Privatisation

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:13): My question is to the Premier. How can the Premier assure the house and the people of South Australia that his government will not privatise or outsource any other government service, including SA Water?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:13): As I was saying in my previous answer, and I would like to finish the sentence if at all possible, whilst the statements that I made that the opposition has quoted were specifically related to SA Water, they equally apply to our agenda going into the election. We did not take to the election a privatisation agenda.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Szakacs interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Cheltenham is on two warnings.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: What we took to the people of South Australia was an agenda which would look after the best interests of the people of South Australia, the taxpayers in South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: And, sir, I would point out—

Mr Szakacs interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Cheltenham is warned for a second and final time.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —that we were extraordinarily clear about this with the PSA in the lead-up to the election, and in fact—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Odenwalder interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Elizabeth is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I don't know how much clearer you can be—

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell: You're doing to the state what you did to the family business.

The SPEAKER: The member for Mawson is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I don't know how much clearer you can be than to put something in writing to the PSA. The Hon. Rob Lucas wrote to Nev Kitchin on 12 January 2018, specifically—

Mr Odenwalder: I spoke to him this morning.

The SPEAKER: The member for Elizabeth is warned for a second and final time.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I'm happy to read from this. I think it's important to have it in Hansard. Mr Lucas, in his letter to Nev Kitchin dated 12 January 2018, states:

There are many current examples where public services are being successfully delivered by private or non-government suppliers. We have a responsibility to consider such options where it is clearly in the public interest to do so.

That is in writing. So, far from—

Mr Brown: So we should believe him and not you.

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

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —the claims made by those opposite that somehow this is something new—I see the member for West Torrens or, as we refer to him, the 'prince of privatisation' over there, chuckling to himself—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —the reality is—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —there wasn't a single thing they didn't try to flog off when they were in government.

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Mawson, I ask you to withdraw that last interjection.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: Thank you, sir. I withdraw.

The SPEAKER: We will move to the member for Morphett and then the leader. The member for Morphett has the call.