Adjournment Debate

Parliamentary Behaviour

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (17:30): Thank you, Deputy Speaker. If I failed to do so before, then I am very pleased to congratulate you on your meteoric rise to the position of honour and distinction which you now hold. It is in this vein that I wish to comment a little bit upon the way in which we conduct ourselves in this parliament and will continue to do so in the months and years ahead under your stewardship and particularly that of the Speaker, who I also recognise, the member for Croydon, who continues in that role.

I think that members of the public come to expect a certain poor level of behaviour by members of parliament and what some call the political class. I think that there are endeavours in this chamber—and I recognise that certainly some moves by the government have led to this. There is certainly a will, I know, from the Leader of the Opposition and members of our team to contribute, and I think that there is certainly a level of engagement that the Speaker has entered into that is going to hopefully give rise to a better than might be seen by many in the public level of conduct in this place.

When the Premier came to the position that he now holds, he promised that a level of civil discourse would be offered to the people of South Australia. He identified that the way in which we conduct ourselves should reflect the aspirations of the people of South Australia. Treating each other civilly is a part of that. Can I identify that ministers, when they go into members' electorates (I know some ministers do this and sometimes some ministers do this in certain electorates) should in fact identify that they are coming so that the local member can be involved. I think that is what local communities would ideally want to see.

I think that in this chamber the way we conduct ourselves is important too. There will certainly be opportunities for robust debate, and these things take their turn, as may be appropriate. When ministers make a political point they naturally expect that there will be a level of frustration or disquiet from the opposition. When ministers refuse to answer a question, that naturally takes its course, too. When a minister is giving, as the Premier described a couple of years ago, a serious response to a serious question I think that this chamber has by and large listened to ministers who offer to do that.

So, I say to the ministers in this place that they have the opportunity to fulfil the words that the Premier brought to us when he was elected to that position by the Labor caucus. It is up to you how you do it, but if you conduct yourselves in this hung parliament, this minority government, as serious ministers who are going to act in the best interests of South Australians, and not take political cheap shots when there is absolutely no call to do so, and work with local members in their communities, then having provided that respect you will be given such respect. However, when ministers conduct themselves appallingly, as sometimes happens, then the opposition will call them to account, and I do not think that should be unexpected.

This week has been an interesting week. I think for the most part it has been impressive to hear the new members speak. I hope that we will set a standard that they will contribute to. I think that by and large especially the new members on the Liberal side have conducted themselves very well and will make a terrific contribution. But I do just put on the record that the opportunity exists for the ministers to conduct themselves well, to conduct themselves better than in the last parliament.

When I was elected four years ago it was quite clear that there was an us and them mentality that could never be breached by the leadership as it was then. For the people in the top three seats, as they were, their first instinct was always to attack anybody who put their head up to talk, to ask a question, to raise an issue, to offer robust debate. The plan was clearly to whack it down whenever that was put forward. I think there has been a level of improvement since that time, and I think there is some way to go. Time will tell how that plays out.

At 17:35 the house adjourned until Tuesday 20 May 2014 at 14:00.