Question Time

Public Transport Privatisation

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:03): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier advise the house whether he has received any representations from the member for King against the privatisation of the state's train and tram network?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:03): I speak to all of my members on a very regular basis. Can I just say, I'm very pleased to have a team—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —which represents the best interests of their electorates. We are very pleased with the investments we are making into public transport in South Australia. In fact, we are addressing—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —some of the lack of investment that we saw under the previous government. I know that members on this side of the house are very pleased that finally there is a government in place in South Australia which wants to improve public transport in South Australia. That's certainly—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: That is certainly the wish of the minister, who I must say is working very hard in this area. Only a few days—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Only a few days ago, we established the Public Transport Authority. I know that that's an issue which all members on this side of the house were very encouraged by. Many people have been calling for such an authority to guide the improvement of public transport services in South Australia for an extended period of time, and this is one of the things that our members have spoken to me about.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: this is debate, sir. The question was about whether the member for King supported the privatisation of the rail network.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I have the point of order, thank you, member for West Torrens. Before I adjudicate on the point of order, a number of members were interjecting, which is unparliamentary. I consequently call to order the following members: the member for Reynell, the member for Wright, the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Kaurna, the member for Cheltenham, the member for MacKillop and the member for Waite. I have given the Premier some opportunity to warm up and I ask him to come back to the substance of the question, but I ask that the interjections also reduce. Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: As I was saying, I speak to many of the members on my side of the house regarding public transport on a very regular basis. We don't accept the opposition's characterisation of the outsourcing of the service's privatisation for the reasons that we outlined—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —in the house yesterday, which I am more than happy to canvass again.

Mr Odenwalder interjecting:

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

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I know that there are some people on that side of the house who are slow learners, so I'm happy to go through it once more. We will retain ownership of the trains. We will retain ownership of the trams. We will retain ownership of the stations here in South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We will control the fares. We will control the programming of the services. We are looking after the best interests of the taxpayers in South Australia—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —with a market call going out at the moment to look at the provision of these services, and we do this in the best interests of all South Australians. I must say, whether it be the member for King, or any other member on this side, they are all particularly interested in improving public transport in South Australia. What we saw under the previous regime was simply—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —a number of announcements, often postponed or cancelled.

The SPEAKER: There's a point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The moment the Premier said 'previous regime', sir, it's debate.

The SPEAKER: The question was about a member and what they have asked about privatisation of the trains network. I think the Premier is starting to deviate, and I ask him to come back to the substance of the question.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you very much, sir. As I was saying—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I would like to hear the answer, leader.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —we don't characterise our market call as privatisation.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! You have asked the question.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: If those opposite characterise it as privatisation, how do they characterise the services that they administered during the 16 years of their administration? Let's be very clear: the current arrangements for all buses in South Australia are under contracts signed by those opposite. The bus contracts in South Australia all operate under contracts signed by the Labor government.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Many of the people who signed those documents are sitting opposite. The reality is that we will always act in the best interests of the taxpayers of South Australia. That's what we spoke about in the lead-up to the election and that will be what we implement every day that we are on the treasury bench.

The SPEAKER: I call to order the following members: the member for Playford, the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Hurtle Vale, the member for Lee, the member for Elizabeth, the member for Giles and the Minister for Energy and Mining.