Western Tiers MLC Greg Hall repeatedly questioned government Ministers Rene Hidding and Peter Gutwein without success during estimates committee hearings about the value of TT-Line’s sponsorship deal, and is now calling on the Legislative Council’s Committee A call the company to appear before it. 

Mr Hall says legal advice provided to former Montgomery MLC Sue Smith in 2006 by law firm Levis, Stace and Cooper means there is a precedent that GBEs can’t avoid supplying information simply on the grounds that it is commercially in confidence. 

TT-Line and North Melbourne signed a sponsorship deal early this month that will see the AFL club play three games a year at Bellerive Oval for the next five years.

Mr Hall says he’s confident the legal advice means TT-Line will have to provide MLCs with an answer about the deal’s value if called before Committee A, even if the answer is provided in confidence.

The legal advice states “it’s not a valid answer to a question relevant to a GBE scrutiny committee inquiry for a person to refuse to answer simply on the grounds that the information is commercially in confidence”. 

It also states the powers of each House of Parliament are so great that it is contempt of Parliament for a person required to answer other than for the most compelling reasons. 

Mrs Smith, who retired from the Legislative Council in 2013, said MPs had to realise information provided to committees in private had to kept that way, and could not be leaked.

She said there was some value in MPs knowing information not provided to the general public, saying the role of politicians was “to represent the public in getting information and making judgments”. 

TT-Line would not provide comment on Mr Hall’s plan, stating only that the deal was commercially in confidence between North Melbourne and the Spirit of Tasmania.