Question Time

GM HOLDEN

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:46): Thank you, Madam Speaker, after that short interlude. My question, surprisingly, is again for the Premier. Why did the Premier announce the Holden funding package with the Prime Minister last week, and why is this being debated in parliament this week, given that no contract for the government funding has yet been signed with Holden and the parties are yet to agree on the contractual terms? The Holden representative told the opposition last night at a briefing that Holden does not yet have contracts with state and federal governments. To date, the parties have only exchanged letters.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:46): What an extraordinary question from the Leader of the Opposition. We came in here and made a public announcement as soon—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —as we possibly could so that the community was aware of the agreement that was reached, I think it was on 20 March in Detroit in the evening. On 21 March we get our letters, on 22 March we make public announcements; so we go to the community at the earliest—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Imagine the alternative proposition: that we didn't come in here or tell the public about this matter until we had the final legal agreements about the funding arrangements. We had the essence of the agreement reached between the parties—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —which is contained within an exchange of correspondence, and the final legal agreements will be executed in due course. Can I say this—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —they are in much better shape than the Victorian community because Premier Baillieu wouldn't even tell people how much he contributed. When he was asked on ABC radio by Jon Faine, 'How can South Australia kick in five times more than we do when the bulk of the jobs you are trying to save are in Victoria?'—well, Jon, you are making a couple of assumptions there that aren't correct. We don't get in the business of declaring how much we've contributed. So, here we have—they won't even tell you how much money they are putting in. We've not only—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Madam Speaker—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Well, if she wants to ask another question I am happy to answer that one as well, but we'll just take them one at a time. Just sticking to this particular question, we have come to the parliament at the earliest opportunity, and we gave those opposite notice of the fact that we wanted to debate it today. For some reason they want to debate it tomorrow. We are happy to talk about Holden's all week.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: So, I would have thought that they would be pleased to have a debate about the funding package before we executed the final funding agreements, and that is what we are doing. We gave them notice, we invited them to tell us whether they needed more time, they said they wanted more time, so we put it on tomorrow. We arranged for Holden's to give them a briefing, and they have received that briefing at our request. We encouraged Holden's to be as open—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members! Premier, could you sit down, please. Members on my left, there is far too much noise here, I can't hear what is going on. You are being very rude. Premier, have you finished your answer? The member for Mitchell.