House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time MAST 2024 Conference MAST 2024 Conference Mr PATTERSON House of Assembly Morphett MAST 2024 Conference Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:49): My question is to the Deputy Premier. Was the recent MAST 24 conference that the Deputy Premier attended reminiscent of the Fyre Festival? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain. Leave granted. Mr PATTERSON House of Assembly Morphett Mr PATTERSON: The 2017 Fyre Festival was advertised as a luxury festival, but quickly turned into an unmitigated disaster that went viral. The ABC has reported a defence industry figure describing the recent MAST 24 conference in Adelaide as, and I quote: …an utter embarrassment and total [expletive] show—not even the South Australian Defence Minister or Defence SA boss turned up, it reminded me of the Fyre Festival. The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS House of Assembly West Torrens Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Minister for Energy and Mining The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: standing order No. 1. This is from the House of Commons: Extracts from newspapers or books, and paraphrases of or quotations from speeches are not admissible. Similarly, questions must not seek confirmation that something is the case when there is no reason to believe otherwise, or ask a minister whether they are aware of a particular fact, report or situation. Sir, that question is simply a trap. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Perhaps the member can rephrase the question. Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Members on my right will listen to the question in silence. Mr PATTERSON House of Assembly Morphett Mr PATTERSON: My question is to the Deputy Premier. Can the minister update the house on the recent MAST 24 conference? The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Much simpler; much better. The Deputy Premier. The Hon. S.E. CLOSE House of Assembly Port Adelaide Deputy Premier Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Minister for Climate, Environment and Water Minister for Workforce and Population Strategy The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water, Minister for Workforce and Population Strategy) (14:51): Thank you, Mr Speaker. Yes, I attended the opening of the MAST conference in my capacity as Acting Premier. Not only was the Premier overseas at COP but also the defence industries minister and the head of Defence SA, I believe, were overseas and still are, or are on their way back at present, and therefore I attended in order to open the beginning of the proceedings.