Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas has been revealed as a shareholder in Transurban, the giant toll road operator set to reap tens of billions of dollars from its deal with the Andrews Labor government to build the West Gate Tunnel.
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Mr Pallas said on Thursday the shares were in a “set-and-forget” discretionary portfolio that held stock in up to 20 companies and that he did not even know he had Transurban holdings until Wednesday.
But the opposition is not satisfied, accusing Mr Pallas of “lining his pockets” with Transurban shares while negotiating with the company over the lucrative West Gate deal.
Liberal leader Michael O’Brien is demanding Mr Pallas stand aside while his shareholdings are investigated.
It was revealed on Thursday that Mr Pallas owns the shares in Transurban, which is set to earn about $37 billion in tolls on Melbourne roads from its deal to build the West Gate Tunnel, according to research by Victoria's Parliamentary Budget Office.
Transurban has been one of the darlings of the Australian stock exchange in recent months, with the road operator’s shares climbing by more than 19 per cent since October.
Mr Pallas says he has complied with all the rules requiring him to disclose his financial interests.
“I’ve been entirely transparent in this respect, I’ve complied with all the obligations,” he said on Wednesday morning.
“Essentially, it’s a set-and-forget fund. In 2011, when the fund was established, Transurban wasn’t in that cohort of investments … some time thereafter it did come in
“I have never paid any attention, until yesterday, to what was in that fund.”
But Mr O'Brien said the Treasurer's shareholding in Transurban was a clear conflict of interest and he should be sacked.
"The Treasurer has personally benefited from his investment in Transurban at the expense of Victorian motorists who are going to be paying billions of dollars in higher tolls," he said.
Mr O'Brien said Premier Daniel Andrews must at least institute an independent investigation and the Treasurer should stand down while it's being carried out.
Mr O'Brien described the revelations as a scandal.
"This is conflict of interest 101," the Liberal leader said. "You can't own shares in a company while you're doing deals with that company. This is disgraceful, this is unethical."
Mr O'Brien said he held no shares during his time as treasurer and holds none today.
"The job of the treasurer is to put money in Victorians' pockets, not to line their own pockets,” he said.
Correction: A reference in an earlier version of this article to the 'Parliamentary Library' should have referred to Victoria's Parliamentary Budget Office.
