Ministerial Statement

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL VACANCY

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:02): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: After serving less than two years of an eight-year term in the Legislative Council, the Hon. Nick Xenophon has resigned to pursue his political ambitions in the federal arena. South Australians who supported Mr Xenophon only last year would no doubt be questioning whether their commitment to him has been properly honoured, given his decision to quit prematurely. As far as I am aware, I have received no letter from Mr Xenophon or the No Pokies campaign regarding a replacement. I understand, however, that anti land tax campaigner John Darley has been mooted for the position, although I am not aware of any correspondence from him regarding the vacancy in the upper house. I have not heard from other No Pokies campaigners as to whether an anti land tax campaigner is their preferred candidate rather than another anti pokies campaigner, given the strength of their vote at the last election.

The resignation has created a casual vacancy in the Legislative Council that must be filled. As I have already publicly said, the government will move to fill the vacancy in accordance with the letter and spirit of the constitution, the law and any relevant conventions. Unlike governments of other political persuasions, this government will not act opportunistically and we will not allow others to act opportunistically to serve their own political ends. I will not be doing a Joh Bjelke-Petersen: I will neither provoke nor aid or abet a constitutional crisis in this state.

On 18 October 2007 I received a letter from the Hon. Sandra Kanck MLC, parliamentary leader of the Australian Democrats, claiming that the vacancy created by Mr Xenophon's resignation should be offered to the defeated Democrat Kate Reynolds. Let me read the letter from the Hon. Sandra Kanck. It states:

Dear Premier, I write in relation to the casual vacancy created by the resignation of the Hon. Nick Xenophon on 15 October. While Mr Xenophon has declared his personal view, as also has the opposition, that the holder of the number 3 position on his ticket at the March 2006 state election, Mr John Darley, should be chosen to replace him, it is my contention that this position should be offered to the former Democrats MLC, Kate Reynolds.

The figures for the Legislative Council count last March show that, on the final distribution, there were two candidates left standing, Kate Reynolds on approximately 36,000 votes and John Darley on approximately 32,000 thousand votes. Effectively, had there been a 12th position elected, that would have gone to Ms Reynolds, who began the count with many more votes than Mr Darley.

There is another argument—a mathematical one—that a count-back, in which it is assumed that Mr Xenophon was never in the count, would result in Mr Darley being elected. The logic of that argument is that all the first preference votes that would have gone to Mr Xenophon should be allocated to Ms Bressington, and then the surplus quota would 'elect' Mr Darley.

However, there is an assumption in that argument that the votes for Mr Xenophon were intended for Ms Bressington and Mr Darley, and that Ms Bressington had the pulling power on her own to get 20 per cent of the vote. Clearly, this is not the case.

No Pokies was never registered as a party, and Mr Xenophon has repeatedly stated in media interviews, that he and Ms Bressington are independent entities. There are no precedents in this case.

The Constitution Act states that 'the procedural rules (if any) prescribed by proclamation...' will apply at the time of choosing the replacement. It is therefore within your power for such a proclamation to determine that the method of replacement in this case would be to choose the person who was next in line to be elected.

Sandra Kanck continues:

There is a mathematical argument and there is—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: This is a very key point from Sandra Kanck. She said:

There is a mathematical argument and there is a moral argument about what the voters intended. I contend that the voters had more intention to elect Ms Reynolds than to elect Mr Darley. I ask that you take this into consideration in determining your government's nomination for the casual vacancy.

So, we have a situation where both the No Pokies group and the land tax group, and now the Australian Democrats, are claiming this position in the Legislative Council. The opportunism of Sandra Kanck's claim is obvious, and the government has no intention of allowing the Democrats or any other group or individual to improperly hijack the process of selecting a person to fill the casual vacancy. The government will be guided by legal advice and recommendations in the handling of this matter. In particular, the government will act in accordance only with the advice or endorsement of the Solicitor-General, Chris Kourakis QC. I hope to be in a position—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: We have just received the letter from Ms Kanck in recent days. So, I hope to be in a position—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —to inform the house further on this matter over the next few days. I intend to recommend to the Governor a special joint sitting of the houses before the federal election on 24 November to avoid any further game playing over this issue. There will be no constitutional crisis: we will not provoke one, and we will not allow one to be provoked.