Motor Accident Commission

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:59): My question is to the Treasurer. Can the Treasurer update the house on the government's plan to close the Motor Accident Commission?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (14:59): Yes, sir: it is coming along very nicely. We have commercial advisers in place. We are not closing the Motor Accident Commission, like the Leader of the Opposition has said: we are privatising it. We made a point of saying that at the last budget. We are not trying to mince words here, but we don't believe the issuing of insurance is an essential service provided by the government; we think it is something that the private sector can do and probably do better. What surprises me is that there are people in the Liberal Party who think that we should be offering insurance and that we can do it better than the private sector, but perhaps that is the new radical left of the—

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer will return to the substance of the question.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, sir. I know that the comrades opposite are very keen for us to maintain government ownership of—

The Hon. J.J. Snelling: Socialisation.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Socialising insurance within South Australia, but we on this side of the house believe that the private sector can do it, and do it better. I am very pleased with the progress it has taken. People would have seen in the Mid-Year Budget Review an update of the progress and I look forward to updating the house in the budget.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I note members interjecting why it was not announced before the election. In my discussions with insurance companies, in their discussions in the lead-up to the last state election, they seemed to have quite a lot of knowledge about potential sales or privatisations of the Motor Accident Commission that had not come from the incumbent government. I do not have any hard evidence of where that came from, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.

The SPEAKER: Supplementary, the leader.