Defence SA

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (14:59): My supplementary is to ask of the minister: who is going to be in charge of Defence SA, whether another arrangement has been made for a new CEO of Defence SA, and who will be in charge of Defence SA in the interim?

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Minister for Investment and Trade, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (15:00): I will take that question, and I thank the member for it. Some of these questions, I must say, would be very good for budget estimates, but for some reason the opposition is spending time on them during question time.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer is warned for the first time.

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH: Mr Jackman will now be working for minister Piccolo in a very important role. Interim arrangements have been put in place for an acting CEO at Defence SA while we take steps to find a permanent position. The acting CEO is Ms Julie Barbaro. She will not be an applicant for the permanent position.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH: Well, calm yourself down; there's plenty of time for another question if you'd like to ask one, leader.

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is very close to departing.

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH: You don't need to demonstrate to everybody here that you're on top of things. I'm answering the member for Stuart's question, alright? I'm arranging with the commissioner for the public sector, Ms Erma Ranieri, to go through a process which is already underway to identify a new permanent CE for Defence SA, and I hope that that process will be complete within around eight weeks, and I'd be more than happy to elaborate on that during budget estimates, if you'd like to pursue it.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Supplementary, sir.

The SPEAKER: Well, that's five supplementaries by my count. So, can we have another question from the member for Morphett?