Oil and Gas Sector

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (14:35): My question is to the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy. Given that the minister has repeatedly told the house that Ambassador Exploration had sufficient exploration experience to beat all other bidders, why is it that in April 2011 the minister announced personally to the media, and the government announced in the Government Gazette, that Ambassador Exploration had one petroleum licence, PEL 570, when at that time the company had only been formed for six months, only had one director and that person was a builder from Melbourne with no prior experience in the resources industry?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (14:36): Mr Speaker, as I said yesterday, the attack on the oil and gas industry from the Liberal Party continues and—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I also note the Hansard yesterday showed the leader of the Liberal Party in the upper house saying they are on the same page as the Greens on resources policy.

The SPEAKER: Could the minister return to the substance of the question?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, sir. As I said in my answer yesterday, in terms of technical capacity, Ambassador was represented by Mr Tino Guglielmo, who subsequently became a director of Ambassador Exploration and was appointed to be managing director of the company that was subsequently floated on the ASX. He had many years prior with the oil and gas sector, including 20 years at very senior levels of Santos, then as managing director of Stuart Petroleum—and, of course, Mr John Davidson.

Mr Speaker, what the opposition is calling into question is the bid process conducted by the department. Once you bring that into question, it ruins the reputation of the regulator, which stifles investment. Like I said yesterday, and I will say again and again, if you have any evidence of any wrongdoing, make the accusation.