INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:54): My question is to the Premier. Why did the government reject the recommendation, made by PricewaterhouseCoopers in its report to the government last year, to implement an infrastructure body to plan, analyse and prioritise infrastructure projects similar to Infrastructure New South Wales?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Housing and Urban Development) (14:54): Sir, this government does not see the need to replicate bureaucracy to get an outcome. We are elected to make decisions. We are politicians, and we are governing. We will not outsource our thinking to an independent body. We will not outsource our vision, we will not outsource our plan for this state.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Will the Minister for Transport please be seated.

Mr Pederick: Here we go.

The SPEAKER: Yes, indeed, here we go. The member for Hammond is called to order and warned for the first time, and the member for Morialta is warned for the first time.

Ms Chapman: Supplementary.

The SPEAKER: I don't think the minister has finished.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I haven't finished.

The SPEAKER: Yes, the Minister for Transport.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: This government has a plan, an agenda and a vision. We will not outsource them to others to hide behind audit commissions. We will not outsource them to others to hide behind 'Infrastructure South Australia'. We will not duplicate bureaucracies. We will govern, we will govern in the best interests of South Australians, and we will do so as a Labor government.

We are proud of making our own decisions. We will make references to bodies that are established by the commonwealth and supported by the state, but we will not replicate those within our own state. For example, if there was an infrastructure South Australia body established today, we would have the farcical situation where two bureaucracies would be reporting to each other about what the commonwealth and the state should do. It is farcical. It is a joke.

The SPEAKER: A supplementary for the deputy leader.