Oil and Gas Sector

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (14:34): Supplementary, sir: I accept the fact that the minister said he will check with his departmental staff but if, once he checks, he finds out that what I have just suggested is true, does he agree that 'one of the most important criteria for assessment of work programs, the adequacy of financial resources and technical expertise available to the applicant may not have been met'?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (14:35): No, I do not accept that. I accept the advice of the department, which is constantly ranked as one of the best regulators in the world. Mr Barry Goldstein, who heads up the petroleum division within the Department of State Development, is a world-renowned regulator who is held in the highest regard not only by the industry but I think also the government and, I thought, the parliament. I think, by and large, his reputation across the country is one that many people seek to replicate. Indeed, the most recent Hawke inquiry from the Northern Territory government referenced at length the South Australian regulatory approach to conventional and unconventional gas and marked us out as leaders. The architect of that act is Mr Barry Goldstein.

Ms Chapman: No-one's criticising him.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I'm not saying you are. They are the people who evaluate these bids, not the minister and not the government. They are the ones who have the delegated authority from the executive to do this work. I have the fullest confidence in Mr Goldstein and his team to conduct this work. I have full confidence in the way they that conduct themselves, in the bid process and in the integrity of the bid process. I ask, if anyone has any evidence that the bid process has been compromised, to provide it.