Hospitality Industry

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:22): My question is to the Premier. Given the Premier's previous answers, is the Premier continuing to rule out providing additional support to the hospitality industry despite the fact that South Australia has the strictest restrictions in the country on that industry during the month of December, which underpins many of those businesses?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:22): It seems incredible to me that the Leader of the Opposition would take this line of questioning in the parliament. We receive our advice, with regard to the restrictions that we have in place, from Health in South Australia. And now the opposition is questioning where that advice is from. I don't know why they see it—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —as their right in this parliament to undermine the expert response that we have had in South Australia since day one.

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

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens on a point of order. The Premier will resume his seat.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Standing order 98: debate, sir. The question was not questioning the medical advice; it was talking about financial assistance to business. There is a difference.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left! A point of order has been—

Dr Close interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader! A point of order has been raised. I have been listening carefully to the Premier's answer. The question is a supplementary question once again asking the Premier whether he would rule out certain further action. In my view, it calls for consideration of the context in which that consideration may be made. I am listening carefully. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Let's be very clear: I have never ruled out additional stimulus and support. In fact, in my earlier response to the house I said that we must remain flexible and nimble in response to the situation that exists, and that's what has happened at the federal level and that's what has happened here at the state level. In fact, one of the suggestions made at national cabinet was that we need to look at whether or not we adjust our fiscal response in a more timely way than we have previously.

We know that monetary policy is looked at on a monthly basis, with changes made to the official rates by the Reserve Bank of Australia on a monthly basis. But fiscal interventions in economies usually occur at the time of the state budget or federal budget and in the midyear update we do the midyear economic and fiscal outlook or, in our case, the Mid-Year Budget Review, which of course won't occur this year.

We have historically moved from once or twice a year adjusting our fiscal response, whereas the Reserve Bank of Australia was once a month with regard to a monetary response. One of the things that we have discussed at the national cabinet is that we do need to remain far more flexible and responsive to the changing situation that we have here, and I think that we have proven to be very flexible.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: Not according to them; they are out protesting.

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee will leave for 20 minutes in accordance with standing order 137A.

The honourable member for Lee having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We have announced very responsive packages and we will continue to do that. Only this week, we have announced round 2 of the Great State voucher program. This was enormously—enormously—positively received by the sector. Some in this chamber were talking it down. Actually, people in the hospitality sector were saying this was a great initiative. They couldn't understand why people from the opposition were being so negative about a program that was creating tens of thousands of bed nights—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Leader! Member for Ramsay!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and creating jobs.

Mr Malinauskas: I've got more if you want some.

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We reviewed that program—

The Hon. Z.L. Bettison interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Ramsay is warned.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and we continue to adjust our policies. I am very proud that earlier this week we announced round 2, which will go out to the people of South Australia on 5 January. In fact, those vouchers can be used from 7 January right through to 31 March. This is an example of a government that is responding. But if the Leader of the Opposition or in fact the shadow health minister want to query or question the density arrangements, I suggest they take that up—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —with the health officials. We have made our position on this very clear.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Point of order, sir: I take offence at that remark. The Premier well knows that throughout the entirety of this pandemic we have provided bipartisan support to the government in terms of the imposition of restrictions, and we have never questioned the imposition of restrictions.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right!

Mr MALINAUSKAS: We have simply asked about financial support in the context of the restrictions that are being applied. But I take offence—and Mr Speaker, you know very well that I rarely do this—at the suggestion from the Premier that I have questioned the restrictions.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The leader is on his feet. The leader raises a point of order. Pursuant to standing order 125, as I understand it, the leader has taken objection to what he considers to be offensive. In the circumstances, I invite the Premier to withdraw.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I am happy to withdraw any statement that was offensive, but I very distinctly heard, when I was raising questions about queries and our reliance on advice for the one person per four square metre density, the shadow minister for health (member for Kaurna) shout out, 'Where's the advice?' That seems to me to imply that he doesn't take SA Health on that advice. Maybe he's implying that that doesn't exist.

Mr PICTON: Point of order, sir: I take offence now at the fact that the Premier is making up statements that I have supposedly said. Similar to the leader, we have offered bipartisan support for the restrictions that are in place at every stage, and the quote that the Premier said is pure fantasy.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. The Premier has—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right! The Premier has made reference to words that he heard across the chamber. I didn't hear those words. I will look at the Hansard and, if there is anything further to come back to the house about in that regard, member for Kaurna, I will do that. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: In the remaining seconds, I would like to reiterate that we are in the corner of business in South Australia. We will continue to support them. We do not have punishing policies on small business in South Australia, like restricting shop trading hours or putting in place ridiculous half-day public holidays, which the hospitality sector was violently opposed to. We will back them, we have backed them and we will continue to back them.

Mr PICTON: Point of order: the Minister for Education made a comment across the chamber that we were 'dog whistling like Pauline Hanson'. I ask him to withdraw and apologise for such an offensive statement.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Once again, member for Kaurna—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader will cease interjecting. On the point of order, for what might be obvious reasons I did not hear the words that were exchanged across the chamber.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I will go ahead and do so momentarily, if members allow me to rule on the point of order. The Minister for Education seeks the call: the Minister for Education on the point of order.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Sir, the words the member for Kaurna identified were correct. The reference was to the entire Labor Party's approach to question time today.

The SPEAKER: In the circumstances, the member for Kaurna having taken offence, I invite the Minister for Education to withdraw.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Sir, I make the point that the reference was not specifically to the member for Kaurna. To assist the Chair—

The SPEAKER: I invite the Minister for Education to withdraw.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: I am happy to withdraw.