Victorian Labor minister Danny Pearson under fire on Telstra contract

Senior Andrews government minister Danny Pearson is facing renewed questions about his share portfolio, with Telstra among companies awarded a $120m state purchasing contract under his stewardship.

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

Senior Andrews government minister Danny Pearson is facing renewed questions about his share portfolio, with Telstra among companies awarded a $120m state purchasing contract under his stewardship as Assistant Treasurer.

At the time, Mr Pearson held up to $10,000 of Telstra shares.

The questions follow Mr Pearson last month apologising for an “error of judgment” and confirming he would be placing his hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of shares in a blind trust, after The Australian revealed that he held Commonwealth Bank shares when he announced the awarding of a government contract to the bank in 2021.

Days later, The Australian also confirmed the government had quietly shifted responsibility for an agency which is chaired by Mr Pearson’s wife, Nicole Marshall, and has been part of the Consumer Affairs portfolio since 1998 into the portfolio of Small Business Minister Natalie Suleyman, when Mr Pearson was sworn in as Consumer Affairs Minister in December, in an apparent attempt to circumvent allegations of a conflict of interest.

As Minister for Government Services, Mr Pearson has responsibility for the Digital Victoria agency, which was established in November 2020, months after he was sworn into the ministry in June of that year.

As Assistant Treasurer, he has responsibility for the Victorian Government Purchasing Board.

In August 2020, the government issued a request for information to inform the creation of a future Victorian telecommunications service contract. And in March 2021, Buying For Victoria tendered for the Victorian Telecommunication Services State Purchase Contract under the ­Department of Premier and Cabinet, with Digital Victoria as the lead body. The contract – worth an estimated $120m – was awarded to a panel of 23 suppliers, including Telstra.

The Australian sent a detailed list of questions to the Andrews government, including which ministers approved the tender and state purchase contract, what involvement Mr Pearson had in the contract as both Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Government Services, whether he had recused himself from the ­process given he is a Telstra shareholder, whether he received departmental briefings relating to the state purchase contract, and whether he admits to a similar error of judgment to that relating to his CBA shares.

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

“The process was run by senior independent public servants and there was a probity auditor engaged throughout,” she said.

Opposition finance spokeswoman Jess Wilson said: “It’s Groundhog Day for Minister Pearson. Danny Pearson has now overseen the awarding of a banking contract to a bank he is a shareholder in and a telecommunications contract to a telco he is a shareholder in.

“Danny Pearson’s serious conflicts of interest continue to stack up and he needs to explain why it is appropriate he is involved, time and again, in government decisions that have the potential to benefit him financially.”