Former VFF boss Peter Tuohey gains fifth government appointment

Former Victorian Farmers Federation president Peter Tuohey has won his fifth role with the Andrews Government.

Done deal: Premier Daniel Andrews shakes then VFF president Peter Tuohey’s hand at Maryborough in August 2015, after promising to fund half the $440 million upgrade of the Murray Basin rail network. Picture: Andy Rogers

PYRAMID Hill grain grower Peter Tuohey has gained his fifth government appointment, prompting accusations he is being rewarded for his support of the Andrews Government in his former role as Victorian Farmers Federation president.

The Government last week revealed Mr Tuohey is now “a public sector employee” in his new part-time position as Victoria’s Rural Assistance Commissioner.

Current VFF livestock group president Leonard Vallance accused Mr Tuohey of having his “snout in the trough”, while former Grains Group president Brett Hosking said the phrase “gravy train” came to mind.

Mr Hosking said Mr Tuohey was a “not a bad choice” for the role of commissioner, but asked why the VFF had been ignored in the process.

Mr Tuohey already holds government-appointed roles of:

MELBOURNE Market Authority chairman, for which he received between $40,000 and $50,000 in 2017-18 (the 2018-19 report, released to parliament last week no longer reveals individual director’s remuneration);

VICTORIAN Grains Logistics Taskforce chairman, with expenses covered.

V/LINE Freight Advisory Council chairman, with expenses covered; and

VICTORIAN Ports Corporation director, with remuneration between $50,000 and $60,000.

Mr Tuohey dismissed claims he had his snout in the trough, saying “money was never a consideration, the same as when I was VFF president”.

“The remuneration doesn’t make up for the cost to my own farming business,” he said.

However Mr Tuohey said he expected to be paid for his role as commissioner, despite last week’s government gazette stating that “as a public sector employee Mr Tuohey is ­inel­igible for remuneration as the latest Rural Assistance Commissioner”.

The Rural Assistance Schemes Act 2016 allows a commissioner to be appointed, who is not a public sector employee. However by declaring Mr Tuohey a public servant the government has avoided revealing his remuneration.

“They told me I was going to get paid for it,” Mr Tuohey said. “I think I will be paid as a public servant, because I have to put a bit of time in meeting farmers, liaising with the minister.”

Most drought-affected farmers contacted by The Weekly Times were unaware that Victoria even had a Rural Assistance Commissioner.

The role is meant to liaise with farmers and rural communities in need of government support.

VFF livestock group councillor Steve Harrison and Orbost farmer Chris Nixon told The Weekly Times they had never heard of or seen past commissioners, despite having been in drought for three years.

Mr Tuohey led negotiations on the VFF backing of Andrews Government’s push to sell a 50-year lease on the Port of Melbourne to the Chinese-backed Lonsdale consortium for $9.7 billion, when he was president in 2015.