Premier Weatherill

Mr KNOLL (Schubert) (15:20): What we have seen in here over the last few days, especially since the announcement on Tuesday by the government to split Families SA and Education into two separate departments is a Premier who is obviously under pressure. The reason he is under pressure—and the reason we can see that he is under pressure—is because of the language that he starts using. We saw a couple of examples in the house today that I do not think will resonate with the South Australian people.

The Premier chose not to accept the fact that he never apologised yesterday to chemo bungle victim Andrew Knox, preferring to use the phrase, 'I did not use those words.' In response to a judicial inquiry, he talked about the fact that, 'We are not presently disposed towards that.' What we see is a man who refuses to be straight and up-front with the South Australian people and attempts to use legalistic language in order to cover the fact that he has no answers and has failed the children of South Australia over the last 14 years.

Yesterday in this house, we had disgraceful behaviour from the member for Playford, who tried to suggest that we on this side of the house were doing anything other than sticking up for the vulnerable children of South Australia. Indeed, what was trying to be suggested opposite was that somehow this fresh start that was announced on Tuesday was pulled out of thin air, or had not been previously understood.

Mr Gardner: They invented it.

Mr KNOLL: That it was invented by them in a figment of their imagination or, indeed, after Justice Nyland gave her interim recommendation. It gives me no joy for me to point this out, but the Liberal Party has solid policies and well thought ideas. Indeed, on Tuesday, the government accepted one of the central ideas. The Liberal Party's 2036 is a document that I am extremely proud to go out and sell to the South Australian public. Section 4.1 of '2036' says:

Our children are our future and their protection is our priority. We believe that Families SA should be transformed to focus on the needs of children, and lead a network of Non Government Organisations (NGOs), foster carers and community organisations to protect and nurture children at risk. They will have a substantially elevated status within government and it will be removed from the large and bureaucratic Education Department.

It has only taken the government since 2011 to actually get on board with something that we have been saying all along. Again, it gives us no pleasure to see our reform now implemented, but the government cannot say that there were not alternative voices out there, pushing for a different vision.

This morning, what I saw from the Premier, and what we all heard from the Premier, was a series of words and logic that failed to make the final connection. I want to give the house these few sentences. Our Westminster system of government demands that ministers are accountable for the actions of their department when implementing government policy. That is because with power must come accountability. Those who make the decisions ultimately have to take responsibility in our Westminster system of government. This morning on the radio, the Premier said:

Well we're responsible for taking steps that put in place the policies, the resources and the leadership to allow these agencies to actually succeed—

He is accepting the fact that he is responsible. He goes on to say, in relation to merging the two departments:

This is a failing that I have to accept and I was wrong about that. I believed that this larger agency was actually the best placed to be able to address the question and I was wrong about that.

In relation to the department wanting leadership, Matthew Abraham says to him, 'They are probably desperate for some leadership,' and he says, 'Well yes, I think that's right.' Abraham then says, 'And who has appointed the current leadership? Because that's what Margaret Nyland says isn't she?' The Premier replies, 'I have to accept responsibility for the failings in the system. There's no escaping it.' On that last point, the Premier is certainly right: there is no escaping that.

When Abraham says, 'The system's in crisis, you're failing children,' he says, 'That's right.' He then goes on to say, 'Right at the moment the system is being described as being in crisis.' This is a man who at the end of the interview went on to say that, under his own estimation, the no-confidence motion was lost yesterday because he decided that he had won it. Well, I am sorry, Premier, but it is not up to you. It is up to the people of South Australia to make their judgements—and this Premier has been found wanting.

What we saw this morning was a Premier who was willing to take responsibility in words. What we failed to see was a Premier who was willing to take responsibility by action. There is only one action that is going to satisfy the people of South Australia—and that is for the Premier to be accountable for the decisions he has made and resign from office.