Minister for Environment and Water

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (15:02): My question is to the Minister for Environment and Water. Did the minister's Chief of Staff, Cullen Bailey, inform him that the acting chief executive of the department had concerns regarding the minister's answer to the house on 17 May?

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (15:02): I was not aware that the chief executive had raised any concerns regarding that, and it was not something that I felt that I needed to be aware of on reflection. As I said earlier, I was cleared of any wrongdoing in terms of what I had presented to the house yesterday.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: I know that is immensely—

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: I know that is immensely disappointing for the member for West Torrens. The standard that Labor are setting against this government is the standard they brought to public administration in this state. They are asking themselves: what would Labor do? In this circumstance, Labor would go on a witch-hunt, they would bully people, they would swear at people. We've seen it all laid out in the ICAC report: the most disgraceful behaviour—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: The minister will be seated. Before I call the member for West Torrens, I am going to ask the member for Kaurna and the member for Waite to leave for the remainder of question time. Once they leave, I will hear the point of order.

The honourable member for Kaurna and the honourable member for Waite having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens—for debate?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sir, the minister is clearly debating.

The SPEAKER: Yes. I respectfully ask the minister to please come back to the substance of the question. Thank you.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: I think I have said exactly how I feel about this matter. The member for West Torrens has gone down a cul-de-sac with this matter. There is no smoking gun. He is completely wrong, and he is doing the house a disservice with his continued innuendo and allegations.

The SPEAKER: The member for Newland.