Land Tax

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:18): My question is to the Premier. Who is in charge of South Australia: you or the Treasurer?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order, sir: that is a frivolous question and doesn't comply with standing order 97.

The SPEAKER: Under what standing order?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: It doesn't comply with the requirements of standing order 97 for the framing of a question. It's frivolous and should be ruled out of order.

The SPEAKER: I'm going to allow the question. Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:19): We have made quite a virtue of the way that we are running government in South Australia. It's a big difference from the way it has been run previously. We call it cabinet government, where all of cabinet takes responsibility for the performance. We make collective—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —decisions. In fact, I have pointed out on many occasions that cabinet in South Australia meets twice per week. We are trying to do everything we can to make sure that we develop policy and implement that policy in a logical, ordered and considered way. We have eliminated some of the knee-jerk decision-making that may have existed under previous regimes, with government policy rushed in without consideration of other government departments, for instance.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: What we do as a government is take collective responsibility.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Ultimately, of course, by virtue—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —of the fact that I am the leader of the parliamentary Liberal Party, I'm the Premier of South Australia and the buck stops with me. But I make the point—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Well, this is a new concept for those opposite—that the buck might stop with somebody.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Education is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We don't know who the buck stops with over there. We see the Leader of the Opposition's lips moving, but often the messages coming down the line—from the member for West Torrens or the person who wants the job, the member for Lee—are of course up from the dream factory on the second floor, where Kevin Naughton is probably busily now tapping out a question coming down to the front bench. No, sir, in the Liberal Party I take responsibility. The buck stops here. We are focused on delivering a better economy—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —more jobs, lower costs for the people of our state.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

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