Members

Member for Mawson, Naming

The SPEAKER: I name the member for Mawson.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I move that the apology be accepted once the member makes it.

The SPEAKER: Does the member for Mawson wish to be heard?

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I would like to apologise, sir.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (14:07): I move:

That the apology be accepted.

The SPEAKER: Is there any further debate? The Minister for Energy and Mining.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:07): The government is absolutely appalled by the behaviour of the member for Mawson. To yell out from his seat to the Premier that he is 'a crook leading a bunch of crooks' is—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: And somebody opposite just repeated it, just agreed.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: This is disgraceful behaviour. We would have been prepared to leave it as it was when you asked the member for Mawson to leave the chamber for an hour but, when he was walking out towards the door and he repeated the same comment, you were entirely within your rights, in the government's opinion, and entirely appropriate to name the member for Mawson. That is behaviour that in my 11 years—there are others who have been here longer—in this chamber I have not seen.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Cheltenham!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left! The member for Cheltenham is called to order. The Minister for Energy and Mining has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: For a member to be suspended from the chamber for an hour and then to walk right past the Premier, look right at the Premier and repeat 'you're a crook leading a bunch of crooks' is absolutely disgraceful—absolutely disgraceful. I could not hear what the member for Mawson said when he returned to his seat. Through his mask, it just wasn't possible to hear what he said, so I would like you to tell me what it was that he said at that point in time, please.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Mr Speaker, when you had the member for Mawson return you asked him to explain himself. I just could not hear what he said from—

The SPEAKER: I heard the member for Mawson apologise.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for West Torrens! The minister has the call.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: So, Mr Speaker, thank you for that—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens will cease interjecting.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Thank you for that clarification, but, no, on behalf of the government we do not accept that apology. We do not accept that apology from a member after being asked to leave the chamber and in doing so faces the Premier again and says, 'You're a crook leading a bunch of crooks.' It offends the government, Mr Speaker.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (14:10): Sir, it has been a long tradition in this house that once a member is named the member provides an explanation. The member offered an apology. The opposition moved that the apology be accepted. It is usual practice for the government to accept that.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Innovation and Skills is called to order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Strangely, we have the government arguing that the member hadn't apologised while we're debating the motion about the apology being—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright is called to order. The member for West Torrens has the call. He will be heard in silence.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Strangely, sir, we had the government arguing that the member had not apologised, despite us debating a motion that the apology be accepted, which speaks volumes about the government's state of mind right now, given the accusations against the Premier of misconduct, maladministration and potential corruption in his office and the Liberal Party. I see this no more than an attempt by the government to clear the chamber of any dissent into the awful and groundbreaking allegations against the Premier.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I ask that the house to get back to the questions—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my right!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens will resume his seat. The Deputy Premier will cease interjecting. The Minister for Energy and Mining on a point of order.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: The member for West Torrens is not debating the matter at hand. He is moving onto other things in his own mind, but he is not debating the matter at hand, and I ask you to bring him back to the substance that we are actually debating at the moment.

The SPEAKER: I am listening carefully to the member for West Torrens. The member for West Torrens will address the matter before the house.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I won't take up too much of the house's time, other than to say that the member has apologised. He has been excluded by the Speaker under sessional orders for an hour. Now the government want the member excluded from the parliament for 24 hours because of a remark that he has apologised for. He has apologised to the house. It is good practice to allow that apology to be accepted. Anything else is about something else that the government are worried about—and they should be.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, Minister for Education! The member for West Torrens has moved that the member for Mawson's apology be accepted.

The house divided on the motion:

Ayes 23

Noes 23

Majority 0

The SPEAKER: There being 23 ayes and 23 noes, the Speaker exercises a casting vote. I exercise that casting vote with the noes.

Motion thus negatived.

The honourable member for Mawson having withdrawn from the chamber: