House of Assembly Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2) 53 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Grievance Debate Grievance Debate Electoral Reform Electoral Reform Mr GARDNER House of Assembly Morialta Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (15:05): The government stands condemned today, as it has for five years, for this dodgy practice of using dodgy how-to-votes at elections. I was elected in 2010, and it was done in Morialta and it was done in three other seats, including the member for Mawson's seat. Today, in the District Court, Her Honour Judge McIntyre has found in favour of the defendant— The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN House of Assembly The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Point of order, Mr Speaker. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: There is a point of order from the Minister for Transport. The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN House of Assembly The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Might not the member for Morialta—to quote the member for Morialta—be imputing improper motives on the member for Mawson? The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: That is a bogus point of order and under the sessional order I remove the Minister for Transport for the next 15 minutes. The honourable member for Lee having withdrawn from the chamber: Mr GARDNER House of Assembly Mr GARDNER: The Liberal Party is all too familiar with the dodgy tactics that are always used by this government that have been used over and over again. It happened in 2010 and it happened— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: For the second and final time. Mr GARDNER House of Assembly Mr GARDNER: —in 2014 and today— The Hon. J.M. Rankine interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Wright is suspended for the next half-hour under the sessional order. The honourable member for Wright having withdrawn from the chamber: Mr GARDNER House of Assembly Mr GARDNER: Today, Her Honour Judge McIntyre has belled the cat. Judge McIntyre has described the case that on 28 March 2010, page 24 of the Sunday Mail, contained an article about the plaintiff, Sandra De Poi, the then partner of the Minister for Tourism, the member for Mawson, under the headline 'Bignell's partner's $10 million bonanza'. The plaintiff said that the natural and ordinary meaning of the words in the article, together with the photograph, are that: She obtained substantial financial benefit through her close ALP connections and thereby demonstrated that she lacks integrity; She knowingly engaged in and placed herself at the centre of dishonest electoral practices; She was one of the main instigators of dishonest electoral practices. which conduct is consistent with her past history of preparedness to place herself in conflict of interest in her professional relationships with a view to financial benefit; There are reasonable grounds to suspect her of having breached the code of conduct of the Australian Institute of Company Directors by having placed herself at the centre of dishonest electoral practices. So alleged Sandra De Poi against the Sunday Mail that they had so defamed her. Today, the finding is that they did not defame her. They did not defame her for several reasons. The findings, in particular— The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta, I think you will find that the finding was that they defamed her but there was a defence. Mr GARDNER House of Assembly Mr GARDNER: I will quote the finding, If you like, sir: 1.	The imputations pleaded in paragraphs 5.1 and 5.5 of the third statement of claim are not established. 2.	The defendant has justified the imputation at paragraph 5.4 of the Statement of Claim— The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Justification—favourite defence. Mr GARDNER House of Assembly Mr GARDNER: Yes, truth is a defence, sir. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Indeed. Mr GARDNER House of Assembly Mr GARDNER: It goes on: —that the plaintiff knowingly engaged in and placed herself at the centre of dishonest electoral practices and in 5.6 that she placed herself at the centre of dishonest electoral practices. Accordingly the plaintiff's claim is dismissed. This is of a piece with a range of dishonest electoral practices conducted by the Labor Party over a series of years. It has happened in the most recent by-election. The Labor Party was the only party that the Electoral Commissioner found against during the Davenport by-election. We only need to go back a year to those flyers, 'Can you trust Habib?' The member for Elder stands condemned for conducting a racist campaign against the Liberal candidate for Elder in that campaign—a shameful campaign that in fact Labor members interstate have had the guts and the gumption to label, to bell the cat, as racist in that campaign. The member for Elder should stand condemned for that— Ms DIGANCE House of Assembly Ms DIGANCE: Point of order. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: There is a point of order. Member for Elder. Ms DIGANCE House of Assembly Ms DIGANCE: I don't appreciate being referred to as racist, member for Hammond. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Can the member for Elder nominate which member of the opposition referred to her as a racist? Ms DIGANCE House of Assembly Ms DIGANCE: The member for Hammond. An honourable member House of Assembly An honourable member: All of them. Ms DIGANCE House of Assembly Ms DIGANCE: Yes, probably all of them in turn. The member for Hammond at this particular point. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Did the member for Hammond refer to the member for Elder as a racist? Mr PEDERICK House of Assembly Mr PEDERICK: Yes, I did, sir. Mr WILLIAMS House of Assembly Mr WILLIAMS: We're all guilty, sir. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for MacKillop. Would any other members like to volunteer that they referred to the member for Elder as a racist? Mr PISONI House of Assembly Mr PISONI: I have referred to the member for Elder as a racist in previous speeches, and I stand by it, sir. Mr Marshall House of Assembly Mr Marshall: So have I, sir. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond, the leader, MacKillop. Would anyone else like to subscribe? I call upon the members for Unley, Hammond, the leader, and MacKillop to apologise. The member for Chaffey wants to be included? Mr WHETSTONE House of Assembly Mr WHETSTONE: Absolutely. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Yes, thank you. Would any of those members like to apologise? An honourable member House of Assembly An honourable member: No.