Deputy Premier

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:43): My question is to the Premier. Has the other candidate for the deputy's position, the Minister for Environment and Water, expressed his disappointment about the decision to whip the moderate faction to vote for the Minister for Energy and Mining?

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order, sir: that question is out of order under standing order 97. It contains argument.

The SPEAKER: I perhaps will hear the question again. In fact, I am not certain that it does, but it may be that there is an opportunity to rephrase the question.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: My question is to the Premier. Has the Minister for Environment and Water expressed any disappointment about the lack of support coming from the Premier for his candidacy for the Deputy Premiership?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:44): I thank the leader for his question. I do note that in the middle of a global pandemic with the emergence of a new variant of concern—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —which, quite frankly, every single person—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The leader is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —in this state is concerned about—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The only thing those opposite are concerned about is hearsay—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Premier, please be seated.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —from a Liberal Party function. We presume it's hearsay, sir.

The SPEAKER: Premier, please be seated. The member for Chaffey and the member for Playford can leave under 137A for 15 minutes to ensure that they return in time for crossbench questions.

The honourable members for Chaffey and Playford having withdrawn from the chamber:

The SPEAKER: The Premier.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I do think it is noteworthy that here we are, quite a way into question time, and the biggest issue confronting the state, the nation and the world at the moment is the new variant of concern, which has been identified by the World Health Organization, and we as a government are moving very quickly to protect the people of South Australia, and all we have from those opposite are questions about hearsay from an event.

We presume it's hearsay. Maybe they were tapping somebody. This is something that we understand that the Leader of the Opposition has some expertise in. Maybe that's the way they got their information; I don't know. Then they ask questions about politics in the deputy leader's role. It beggars belief that this opposition has completely and utterly lost the focus on the people of South Australia.

Now, to the question, of course. The Minister for Environment and Water, I don't go into private conversations with him, but it's fair to say he has expressed disappointment to me, disappointment in the hopeless questions that are coming from those opposite. He says that they are the laziest opposition in the history of the state. He says that as a party they are hypocritical when it comes to the environment—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee is called to order. The member for West Torrens is called to order. Member for Elizabeth! Member for Ramsay!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —because of the position that they took to dismantle so many good parts of the department while they were in government, constantly undermining the spending of that department and really responding with greenwash rather than substantive policy decisions. By contrast, of course, the minister himself has been doing an outstanding job.