MINISTER FOR FORESTS

Mr GOLDSWORTHY (Kavel) (15:01): My question is to the Minister for Education. Have a go at this one, Jay.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member will remember not to address members by their name.

Mr Venning interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr GOLDSWORTHY: Does the minister believe that the Treasurer's criticism of the Minister for Forests in the house yesterday over comments he made to the Mount Gambier forestry forum is an example of why the minister called for a change of leadership style following the March state election?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development) (15:02): Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I love it when Goldy fires up. I love it when he—

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: He's the only one that frightens us.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That's right. He might have gone to that staid Methodist college that we were celebrating the other day, but he does have fire in his belly. There are some unkind people who say that there are certain parts of the Adelaide Hills that remind them of the backwaters of some of those southern states, but I would never join in that criticism.

It is an impertinent question. If they want to ask questions about something serious, like the $203 million education budget—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —if they want as to ask questions about what we are doing in this state to improve the standards of teaching and learning in our institutions, in our schools, I am more than happy to answer those questions, but they continue to pick away at the nonsense that they do—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —because they have nothing to offer the people of South Australia. They have nothing serious to offer the people of South Australia. I tell you where they get their material from: they roll out of bed (some of them a bit after breakfast time), they tune into radio and they pick up what they hear there, or they read what is in the paper. That is the extent of their research—no individual ideas, nothing new. They just tack onto whatever they think is going around to make a cheap political point.

If they want a serious discussion about something that is important, like education or health, or some of the other issues that are important for the people of South Australia, we will be there to debate it.