EDUCATION FUNDING

Mr PISONI (Unley) (14:32): My question is to the Minister for Education. Will the minister continue to allow education bureaucrats to spend $100,000 on entertainment per year, which last year included a $585 half-hour ministerial drinking session at the Royal Institute?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development) (14:32): All of the big issues are being discussed here—a $2.5 billion budget and the honourable member is focusing on those issues.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for MacKillop!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I do not know what the breakdown was of those various events, but it could well be the case that a number were in the nature of professional development events that were catered for. I do not know what the nature of those events was, so I am not prepared to provide some blanket answer about the nature of those events.

Obviously, there should be modest entertainment undertaken to ensure that the purposes of the department are properly undertaken. If the honourable member has a particular issue he wishes to raise with me about an element of those expenses that he takes exception to, I invite him to draw that to my attention and I will investigate the detail.