Newspaper Articles

The Hon. M.L.J. HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Minister for Investment and Trade, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (15:42): I rise today to correct the public record in relation to two articles which appeared in The Advertiser on Saturday, 3 December 2016 and Thursday, 15 December 2016 respectively, the relevant contents of which are false and highly defamatory.

The first article on 3 December 2016, written by Ms Sheradyn Holderhead, implies that I failed in my duty to make public disclosure of 'extensive overseas travel' in my ministerial capacity. Prior to this article going to print, Ms Holderhead was advised by my office of the circumstances in which the Department of State Development (DSD) website failed to publish the information which my office had previously supplied to it regarding my overseas travel. Ms Holderhead was well aware that any failure on the part of DSD's website to publish, and in a timely manner, what my office had provided to it, was an error on the part of DSD, not me or my office.

I had at all times complied with ministerial reporting obligations and proactive disclosure of overseas travel details, which are purely voluntary. Despite knowing this, Ms Holderhead's article, both in its headline, 'Marty trips over paperwork', and in the body of the article itself, gives the reader the clear impression that I had been less than candid in the provision of the travel information. Ms Holderhead goes on to report false accusations by the member for Schubert that I kept my 'travel costs a secret from the people of South Australia', and that I had 'not been open and honest about the costs' of my travel with taxpayers. It was an oversight on the part of the department alone that not all of these details appeared on its website, and there is no basis to the false and defamatory accusations made against me.

The second article, headed 'Major Marty's claim bombs', written by Mr Daniel Wills and published in The Advertiser on 15 December 2016, relied on an unauthorised English translation of a letter written in Chinese and disseminated here by Friends of the Earth, a lobby group. The Friends of the Earth translation claims the letter stated that recent newspaper coverage of possible Taiwanese interest in investing in nuclear storage facilities in South Australia was 'false information'.

The article contains a series of factual errors, based in part on the mistranslation of the Chinese documents and an earlier article from The Advertiser which wrongly had stated that representatives of the Taiwanese government had indicated that they 'would', as opposed to merely 'may', invest in a nuclear facility in South Australia. When I spoke with Mr Langenberg about the matter prior to publication of the first article in mid-November 2016, I told him that the Taiwanese representatives has said that they 'may' consider investing in the project, and he used the word 'may' in quotes attributed to me. The main body of the story, however, paraphrased that to say that I had claimed that they 'would', despite my making the subtle but important distinction several times to Mr Langenberg.

Prior to publication of the second article, I reminded Mr Wills that, during my informal discussions in Taiwan, interest in the potential to work together on nuclear waste storage and investment had been raised by local representatives. Minutes were kept and several South Australian public servants were present. No official position was sought or offered by anyone. The Friends of the Earth group was seeking to debunk a position that I had never taken and refute a comment I never made. The Hon. David Ridgway MLC then authorised a tweet on 15 December 2016, attaching a copy of the article and stating, 'MHS lies about Nuke dump interest.'

There can be no more serious allegation against a minister of the Crown than that he or she has lied or engaged in any form of dishonesty. Mr Ridgway made no effort to seek information from me or my office regarding the article and its content. It should have been clear to someone with his political experience that the article was based on an unauthenticated version of a letter disseminated by the Friends of the Earth. The article contains errors based in part on the mistranslation of the Chinese documents and also on the earlier article from The Advertiser inaccurately stating that representatives of the Taiwanese government had indicated that they 'would' rather than 'may' invest.

In summary, I was accurate in my comments regarding the meetings in Taiwan and I was never dishonest in supplying details of overseas travel. The record needs to be corrected, and I would hope for a higher standard of accuracy, professionalism and decency in public debate. The false and defamatory accusations made by the member for Schubert and Mr Ridgway are a disgrace and a totally inappropriate way to engage in public debate. They will both receive letters from my legal representative shortly.

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! That's it. Minister, you are called to order and so is the member for Chaffey, and you are already sitting on two.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Of course, if you want to have something to say, that would move you out of the chamber. You are not going to say anything? That would be a good idea.