he “works hard”.

“He acts appropriately … He has my full confidence, and people can keep writing these stories all they want, but unless you’ve got an allegation to make, I’m not really quite sure what we’re on about here.

“He has made changes to his share (portfolio), those, those issues, he‘s made the necessary changes with. He has acknowledged that that ought to have happened earlier, but it’s happened now, and the matter’s over, finalised, finished.”

Opposition Finance spokeswoman Jess Wilson said Mr Pearson should have recused himself from any negotiations relating to a bank in which he held shares.

“This is yet another blatant conflict of interest for the Assistant Treasurer. How many strikes does it take before the Premier calls him out?” Ms Wilson said.