CHILD PROTECTION

Mr PISONI (Unley) (15:11): A supplementary, if I may, sir. Was there not an acting education minister while the minister was on leave?

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Education. That is a supplementary.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Education and Child Development, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (15:11): Let me be really clear here, sir: the former minister was on leave, and, yes, there was an acting minister. I was also on leave and there was an acting minister.

Ms Chapman: So nobody told nobody.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: No, there was an acting minister, and his question is about the former minister and myself, and I am answering that question exactly. We returned from leave—

Mr PISONI: Point of order, Mr Speaker. My question is now about the acting minister.

The SPEAKER: Yes, and—

Mr PISONI: My supplementary question.

The SPEAKER: I'm sorry, but actually the question is out of order, because the identity of the acting minister is readily available from the Government Gazette, and so you don't actually need to ask it as a parliamentary question. Customarily, those kind of questions have been ruled out of order. The Minister for Education?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Both the former minister and I returned from leave on the day of the reshuffle.

Mr Pisoni: It's a mess, isn't it, Jennifer? It's an absolute mess, isn't it, your department? It's an absolute mess.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: No, what is really concerning, sir, is that I think the member for Unley—

Mr Pisoni: What an absolute mess your department is.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —has gone from a situation of perhaps wanting—

Mr Pisoni: What an absolute mess.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —to amend and correct a system—

Mr Pisoni: No leadership for years.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —to actually just grandstanding and wanting base political point scoring.

Mr GARDNER: Point of order, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Is there a point of order?

Mr GARDNER: Yes. She is debating and she is imputing improper motive.

The SPEAKER: Is the minister finished?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: I am finished.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. The motion is that—

Mr WILLIAMS: Mr Speaker—

The SPEAKER: The member for MacKillop has a point of order.

Mr WILLIAMS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I seek a point of clarification. The opposition asks questions of ministers. Quite often, the opposition directs a question to a particular minister and the Westminster convention is that any member of the cabinet is able to answer the question. That is a well-established convention. The opposition asked a question to the minister and the minister happens to be on leave and there is an acting minister—what is the flow of responsibility under those circumstances? Should the minister absolve themselves from any responsibility for answering the question because there was an acting minister in the role at the time, or should the question actually be taken by the person who was in that acting role at the time?

The SPEAKER: No—

Mr WILLIAMS: Who—

The SPEAKER: Yes, I can answer that.

Mr WILLIAMS: Who is responsible to the house under those circumstances and how is the house's question satisfied?

The SPEAKER: Yes, thank you. The minister for this portfolio is responsible to the house for all questions about the portfolio, including acting and previous ministers. So, it would not be in order to ask a question of the acting minister or the previous minister unless, for some peculiar reason, they wanted to answer that question.

Mr WILLIAMS: Further to my point of clarification, sir, the Minister for Education and Child Development, I thought, made the point that, because she was absent from the office at the time and there was somebody acting, she—

The SPEAKER: No, member for MacKillop—

Mr WILLIAMS: —didn't have to answer the question.

The SPEAKER: Member for MacKillop, will you please be seated. That is not a point of order; it's not a point of clarification: it's an impromptu speech. If you make another one, I am afraid I will suspend you under the sessional order.