GM HOLDEN

Mr MARSHALL (Norwood) (14:48): My question is to the Minister for Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade. How is it that the minister did not know the conditions of his own deal, given that it has now been revealed that the minister did not know, firstly, that there was no guarantee that Holden will not be firing people; secondly, that there was no guarantee that there would be no forced redundancies at Holden; and, thirdly, that there were no clawback provisions in the funding agreement with Holden relating to no forced redundancies?

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Point of order: you can change the words around a little, but it remains the same question.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Thank you. I think the people of South Australia deserve a new question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, are you choosing to answer this question?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (14:49): Madam Speaker, I think it is clear from the comments that the Leader of the Opposition has read out into the Hansard that the reason I apologised is because people could have walked away with the perception that no forced redundancies was part of the agreement the government negotiated would Holden's. What I will say, Madam Speaker—

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, can you turn and speak into your microphone; it is hard to hear.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I am sorry, Madam Speaker. From the comments read out into Hansard by the Leader of the Opposition, the reason I apologised to the people of South Australia is because, if you had been listening to the press conference, you would have assumed that the no forced redundancies policy of Holden and the deal were one and the same.

Madam Speaker, Holden has a policy of no forced redundancies at Elizabeth. They are investing $1 billion to build two new platforms. What I was saying was that we have secured the long-term future of Holden's. Now, the opposition can try to be as smug about this as they like. If there was any ambiguity about what I said, I cleared it up. Perhaps, maybe, members opposite could learn from the same example.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Thank you, minister.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Little Para.