Members, Accommodation Allowances

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:28): My question is to the Premier. When did the Minister for Primary Industries first inform the Premier that they had wrongfully claimed the country members' travel allowance?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:28): I have had discussions with the minister over the past two weeks and it was very clear from those—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I said I have had discussions over the past two weeks. I don't know whether they have a grasp on the English language, but I have had discussions—

Mr Picton interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —over the past two weeks with many of my country MPs who have been checking their records. We are not talking about checking records over the last five minutes or the last five days or the last five weeks. We are talking about a requirement to check records over the last decade. That was the decision that you made, sir.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned. If this continues today, he will be leaving.

The Hon. V.A. Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Deputy Premier!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you, sir. You made a determination that records over the last decade would be released, so we made it very clear that members who had claimed this allowance were to go back and check those transactions. It is true that there have been administrative errors over that decade period.

We're talking about a huge number of transactions which have occurred and a very small number which have been incorrect, but this is unacceptable. I have made it very clear to my team that they need to identify those transactions which are wrong, identify those to the Clerk, and then immediately rectify those.

I am absolutely assured by the minister that there has been no net gain from the situation regarding the incorrect allowances which have been paid because, as most people in this place would be aware, our minister has worked a very large number of nights away from his electorate. There is a cap which is provided for the purposes of the country MPs' accommodation allowance. He is over that cap many times over, so there has been no personal gain from this situation whatsoever.

Mr Picton: So he didn't have to repay anything.

The SPEAKER: Member for Kaurna!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I have been assured of this situation. The errors, I state very clearly, are completely unacceptable, but those errors have been identified—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Light!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and they have been rectified.

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is on two warnings. I will give one more to the leader, then the member for Finniss.