COOBER PEDY AREA SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

Mr PISONI (Unley) (15:16): My question is to the Minister for Education. Did the minister participate in any discussions with the member for Giles and/or the chief executive of the Department of Education and Children's Services in relation to principal Sue Burtenshaw prior to her removal from Coober Pedy Area School, and did the minister make any assurances to the member for Giles that Ms Burtenshaw would be removed?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (15:16): The answers to the questions are yes and no, but can I take the opportunity on this very important occasion to add my voice to those who have honoured the service of Premier Mike Rann.

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you very much. I must say—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —one of the great regrets—

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, it's true. I think you make a good point. One of the great regrets I have—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —in moving to this new role is that I won't continue to have such a close relationship with the member for Unley in my—

The SPEAKER: Point of order. Member for Finniss.

Mr PENGILLY: I am unsure who is answering the question. The Minister for Education is trying to, but the Minister for Transport's mouth is going up and down and nothing is coming out.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. Sit down; there is no point of order there. Minister for Education.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It has been a great joy to be opposite the member for Unley during the course of my—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That's right. One Alan Bond. Yes, that's right. Can I say that I do honour the service of the Premier of our state, and the former deputy premier, the former treasurer and now current police minister and Minister for Defence Industries.

Mr PISONI: Point of order. My question was about the removal of a principal at Coober Pedy.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. The minister is answering the question as he chooses; it can be very broad ranging.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: This has a very close connection to Coober Pedy: they dig things up there and they have been very famous, these men, for—

The Hon. K.O. Foley: I have been to Coober Pedy once.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: That's right.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I do want to take this opportunity, while we are here at this perhaps historic moment to acknowledge the wonderful service these two men have provided to our state. I think anybody, if they are being fair-minded about it, will have to acknowledge that over the last decade or so we have seen the transformation of almost every element of the affairs of our state: socially, economically, environmentally. I think they both have an enormous amount to be very proud of.

It is true to say that when we first stepped into this chamber after having a lengthy period of opposition there was much to rebuild in terms of public confidence in our party to be able to govern. I do not think anybody—well, perhaps a few people—is seriously questioning our competence. We have been a competent government. For all those who criticise us and for the things that we have not got right or the things that perhaps could have been done better, nobody is questioning our competence, and it was fundamentally rebuilt by these two men. I do not want to dwell on their legacy—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —because that is a matter for the history books and we are of course still living this government. I think history will treat these two men very kindly, and I think any fair-minded South Australian will acknowledge the enormous contribution they have made to our state.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Leader of the Opposition.