Parliamentary Procedure

Sittings and Business

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General) (23:45):

That the house at its rising adjourn until Tuesday 12 May 2020 at 11am.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: I move:

That the time allotted for debate be five minutes.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I think we are jumping ahead there, Attorney. Could you please repeat the time allotted, Attorney.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: Tuesday 12 May 2020 at 11am.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: There are two separate motions, but we have to deal with the one allocating the time in the first instance.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Can I speak to that, sir, please?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I do not know that we are debating that yet, member for West Torrens. We are looking to pass the time allotted now.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, that is a motion.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: My advice is that that is not to be debated. We will get to a debate in a moment, I am sure, member for West Torrens. The motion for the time allotted has been moved by the Attorney; is that seconded?

The house divided on the motion:

Ayes 13

Noes 13

Majority 0

The SPEAKER: There being 13 ayes and 13 noes, we have a tied vote. I cast my vote with the ayes, so the ayes have it.

Motion carried.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: There are three reasons why it is important that we adjourn the parliament: firstly, we are in the middle of a global pandemic in relation to the coronavirus known as COVID-19; secondly, it has happened before; and, thirdly, we are probably the highest performing state in relation to the commitment we have made to the people of South Australia that, as long as possible, we will continue to have our parliament meet on a regular basis. On the first matter, it is obvious and I need to say no more. On the second matter, I remind members that during the 1919 Spanish flu the parliament prorogued on four occasions: on 23 January, on 20 March, on 8 March and on 12 June.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: They continued to operate consistent at that time with what we are proposing will be available to South Australia. As for the rest of the country—apart from Queensland, which is proposing to return on 28 April to deal with its emergency legislation similar to what we have done and what has actually occurred in most other jurisdictions—the commonwealth have adjourned to 11 August; the New South Wales parliament to 18 September; Tasmania to 18 August; the Victorian parliament, under a Labor government, have determined that they will not even fix a date; and the Northern Territory, similarly under a Labor administration, have determined in their parliament not even to fix a date.

So I say to the parliament that we remain committed on this side of the house to do everything we need to do to get South Australians through this pandemic, to continue to regularly sit in this parliament and, thirdly, to make sure that—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: —we continue to have the scrutiny that we agree needs to be there.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (23:53): This time has brought out the best, I think, in parliament. I have been here a long time; not as long as the Hon. Rob Lucas in another place, but I have been here, along with the member for Florey, since 1997. Parliaments can be very partisan. It is their nature—look at the way the parliament is laid out: it is an adversarial system. It is designed to have this system of adversarial politics, but this pandemic has brought the best out of us.

I think it has brought out some very good aspects of the government, and I think it has brought out the very good aspects of the opposition and some of the very best aspects of South Australia. But what I fear I have just witnessed in the way the government has used its majority—and, to be fair, you do not have a majority now. You are a majority by agreement—by agreement.

The Hon. S.K. Knoll: Go on, break it.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I am not going to. I am not like members opposite.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister for Transport, be quiet.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I will just point out to the house that on 17 September 1940 the Luftwaffe were bombing in and around Westminster. The parliament sat. The parliament sat during the Blitz. During World War I and World War II, this parliament sat. During the Spanish flu, this parliament sat.

The Hon. S.K. Knoll: It was prorogued four times.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: And you prorogued the parliament twice in two years. So what? Our job is here. We are asking retail workers to put themselves in harm's way and we are asking nurses and paramedics and doctors and police officers and firefighters. We belong here, not to try to score points, not to play politics, but to assist the government where we can. As I said earlier, we passed a $15 billion allocation for the government without a budget in an hour. That is bipartisanship. We have allowed the government to win this vote without actually having the numbers here. That is bipartisanship.

That is us honouring the spirit of the parliament. Do you know what does not honour the spirit of the parliament? Moving a motion about when parliament should sit and limiting debate to five minutes. Why not suspend standing orders and have the debate after midnight? Why have an agreement with the government to suspend standing orders? Did they even ask? No. But again the boy king could not help himself. Parliament should not be like this now. The government has brought us to this unnecessarily. We could have had this debate with 20 minutes for each speaker and got it done and the government still would have won.

The house divided on the motion:

Ayes 13

Noes 13

Majority 0

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The bells continued to ring past midnight. The house is adjourned; standing orders so say.

The SPEAKER: In my opinion, the time had expired before it was 12 o'clock. The question is put and the division has been put in place and it has been concluded. I am going to accept the division. I understand the criticism. I am going to accept the division, as I have said.

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

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens will be seated. I have made my point clear.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Can you reference the standing order, sir, please?

The SPEAKER: I am going to accept the division. There being 13 ayes and 13 noes, I have a cast. I accordingly cast with the ayes. The ayes have it and the house stands adjourned until Tuesday 12 May at 11am.

Motion thus carried; house adjourned.

At 00:04 the house adjourned until Tuesday 12 May 2020 at 11:00.