Road Funding

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (14:20): Supplementary: how many dollars has the government offered to contribute towards the sealing of the Strzelecki Track?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for the Arts) (14:20): In the lead-up to the last election—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I just recall that in the lead-up to the last election I—

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is warned.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I have a recollection of promoting one of these projects, the Strzelecki Track along with 11 other projects on a list, to the Prime Minister. Indeed, in the lead-up to the last federal election, we made a series of strong representations including to the local member, Rowan Ramsey. Of course, nothing happened out of that process. Of course, I did have some discussions with another member of parliament, Senator Xenophon, and I received quite a positive and warm welcome. Indeed, myself and Senator Xenophon have worked closely together on a series of projects, which have actually delivered outcomes.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The proton therapy unit, for one, the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute—

Mr MARSHALL: Point of order, sir: I ask that you bring the Premier back to the substance of the question. It was very, very specific, this question, and had nothing to do with the proton therapy unit.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I don't necessarily want to talk about the success I have had working with—

The SPEAKER: I am listening to the Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —Senator Xenophon on other projects, but they did ask me. What I think emerged is that I have had discussions with Rowan Ramsey, the local member. Of course, the model that we were promoting at that time, because it is a very expensive project, was one which called for a private sector contribution, so the discussions were around a private sector contribution. There were also discussions about network charging. The industry was open to making a contribution, and so the discussions with Rowan Ramsey and with Senator Xenophon centred around those matters. I think that those opposite—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader I call to order.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: Better be better than yesterday's.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Standing order 98: I ask you to bring the Premier back to the substance of the question, which was: how many dollars has the government offered to contribute towards this program?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Yes, and I—

The SPEAKER: Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: This is germane. It is very germane to the question. The state government spends a very substantial amount of money on the—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: If you just for a moment listen rather than interject, you will be better informed. The maintenance commitment that the South Australian government has on the Strzelecki Track is very substantial. What we were proposing—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: If you just listen for a moment, you will actually understand. That money that would otherwise be spent on maintenance could be applied into a species of—

Mr Marshall: How much? How much did you offer the commonwealth for the upgrading?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The Leader of the Opposition simply doesn't understand the model that was being proposed, that is, that the money that would otherwise be spent on maintenance could be provided to a private operator. The private operator would provide a network charge. The network charge would permit the private operator to borrow, potentially with the commonwealth's support, to actually seal this track. It is an intelligent model. It is the same sort of model that's being promoted by Malcolm Turnbull. Indeed, it was at his invitation that we actually pursued this model.

I can't help it if I'm getting more luck out of working closely with Senator Xenophon than I am with working with the Prime Minister. I can't account for that. I know that there is an enormous amount of white-knuckled panic on the other side about Senator Xenophon arriving in state politics.

Ms CHAPMAN: Point of order, sir: I don't care who the Premier sleeps with, but I do want an answer—

Members interjecting:

Ms CHAPMAN: —I do want an answer to that question. He can cuddle up to whoever he likes, but we'd like an answer to the question, and if he can't answer it let the Treasurer or minister answer the question.

The SPEAKER: Have you got that out of the system? The deputy leader will depart from the house for the remainder of question time for a bogus point of order.

The honourable member for Bragg having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Mr Speaker, I am trying to make a serious point here. There is a difference between simply funding a project off the balance sheet and actually doing something intelligent about putting your maintenance dollars on the table, making a partnership with the private sector, getting people who are going to benefit from the improvement in the track—we know there are a lot of road trains that get rattled to death along that track—so that the savings that they would make would mean that they might be prepared to make a contribution. The combination of all those things frees up a pool of money—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —yes, of course—for industry, and that is something that we had been discussing. They have been a network charging model for industry at their election. To pay was the model that was being proposed.

The SPEAKER: It seems that Nick Xenophon is having quite an influence on our question time. Member for Stuart.