Government Travel Services

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (15:03): Thank you.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.K. Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Transport is warned for a second and final time.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Can't hear him from the kids' table.

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee has the call.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: My question is again to the Premier. Has the minister or any ministerial staff attended a Liberal Party fundraising event hosted or sponsored by QBT, Helloworld Travel or any of its subsidiaries?

The Hon. S.S. Marshall: What's the difference between that and the previous question?

The SPEAKER: Would you like to repeat the question, member for Lee?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Has any minister or ministerial staff attended a Liberal Party fundraising event hosted or sponsored by QBT, Helloworld Travel or any of its subsidiaries?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (15:03): The previous answer I gave was that I wasn't aware that there had been any sponsored. Now he is asking whether people attend these functions that I'm saying that I'm not aware have occurred. I can't add any more detail. I'm not aware of any events which this company has sponsored in South Australia. If I'm not aware of any events occurring, I'm certainly not aware of any people that attended these events. So I think that perhaps you could get Kevin Naughton to whiz up some new questions for question time tomorrow.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: I refer you to Erskine May, the 1997 edition, and I quote:

A Minister of the Crown may not read or quote from a despatch or other State paper not before the House, unless he is prepared to lay it upon the Table. Similarly, it has been accepted that a document which has been cited by a Minister ought to be laid upon the Table...

I asked you yesterday, sir, to examine a cabinet document that the Premier was reading from and citing from in the chamber—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my right, please be quiet.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I ask, sir: do you have possession of the document the Premier had in the house yesterday? Have you compared it to the Hansard and has he cited from it?

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens has raised this point of order. It has been laboured. I have made investigations and I stand by my comments from yesterday. I will also quote Blackmore's Practice of the House of Assembly, 1885:

It is obviously right that the House should have access to the same sources of information as a Minister, if the latter makes statements, or bases arguments, or asks the House to accept conclusions, founded upon Public Papers which he quotes.

I also quote from the House of Representatives Practice, 6^th edition, from 2012, pursuant to standing order 201, which provides:

…if a Minister quotes from a document relating to public affairs, a Member may ask for it to be presented to the House. The document must be presented unless the Minister states that it is of a confidential nature.

It goes on. I have made investigations, as I said I would yesterday, and I have nothing further to add. If the member for West Torrens continues to pursue this line of questioning, I will be taking it as refusing to accept the authority of the Chair and he will be named.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: I have a point of clarification. Can you assure the house that you are satisfied that you have been furnished with the appropriate documents in order for you to make your judgement?

The SPEAKER: Yes. Yes, I am.