Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has dismissed a leaked memo raising concerns about the behaviour of the firefighters’ union as political games.

Excerpts of the memo, published by the Herald Sun newspaper, showed the Premier’s advisers warned him that the head of the United Firefighters Union, Peter Marshall, had crossed the line during negotiations over the Country Fire Authority (CFA) pay dispute.

Dated August last year, the memo also recommended asking Mr Marshall to be more respectful to ministers, MPs, staff and departments.

Peter Marshall has been accused of bullying behaviour during negotiations. Photo: AAP.

Mr Marshall has been accused of bullying behaviour during negotiations and has denied claims he threatened violence against Jane Garrett, the former emergency services minister.

Mr Andrews said the memo had been selectively quoted.

“These are silly games and what we’re all focused on, and what we should be focused on, is making sure that regional communities are ready … for what will inevitably be another very challenging fire season,” Mr Andrews said.

“These are political games and I’ve no interest in playing them.”

Mr Andrews refused to say whether he asked Mr Marshall to be more respectful, saying only that he expected everyone to conduct themselves in a respectful way.

Andrews accused of lying to Parliament

When asked during Question Time earlier this month, Mr Andrews said he was not aware of any complaints about Mr Marshall’s conduct.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the memo showed Mr Andrews lied to the Parliament.

“I think he knew all about it, and I think his adviser — one of his most trusted advisers — clearly gave him a memo that detailed advice that said very clearly about Peter Marshall and his bully-boy tactics,” Mr Guy said.

“If Daniel Andrews is now going to lie and say that he didn’t get it or didn’t see it or somehow his memory is exhausted, no one’s going to believe that.”

Mr Andrews maintained that his answer to Parliament was “completely accurate”.

“No advice was received that would constitute a complaint,” he said.

Mr Andrews deflected questions about whether the issue had been raised with him, saying unacceptable behaviour included leaks to newspapers.

“Unnamed sources and gossip and all sorts of other talks and secret memos, wonderfully misquoted — that’s a game,” Mr Andrews.

“And keeping our state safe is not a game, leading our state is not a game.”

Mr Marshall refused to comment.

The CFA dispute remains unresolved, with volunteers launching action in the Supreme Court to test the legality of the proposed deal.

The Federal Government has pledged to change the Fair Work Act to protect CFA volunteers.

— ABC