House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Ministerial Code of Conduct Ministerial Code of Conduct The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS House of Assembly Black Leader of the Opposition Ministerial Code of Conduct The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:25): My supplementary is to the Minister for Human Services. Was the junior staff member involved a political appointment or a public servant? The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly Hurtle Vale Minister for Human Services Ministerial Code of Conduct The Hon. N.F. COOK (Hurtle Vale—Minister for Human Services) (14:26): I'm actually not going to give details about the staff member because I know how nasty— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly The Hon. N.F. COOK: I was on this side of the chamber when the Leader of the Opposition berated and talked about— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey! Member for Frome! The minister has the call. The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly The Hon. N.F. COOK: —public servants and degraded them. When he was in opposition previously— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly The Hon. N.F. COOK: —when he was here, we had to sit on this side of the house and listen to the ex-public servant talk about how shocking the Public Service was. I will not give specifics— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The leader is called to order. The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly The Hon. N.F. COOK: —but just to say— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Member for Finniss! Member for Unley! The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly The Hon. N.F. COOK: —that our staff had time to talk about this. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey! The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly The Hon. N.F. COOK: Our staff are being supported through this. This is— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly The Hon. N.F. COOK: Don't start about throwing under the bus. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The leader is called to order. The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly The Hon. N.F. COOK: Don't start about people getting thrown under the bus. I have not mentioned who it was. I have not said a name— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly The Hon. N.F. COOK: —just to say that the person who did this is very, very sorry that this happened. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The leader is warned. The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly The Hon. N.F. COOK: As somebody who has— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Minister, please be seated. The member for Morialta and the member for Florey can leave for half an hour under 137A. The honourable members for Morialta and Florey having withdrawn from the chamber: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The minister has the call. The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly The Hon. N.F. COOK: I want to make the point again that, unlike the Leader of the Opposition, who during his time has degraded— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The leader is warned. The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly The Hon. N.F. COOK: —and attacked his fellow public servants, I will not be specific about the particular staff member. Several of the staff have rallied around and had a good talk about it. I am sure they have learnt from this. It was found within a couple of hours, corrected to the best of their ability— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly The Hon. N.F. COOK: —and the clean version— Mr Whetstone interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey! The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly The Hon. N.F. COOK: —without any political inference, was sent out— Mr Whetstone interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is warned. The Hon. N.F. COOK House of Assembly The Hon. N.F. COOK: —but thank you for raising it.