Legislative Council: Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Contents

ST DIMITRIOS CHURCH

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (14:51): As a supplementary question arising out of the answer, will the former acting treasurer in relation to this transaction confirm that he took no independent advice from any body, individual or organisation that knew anything about this grant before he threw $430,500 at them for this grant?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:52): Again we hear about 'throwing money'. Let the Hon. Rob Lucas and his leader in another place come up and have the guts to talk about this organisation. In answer to the question, what I did was approve on advice of the Office of the Treasurer a transfer of money. It was not the role of the Treasurer to assess the application per se: it was—

The Hon. R.I. Lucas: It was your decision.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: The Hon. Rob Lucas believes that this group is not deserving. If he believes that I have acted in some way improperly, let him and his federal leader come up with—

The Hon. R.I. Lucas interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Come on; I'll stop.

The Hon. R.I. Lucas interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: If you are going to talk about the Auditor-General, we know what the Hon. Rob Lucas did. I think you will find that he is the only treasurer in the history of this state who would come out and attack the then auditor-general of this state. The auditor-general was so critical of some of the things that he did, that he was attacked. I am happy to face the scrutiny of any investigation. My role was simply to approve a transfer of funds, which I did on the advice that I was provided.

The Hon. R.I. Lucas interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I know the Hon. Rob Lucas does this all the time. He is a great one at making accusations. He spends his entire time when not sitting in parliament wallowing around in the political sewer. When he comes up, this is the only product. Just imagine: 25 years in parliament and this is the outcome; this is what you come to. The only questions you ever ask are questions making false accusations under parliamentary privilege. If the Hon. Rob Lucas believes the grant to the St Dimitrios cultural learning centre is undeserved, let he and the leader in the other place have the courage to stand up and say this grant should not have been made Let them say that this is not a deserving cause. They cannot, and they will not: they cannot do that. The Hon. Rob Lucas is interjecting so much now because he knows that, if it comes to the substance of this grant, there is nothing there—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Sleazy accusations. Yes, he is a master of that; we know he is unparalleled in the South Australian parliament. He will set a reputation After 160 years of this Legislative Council, he has gained a reputation that will probably never be bettered in terms of the number of accusations he has made under parliamentary privilege. Let him come up with just one thing of substance that indicates that this particular grant is not justified. But he cannot.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Wortley.

Members interjecting: