MURRAY RIVER FLOWS

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:17): I ask a supplementary question. As a result of the answer, can the minister tell the house: has the promise made by the Premier during the election campaign that an extra 400 gigalitres of water would flow to South Australia as a result of the floods and a deal that he had made been broken?

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: On a point of order, that is a completely separate subject matter; it is not a supplementary question to that answer at all.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I uphold that point of order.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: I refer to the issue of an alleged broken promise, which is of course comment and out of order as well.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister looks as though he wants to jump to his feet.

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water) (15:17): The simple fact is that that question quite rightly should have been ruled out of order, but what I will say is that—

Members interjecting:

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

The SPEAKER: Point of order. This is becoming a farce.

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: The minister has just reflected on the Speaker and should withdraw that remark.

The Hon. P. CAICA: I apologise.

The SPEAKER: He has already withdrawn that remark.

The Hon. P. CAICA: What I should have said is that he should have realised better than to ask a question like that. That was what I, of course, meant to say. I will finish off by saying that what we—

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: That's right. The Steven Bradbury of Australian politics; the last man standing. What, of course, we have been able to achieve here in South Australia is a total of 486 gigalitres of additional water that has flowed into the Lower Lakes—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. CAICA: Additional to the 350 that is the normal flow—additional water that has flowed into the Lower Lakes, and I will tell honourable members this as well: I would much rather have a Premier in South Australia who is able to discuss and work out matters with his interstate colleagues, as opposed to an opposition leader, or anyone else, who might go over to Canberra, without making an appointment or, alternatively, others who will go over there and put a headlock on people or sit on those people. There are 486 gigalitres of extra water flowing into South Australia than would otherwise have been the case.