Matter of Privilege

Matter of Privilege

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General) (17:57): I rise on a matter of privilege. On 2 July 2019 at 12.45am, the member for Mawson made a contribution to this house on the Appropriation Bill 2019. The contribution related to the member's expressed view on the impact of government decisions on the people of Kangaroo Island and, in particular, on his assessment of the effect on the visitor economy spend in South Australia of there being no visitor centre. He stated:

It has taken away the visitor…centre, it has taken away the number of tourists who are going to Kangaroo Island…

The published reports on the website of the Department for Trade, Tourism and Investment, of which I have particulars, state that, in the standard way of reporting—that is, a three-year rolling data—the overnight visitors to Kangaroo Island up to December 2017 were 147,000 annually and increased by 5 per cent to 154,000 to December 2018.

In the event that the member had not relied on the published three-year rolling data but had access to the annualised figures, I am advised that the department confirmed that Kangaroo Island was up 13 per cent for overnight visitors; that is, from 140,000 visits in the year to December 2017 to 164,000 visits in the year to December 2018. Whether the data relied on by the member was 5 per cent or 13 per cent, there has been an increase.

In giving consideration to this matter of privilege, I seek that you rule on a motion to establish a privileges committee and that it should be given precedence—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Members on my left, be quiet.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: —over the business of the House of Assembly. The information provided by the member was inaccurate, deliberate and, if relied upon by members, would materially mislead them. I provide information to support the same.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: I rise on a point of order under standing order 132. I rule that—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hammond, be quiet—132?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: I ask that you rule—

The SPEAKER: 'Consideration of other question suspended'?

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Yes, I ask that you rule immediately that the house was not sitting at the time the Deputy Premier alleges the offence was made to the house.

The SPEAKER: On my reading of my clock, it is 6 o'clock right now.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Yes, I did make a note of that. Given that I believe the error is so trivial in nature, I am going to ask the Deputy Premier to clarify if she meant 12.45pm and not am.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: Correct.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. This being the 18^th matter of privilege that has been raised in this house, I will receive all the relevant information that the Deputy Premier has and, if I need to, I will come back to the house to ensure whether there is or is not prima facie a matter of privilege. Thank you, member for Lee.

Sitting suspended from 18:01 to 19:30.