ADELAIDE CABARET FESTIVAL

Ms SIMMONS (Morialta) (14:32): My question is also to the Premier.

The Hon. M.D. Rann interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier will come to order!

Ms SIMMONS: Will the Premier tell the chamber about the 2008 Cabaret Festival program launched last Wednesday 2 April, which is an integral part of Adelaide's year-long festival and events program?

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: Point of order!

The SPEAKER: I think I know what the member for Davenport's point of order might be.

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: The question asked of the Premier indicates that the Cabaret Festival program was launched last week. It is therefore publicly available. Erskine May, page 300, rules that out as you ruled yesterday, Mr Speaker.

Ms Chapman: Next question?

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I am happy to give a ruling when the chamber is silent. It may be that there is other information that is not readily available about which the Premier is going to inform the chamber.

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) (14:34): I am trying to be of assistance here because what I hope will happen out of today's Hansard is that there will be a direct link between the Cabaret Festival and the website martin2010.com.au.

Ms CHAPMAN: Point of order!

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier will take his seat.

Ms CHAPMAN: Clearly, the information the Premier is giving us is nothing to do with the Cabaret Festival at all. He is back on the last question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right! The Premier has only just started his answer. When—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I am on my feet. The Premier has only started his answer. I will listen to what he has to say. I am sure he will answer the substance of the question.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Thank you, sir—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: It's a 20-year plan for a new stadium. The Adelaide Cabaret Festival has become a much loved part of our annual calendar of cultural events and attracts interstate and overseas visitors. I want to pay tribute to the Liberal minister for the arts, Diana Laidlaw, for conceiving this festival. It is great to be a minister for the arts because you can conceive a festival like the Adelaide Film Festival, or the regional arts initiative of the Minister for Health. But Di Laidlaw deserves great credit for inaugurating this festival.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: And that is the difference between us and them because we are prepared to give credit where credit is due. The full 2008 program, launched on 2 April, includes more than 200 Australian artists, 140 of those—

Ms CHAPMAN: Point of order, Mr Speaker: all that information is on the website, including all of the events and who is in them.

The SPEAKER: I do not uphold the point of order. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I think the house and members have a right to be informed at the earliest opportunity—

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: On a point of order: Mr Speaker, yesterday you gave a very clear ruling about questions for which the information is already available. Is there one rule for one side of the house and another rule for that side? That is all I ask.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition needs to be careful. If you have a problem or think there is some inconsistency, there are two ways you can deal with it: you can move a substantive motion or you can come and talk to me privately. But getting up the way the Leader of the Opposition does, in order to have a shot at me—which is fair enough, by way of substantive motion, but getting up the way he does is unacceptable. If he does it again I will name him, without warning.

Members may recall that, at the end of question time, I clarified my ruling and I said that the member for MacKillop's question was not out of order on the grounds that the information he was seeking was readily available, because it wasn't. If members on my left recall, I in fact apologised to the house for erring in that regard. I ruled the question out of order because I held that the minister could not be held responsible for what the member for MacKillop was asking.

So, there is no inconsistency on my part. I am being completely consistent, and I uphold that. If any member feels that I am dealing with them overly harshly or that I am being inconsistent in rulings I invite any of them to come and speak to me. My door is always open. But getting up and making accusations against the chair by way of point of order is unacceptable. The Premier has the call.

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: Point of order, Mr Speaker: if I hear you correctly you just threatened to name members for raising points of order—

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: —and I ask—

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition will take his seat. I have been quite clear. There cannot be any need for any further clarification. If the Leader of the Opposition has anything further to add he needs to do it by way of substantive motion. If he is unsure about anything he can approach the chair and speak to me. But I will not engage with him in this kind of way. The Premier.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: The full 2008 program, launched on 2 April, includes more than 200 Australian artists, 140 of those from South Australia. Overall, there will be 100 performances of 45 different shows, kicking off on the Queen's Birthday long weekend and running from 6 to 14 June. The high standard of programming that has secured an enviable international reputation for this festival, with local and international artists and audiences alike, will continue. As usual there will be music, dance, song, burlesque and comedy performances; late night dancing at the Piano Bar; an exhibition of cartoons; and conversation sessions and workshops with the artists.

I want to make a point of congratulating the honourable member for West Torrens on his engagement to the lovely Anthea.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I think all members of this parliament would congratulate him, and I am sure that we will all be giving him a great deal of advice over the coming months. A small selection of the exciting shows in this year's Cabaret Festival includes:

a concert of war and love songs by two luminaries of the Australian jazz scene, Vince Jones and Katie Noonan;

an intriguing show of visual comedy, ventriloquism, shadow puppetry and magic by Australia's only 'unusualist', Raymond Crowe;

a concert of Henry Mancini's memorable movie themes and hit songs (that is not George Mancini of the civil liberties council: it is Henry Mancini);

a celebration of the songs of Frank Sinatra by Tom Burlinson; and

a presentation of protest songs and poetic ballads by indigenous singer Kev Carmody.

The wide program of work by these and other talented Australian artists will be strengthened by:

the gipsy virtuoso musicians Paprika Balkanicus, from the Balkans;

the multiple award-winning show and sell-out success at last year's Edinburgh Fringe, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea; and

a history of tango through song and dance, featuring Argentinian Elena Roger (who, of course, has been starring in London's West End in the revival of Evita).

This concentration of impressive artists offering classical and contemporary takes on the cabaret genre will ensure that once again we have an exciting festival-long cabaret atmosphere. Ticket prices ranges from $10 to $70, at an average of around $28.

I congratulate all of those involved, but on this day at this moment let us pay tribute to its genesis in the previous minister for the arts, Di Laidlaw, of the Liberal Party in the upper house, who is sadly and sorely missed.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!