Gillman Land Sale

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:41): I have a further question for the Treasurer. At what point in the Gillman investigation—which, from the report, observed from early 2014 until early 2015 when the investigation proper commenced—did the Treasurer decide to seek legal representation?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform) (14:41): Whether or not the Treasurer engaged legal representatives at any particular point in time is, with the greatest of respect to the deputy leader, not an appropriate matter for her to be inquiring into. He is entitled, as any citizen is, to seek such advice as he wishes to seek when and if he determines it is necessary for him to do so.

The deputy leader would know, being a practitioner of some standing herself, that were the next question hypothetically to be, 'And what did your lawyers tell you?' that would be an entirely inappropriate question. The notion that the—

Ms CHAPMAN: Point of order: he is now asking questions of himself, so clearly it is out of order.

The SPEAKER: Yes, well, rhetorical questioning of oneself is always available to members of parliament, and I have seen it indulged in many times in the past 25 years. The Deputy Premier.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Yes, thank you, Mr Speaker. As I was asking myself, I would have said to myself, 'That would be inappropriate.' That's what I would have said: I would have said, 'I am seeking to ask myself to breach legal professional privilege,' which would be terrible. Likewise, the fact or not of an individual seeking legal advice is a whisker away from the proposition as to what that advice was or some other attempt to forensically ascertain at what moment in time that particular decision was made and then link that to some other event, perhaps a phase of the moon or some other event. It is not an appropriate question.

Mr Duluk: It's a joke, isn't it?

The SPEAKER: The member for Davenport is warned.