Australian Craniofacial Unit

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:55): My question is again to the minister representing the Minister for Health. Does the minister stand by his remarks earlier today that David David, South Australian of the Year, had every opportunity to contribute to the independent review into the Craniofacial Unit?

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:55): Interestingly, in the spirit of openness and transparency and trying to share as openly and responsibly with this parliament as possible, when I was asked that question last time I said, 'Look, I don't know, but I'm sure he had the opportunity. I don't know if he did—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Hang on.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The members on my left will not interject.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Settle down.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

Mr Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is on two warnings.

Mr Picton interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna is on two warnings. The minister has the call.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The minister has the call. He will be heard in silence.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Mr Speaker, I will happily go on and answer this question and share some information I have received more recently after you ask the shadow minister to withdraw and apologise for his comment when he said, 'Don't mislead this parliament.'

The SPEAKER: Sorry. Minister, are you raising a point of order? Are you raising a point of order, minister?

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Yes, sir.

The SPEAKER: And the point of order was that?

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: I take affront to the fact that the shadow minister yelled out across the chamber at me, 'Don't mislead the house.'

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Shadow minister, if you said that—I did not hear it—would you like to withdraw it?

Mr KOUTSANTONIS: Sir, I did say it. Could the Speaker please explain to me how that is unparliamentary?

The SPEAKER: I didn't actually hear the comment, but the minister is alleging—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right while I deliberate! The minister is alleging that there was a term referred to that accused the minister of misleading the parliament.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Imputing improper motive—

The SPEAKER: Imputing improper motive.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —by saying, 'Don't mislead the house.'

The SPEAKER: Okay. I did not hear the comment. Did the shadow minister say that, and would you like to withdraw the comment if you did say it?

Mr KOUTSANTONIS: Sir, I said, 'Don't mislead the house.'

The SPEAKER: My advice is that, by saying a comment like that, he is saying that the minister should not undertake a course of action. He is not imputing an improper motive. However, I will be listening very carefully. Let's get on with it. There are 12 minutes to go. Minister.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Thank you for your ruling, Mr Speaker, and—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —it is a ruling that I will remember—

The SPEAKER: Me, too, minister.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —because you have made it very clear—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —what we are and are not allowed to say. Let's get back to the answer to the question.

The SPEAKER: Thank you.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Previously, I said that Dr David David had every opportunity to contribute to the independent review and that I didn't know whether he had actually done that or whether he had spoken to the health minister. But, as I was saying, in the spirit of transparency—

Mr Bignell: Hello, phone a friend.

The SPEAKER: The member for Mawson is called to order.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —I have sought and received some information since then. Here we have an example where, for once, it's beneficial to the shadow minister to ask the same question over and over again. So on this occasion I can tell the shadow minister and the parliament that the Minister for Health met with Dr David David on 9 July face to face and they have spoken on the phone since. So, to the substance of the question—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will not be interrupted.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —I assume—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Education is called to order.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is called to order.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: I could be wrong, but I assume they weren't talking about the footy tips, I assume they weren't talking about their favourite country bakery and I assume they weren't talking about Dr Harry the diver, the famous, fantastic South Australian.

I assume that if Dr David David, the champion of the Australian craniofacial foundation, and the Hon. Stephen Wade in the other place, the Minister for Health, spoke to each other face to face and on the phone during the time that this independent review into the Australian craniofacial foundation was being undertaken, they would have been talking about that. I don't know that for sure, but I think it's—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —a pretty fair bet—

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —that it wasn't footy tips, it wasn't bakeries: it was the Australian craniofacial foundation that they would have been talking about.