❓ A parliamentary question regarding the Treasurer's consultation with Gresham Investment House about a future fund, and whether Treasury was sidelined. The Treasurer denies wrongdoing and explains his communication methods.
AnsweredQoN 241Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE
FUTURE FUND — GRESHAM INVESTMENT HOUSE
241. Mr B.S. WYATT to the Treasurer:
Firstly, on behalf of the member for
Armadale, I acknowledge the Armadale chapter of the Red Hat Society, the Purple
Pearls, who are in the gallery.
I refer to the Treasurer's
announcement of a future fund.
(1) Can the
Treasurer confirm that in February 2011, Gresham Investment House was the first
to suggest the idea of a future fund? I refer specifically to an email from
Gresham to the Treasurer that states —
I know you are being lined up for a debate on the State debt and a SSWF —
That is, a state
sovereign wealth fund —
if
it made sense might re-orient the debate a little.
(2) Can the
Treasurer confirm that he dealt correctly with Gresham, sidelining Treasury? I
refer to the Treasurer's email in which he states —
this is my private email let's
get together in about two weeks time so I can get some views from you. Fund—CCP
(3) Can the Treasurer explain why he refused
to provide details of his relationship with Gresham Investment House in
questions in the upper house on 3 May this year?
FUTURE FUND — GRESHAM INVESTMENT HOUSE
241. Mr B.S. WYATT to the Treasurer:
Firstly, on behalf of the member for
Armadale, I acknowledge the Armadale chapter of the Red Hat Society, the Purple
Pearls, who are in the gallery.
I refer to the Treasurer's
announcement of a future fund.
(1) Can the
Treasurer confirm that in February 2011, Gresham Investment House was the first
to suggest the idea of a future fund? I refer specifically to an email from
Gresham to the Treasurer that states —
I know you are being lined up for a debate on the State debt and a SSWF —
That is, a state
sovereign wealth fund —
if
it made sense might re-orient the debate a little.
(2) Can the
Treasurer confirm that he dealt correctly with Gresham, sidelining Treasury? I
refer to the Treasurer's email in which he states —
this is my private email let's
get together in about two weeks time so I can get some views from you. Fund—CCP
(3) Can the Treasurer explain why he refused
to provide details of his relationship with Gresham Investment House in
questions in the upper house on 3 May this year?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for his question.
(1) I may just read that email in full —
Hi Christian –
I had lunch today with —
And there is an exemption for the name —
swapping a few ideas on
inter-generational equity, MRRT, royalties for regions and the concept of a
State Sovereign Wealth Fund which is something that has been of interest to
me for a while. There is also someone I know by the name of —
And again, the name is exempt —
who is something of an expert in the ''endowment#157;
(inter-generational) model of investing, who I think could contribute a lot to
the discussion.
The purpose of the short note is
to gauge from you whether there might be a political will for an SSWF —
That is, a state sovereign wealth
fund —
There is the chance for national
thought leadership here which might be attractive. Also, I know you are being
lined up for a debate on the State debt and an SSWF if it made sense might
re-orient the debate a little.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : And the next para?
Mr
C.C. PORTER : Can I just finish it? It continues —
If this is of interest, let me
know, and I will start putting together a pitch. I would seek a role for
Gresham to be involved in the design, advice and structuring of the SSWF,
albeit on a concessional basis. We have good pedigree —
Obviously, as I have just explained,
it will be administered by WA Treasury Corporation. No outside or private
interests are or will be involved in the matter.
(2) The
question then went to whether Gresham, which is essentially a merchant bank and
part of Wesfarmers, was the first to suggest a future fund. The answer is no.
In fact, this is something that the government has been considering for several
years. In fact, the first legislative iteration of it came from the minister to
my right in this Parliament several years ago, which legislation, member, is
now part of the consideration in the drafting of what will be the fund's
legislative basis in the second part of the year.
Did I sideline Treasury? No. But
it seems to me prudent to speak with people who are expert in the field of
sovereign wealth funds. That to me is probably not a surprising thing.
Mr
J.N. Hyde : On your private email address?
Mr
C.C. PORTER : I will get to that in a moment.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Thank you, members!
Mr
C.C. PORTER : I will answer the question. There are two email addresses that
ministers essentially have access to: one is the MP address—name.name@mp.
The person who sent me that email, unsolicited as it was, got the MP address
off the website. The email came in and was forwarded to me by, I think, my
electorate office staff. In responding to that person, I noted that I was
responding from my Department of the Premier and Cabinet email address, which
is, if members like, the direct or ministerial address. When I wrote ''this
is my private address'', I was referring, if members like, to my direct
email address, which is my DPC address. In fact, the reason that members
opposite can FOI this email is that it was on my DPC ministerial address! If,
member, the suggestion is that I maintain a Hotmail account or some private
email, I do not maintain any kind of private email address—any Hotmail
address. I never have. I never will. That is not how I do business. I am not
the type of person who tries to have salacious emails done, for instance, on my
wife's email address. That is just not something that I do. The private
address that is being referred to in the email is the DPC ministerial address
that allowed the member to obtain the document.
(3) The member's
final question was: why did I not disclose the relationship? We have answered
all questions with respect to Gresham quite openly. The member has the
documents. There is nothing about them that is particularly interesting or
salacious. What I did as the Treasurer was read all the literature that I could
on sovereign wealth funds and speak to everyone I knew who had an interest or
expertise in the area, inclusive of Treasury. And that is what I think a good
minister should do.
(1) I may just read that email in full —
Hi Christian –
I had lunch today with —
And there is an exemption for the name —
swapping a few ideas on
inter-generational equity, MRRT, royalties for regions and the concept of a
State Sovereign Wealth Fund which is something that has been of interest to
me for a while. There is also someone I know by the name of —
And again, the name is exempt —
who is something of an expert in the ''endowment#157;
(inter-generational) model of investing, who I think could contribute a lot to
the discussion.
The purpose of the short note is
to gauge from you whether there might be a political will for an SSWF —
That is, a state sovereign wealth
fund —
There is the chance for national
thought leadership here which might be attractive. Also, I know you are being
lined up for a debate on the State debt and an SSWF if it made sense might
re-orient the debate a little.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : And the next para?
Mr
C.C. PORTER : Can I just finish it? It continues —
If this is of interest, let me
know, and I will start putting together a pitch. I would seek a role for
Gresham to be involved in the design, advice and structuring of the SSWF,
albeit on a concessional basis. We have good pedigree —
Obviously, as I have just explained,
it will be administered by WA Treasury Corporation. No outside or private
interests are or will be involved in the matter.
(2) The
question then went to whether Gresham, which is essentially a merchant bank and
part of Wesfarmers, was the first to suggest a future fund. The answer is no.
In fact, this is something that the government has been considering for several
years. In fact, the first legislative iteration of it came from the minister to
my right in this Parliament several years ago, which legislation, member, is
now part of the consideration in the drafting of what will be the fund's
legislative basis in the second part of the year.
Did I sideline Treasury? No. But
it seems to me prudent to speak with people who are expert in the field of
sovereign wealth funds. That to me is probably not a surprising thing.
Mr
J.N. Hyde : On your private email address?
Mr
C.C. PORTER : I will get to that in a moment.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Thank you, members!
Mr
C.C. PORTER : I will answer the question. There are two email addresses that
ministers essentially have access to: one is the MP address—name.name@mp.
The person who sent me that email, unsolicited as it was, got the MP address
off the website. The email came in and was forwarded to me by, I think, my
electorate office staff. In responding to that person, I noted that I was
responding from my Department of the Premier and Cabinet email address, which
is, if members like, the direct or ministerial address. When I wrote ''this
is my private address'', I was referring, if members like, to my direct
email address, which is my DPC address. In fact, the reason that members
opposite can FOI this email is that it was on my DPC ministerial address! If,
member, the suggestion is that I maintain a Hotmail account or some private
email, I do not maintain any kind of private email address—any Hotmail
address. I never have. I never will. That is not how I do business. I am not
the type of person who tries to have salacious emails done, for instance, on my
wife's email address. That is just not something that I do. The private
address that is being referred to in the email is the DPC ministerial address
that allowed the member to obtain the document.
(3) The member's
final question was: why did I not disclose the relationship? We have answered
all questions with respect to Gresham quite openly. The member has the
documents. There is nothing about them that is particularly interesting or
salacious. What I did as the Treasurer was read all the literature that I could
on sovereign wealth funds and speak to everyone I knew who had an interest or
expertise in the area, inclusive of Treasury. And that is what I think a good
minister should do.
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