Child Protection

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:37): Can the minister provide an explanation to the house of who has provided her with specific information that she cannot discuss the terms of David Waterford's resignation with this house?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Education and Child Development) (14:37): I don't know where the Leader of the Opposition was on the afternoon that he was briefed by myself and the acting police commissioner and a member of the crown, but the very clear advice that we have is that we cannot speak publicly about anything to do with this man's employment. Now, regrettably—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Well, it goes to the crux of issues in relation to this man's employment. It's enormously regrettable that Mr Waterford made the mistake he did. He's an incredibly—

Mr van Holst Pellekaan: What mistake?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Stuart is called to order.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: He's an incredibly honourable person, and as soon as he realised the extent of his mistake he tendered his resignation. Now, he didn't offer it; he tendered it. It was the provision of inaccurate information; that advice we had is that it cannot be in the public domain at this time. I would be very happy to tell you if I could, if I were free to do so. This is an enormously tragic set of circumstances.

It's the children in this case that we should be concerned about, and we should be concerned about ensuring that justice is done in this matter, not scoring political points. This has to be above political pointscoring. This case is being referred to a royal commission. We are taking this seriously. We want openness, we want accountability. We want to know what, if anything, we can do better, to make sure that we weed out any potential perpetrators in our child protection system.

The SPEAKER: Before you ask the second supplementary on the second question, the member for Heysen is called to order and warned for the first time, the member for Unley is warned for the second and final time, and the members for Hammond, Finniss, Morphett, Kavel and MacKillop are called to order. Leader, supplementary?