Archer denies Ferguson split

LABOR claims the new Liberal cabinet has sprung a leak, with the Opposition allegedly the beneficiary of two juicy snippets of insider information.

Opposition Leader Rebecca White had a curiously specific question for Attorney-General Elise Archer in Question Time on Wednesday, which if true, could only have come from a well-placed source.

Ms Archer declared her candidacy for the deputy leadership of the Liberal Party in the recent leadership ballot, but ultimately didn’t stand and Mr Ferguson

was elected unopposed. “Can you confirm that you called the Deputy Premier, Michael Ferguson, ‘treacherous’, and much worse that I cannot repeat, in a meeting where he said he would be standing as the deputy following the resignation of premier, Peter Gutwein?” Ms White asked.

“How can you perform your ministerial responsibilities if your relationship with the Treasurer has completely broken down?

Ms Archer said she did not know what Ms White was referring to.

“I can say, absolutely, that I have not said that,” she said.

“I can unequivocally state that I did not say that about my good friend and colleague, Mr Ferguson. We have a strong united team unlike those opposite who we still do not know what they stand for and we have the same old failed leader.”

Later in Question Time Ms White asked whether the government had plans to appoint the former premier’s chief of staff Andrew Finch to head the bid for a new $750m AFL stadium on the Regatta Grounds and the state’s other major sporting venues.

Mr Rockliff did not rule out such a plan.

“Mr Finch, the former premier’s chief of staff, is on leave as he was seconded from the State Service to Ministerial and Parliamentary Service,” Mr Rockliff said.

“He will be returning to the State Service. As a government, we are looking at options in relation to a suitable position in line with his employment contract.”

Sports Minister Nic Street condemned Labor’s Question Time tactics.

“The disgraceful personal attack tactics from the Opposition today are disappointing, but unsurprising as they reflect the toxic environment more broadly in the Labor Party,” he said.