Oil and Gas Sector

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (15:25): My question is to the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy. Does the minister stand by his comments yesterday that it is appropriate for senior public servants to undertake strictly confidential internal assessment of companies' applications prior to those applications being submitted to the government in the name of cutting red tape?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (15:26): Yes, I do, and I do so because I think it's important that we have the public servants in touch with the industry. This happens across the minerals section and the petroleum section, and what the shadow minister is showing is his naivety about how this works.

Ms Chapman: He is just asking a simple question.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: And I'm giving you a very comprehensive answer.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I think the people being insulting aren't me. The naivety of the shadow minister—he really would think that if a company contacted the department to ask about the regulatory framework that we should say, 'I'm sorry, all conversations with the department must be in writing. We can't help you with your application, we can't talk to you about your application, we can't talk to you about your project'—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Mr Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has just reinforced how naïve the opposition are about the resources sector. One of the reasons we get so highly ranked in this area is that we case manage individually. We assign regulators to companies to work closely with them to manage their assessments—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The Leader of the Opposition, in desperation to be relevant after not taking a mining policy to the last election and now trying to lecture us on our engagement with the resources sector, really does show a level of hypocrisy that is second to none. Yes, I encourage public servants to talk to mining companies; I encourage them to talk to energy companies and oil and gas companies about their applications to better understand what the requirements are of the regulations; if they weren't, they are not doing their jobs.

The SPEAKER: I call the leader to order and I warn the member for Mitchell a first time. Supplementary, the member for Stuart.