XENOPHON, HON. N.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON (14:52): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of the Government a question concerning the replacement of the Hon. Mr Xenophon.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: In The Advertiser of Friday 12 October it was reported—and it has not been denied by the Labor Party—that it had been having discussions with the Hon. Nick Xenophon about his entering federal politics for at least six months, initially in relation to the Hon. Mr Xenophon's possibly running for the House of Representatives seat of Sturt, which the ALP representatives discouraged him from doing.

The Attorney-General, the Hon. Mr Atkinson, has publicly announced, as is reported in the same journal, that he had discussions with the Hon. Mr Xenophon on 29 September this year. Senior Labor sources are quoted as saying that the Labor Party had been 'working on a strategy on the understanding Mr Xenophon was going to quit the upper house'. The same report, I might add, quotes the Premier as saying he was 'obviously sorry to see the back of Mr Xenophon'. Just how sorry we saw yesterday, when the Labor Party used its votes to opportunistically deny—

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: On a point of order, Mr President: comment is not only wrong but it is also out of order. It is quite wrong; and, secondly, it is out of order. He should not be giving opinion, particularly wrong opinion.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Lawson will refrain from opinion.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: Thank you for your wise counsel. I understand the sensitivity of the leader and will not tread on his toes. The Premier in a ministerial statement yesterday suggested that one of the reasons the government could not arrange for the prompt calling of an assembly of members was the fact that he had not received written advice from the Hon. Mr Xenophon. My questions are:

1. Is it not the case that the subject of the Hon. Mr Xenophon's replacement has been discussed by ALP officials and ministers over the past few months; and, during those discussions, was the question of the replacement of the Hon. Mr Xenophon discussed with Labor officials?

2. When was the minister made aware of the Hon. Mr Xenophon's intention to resign?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:55): The first I knew that the Hon. Mr Xenophon was going to resign was when he rang me shortly before his press conference, and that is when, I believe, he contacted other members of this place, the Leader of the Opposition, the Premier and the like. I have seen the press reports referred to by the Hon. Robert Lawson. I have also seen the press coverage of the Hon. Mr Xenophon denying that he had had discussions with anybody for more than six months. The only meeting I have seen confirmed by anybody was the discussion that he had with the Hon. Mr Atkinson, which I think the Hon. Mr Xenophon confirmed. The date given for that was fairly recent; it was not six months ago.

The Hon. Robert Lawson can carry on all he likes with his speculation, but the fact is that the Hon. Mr Xenophon's decision to go to the Senate was, obviously, ultimately his and his alone. I do not see how it could be suggested that anybody in this place, anybody in any other party or anywhere else would be encouraging him to go. It is obviously his decision and he is entitled to do that. I am not aware of any discussions at all with Labor officials, other than, as I said, the one discussion that was had—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I mean, all of us in this place have had discussions with the Hon. Nick Xenophon about all sorts of political issues. We know his views on things, and he has a joke about it. I am also aware that there was some suggestion that he would be running for Sturt. I remember the Hon. Mr Xenophon himself telling me how he had made that joke about it at one stage, and I think a number of us around this parliament would have heard him say this, but we all knew that he was just being humorous. We all knew that that was the Hon. Nick Xenophon's sense of humour, and he does have a very good sense of humour. It is a pity that some members opposite do not appreciate that. If this is the best that the Hon. Robert Lawson can come up with, if this is the issue of the day, the major issue facing South Australians, then I feel sorry for him.