Brand South Australia

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (14:15): My question is to the Premier. Was the Premier aware that his chief executive, Mr Jim McDowell, had informed Brand SA chair, Mr Peter Joy, on 8 May that their funding had been cut?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:15): Thank you very much to the member for West Torrens for his question. I don't recall dates and times of decisions being made, but the reality is that the decision regarding Brand SA funding—

Members interjecting:

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

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —is the decision of the Chief Executive of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet. What had happened for a long period of time was that Brand SA had been funded out of a contingency that sat within DPC. We don't know the reason for that. We don't know the reason why the previous government didn't see fit to fund it via a department, where it logically would have sat. They funded it out of—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —the Premier's personal contingency. We gave instruction—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —to Brand SA 12 months earlier, when we rolled over that funding, which didn't sit within the previous government's budget—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: No, sorry, it didn't sit within the previous government budget; it sat within an annual contingency arrangement, and we made it very clear that they couldn't rely on that money going forward. Ultimately, a decision was made—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition is warned and the member for Kaurna is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —with regard to Brand SA, and that was conveyed to Peter Joy. On this issue of what is stated in the lead-up to a budget, I would refer this house back to the precedence, the practice for a long period of time. I remember when I was in opposition, asking plenty of questions to the then government, asking them, 'Will this be a cut?' or, 'Will this be an expenditure?' and I heard time and time again, 'You'll need to wait until the budget.' Then, the next day, on the front page of The Advertiser—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —they would be there!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: This is a very interesting situation.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna is warned. The member for Reynell is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I referred the question that was given to me to statements made by the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment (Hon. David Ridgway) in the other place, and he said that all will be revealed in the budget. This is common practice. This is absolutely common practice. Of course, it will no doubt continue to be common practice going into the future.