GREEK ODYSSEY

Forget lobster with a mobster, this is spanakopita with a developer as Guy dines out in the Mediterranean with Geelong business figure Votsaris

“It was a coincidence, they had obviously a planned trip and that’s my hometown.” BILL VOTSARIS

JUST days before Matthew Guy’s ‘lobster with a mobster’ scandal broke, the State Opposition leader was being taken out to dinner in Greece by a major Geelong developer.

Mr Guy and South Barwon state Liberal MP Andrew Katos were on a partially taxpayer-funded trip to Greece in late July when they met with one of Geelong’s biggest developers Bill Votsaris.

“I only caught up with them for one day,” Mr Votsaris said from Greece yesterday. “I organised a nice evening to expose them to some of the nice culture and music and food.” “I took them out for dinner too. “It was a coincidence, they had ob- viously a planned trip and that’s my hometown, I’m there every year, and I took the opportunity to show them around and show them some of the elements of that particular city that I think would be well adopted if we took some of those positive things into Geelong.”

Mr Katos and Mr Guy were in Greece to see first-hand how the country’s second city Thessaloniki had revitalised its waterfront, and how it could translate to a redevelopment of Geelong’s waterfront.

Mr Guy did not respond to the Geelong Advertiser’s questions on why he and Mr Katos met with Mr Votsaris, or what was discussed.

Instead, an opposition spokesperson provided a comment: “Mr Guy and Mr Katos attended a casual din- ner with Mr Votsaris once while in Greece.”

“As previously stated, accommodation and travel to Israel and Greece was partly funded from the respective members’ office budgets with the balance funded by the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council for the Israel part of the trip.”

Taxpayers contributed $25,000 for the trip to Greece and Israel by the Coalition delegation which also in- cluded meetings with Thessaloniki’s mayor, the city’s regional governor and other dignitaries.

Mr Katos this week did not respond to questions regarding the trip.

Mr Votsaris yesterday said he was not a member of any political party, and said he had made no donations to the State Liberal Party.

Mr Katos and Mr Guy’s Greek dinner with a developer occurred just two weeks before the Opposition leader came under intense scrutiny for sharing a dinner with alleged mafia figure Tony Madafferi — sharing lobster and Penfolds Grange.

Mr Guy referred himself to the corruption watchdog after news of the April dinner broke

The independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission last week said they were unable look into the dinner, as it was outside of their “jurisdiction”.

The Greek dinner also came just weeks before reports revealed the Opposition leader had — as Planning Minister in 2014 — approved a Chapel St skyscraper that led to a Liberal Party donor making a $36 million profit. Mr Guy approved the 31-storey development, despite a preferred height limit of 13 levels.