From Hansard, the member for Bendigo East, now Leader of the House, on 24 October 2012:
Doing the right thing would be paying back the money … Doing the right thing would be the Premier standing aside the member for Frankston while these investigations are under way … Doing the right thing would be making sure that the member … is held absolutely accountable for his actions.
From the member for Mulgrave, now the Premier, on the same day:
His intention was to rort the very system he was entrusted to uphold.
And again on 11 June 2014:
It is about probity and decency. It is about doing the right thing and being consistent.
And finally from the member for Melton, former Deputy Speaker, on the same day:
We should not allow any member of Parliament on either side of the house, whether they are Labor, Liberal, Nationals or Independent, to rort their entitlements. That is not what we are here for.
The Members of Parliament (Register of Interests) Act 1978 is very clear:
Members shall –
ensure that their conduct as Members must not be such as to bring discredit upon the Parliament …
Clearly the Premier, the Leader of the House and even the member for Melton understand what discreditable conduct is. They understand that the member for Melton has brought discredit upon the Parliament. They understand that any vote he casts is tainted.
The Premier has a choice: he can either deal decisively with the member for Melton — because this is about probity, this is about decency, this is about doing the right thing — or he can continue to dodge and weave, he can continue his pattern of distraction, deception and denial or be revealed as the hollow hypocrite he truly is.