State Budget

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (14:30): May I seek leave to make an explanation prior to directing a question to the leader on the subject of the state budget?

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Last Wednesday, I put a question to the Leader of the Government about state budget issues. It related to a statement that Mr Koutsantonis had made in October of last year. As is the minister's wont, she sought to smear the reputation of hardworking members of the Legislative Council when she said, and I quote:

The Hon. G.E. Gago: Not other members, just you.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Lucas has the floor.

The Hon. G.E. Gago: Just you; no-one else.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, let the Hon. Mr Lucas finish.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Hon. Mr Lucas, go on.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Thank you for your protection, Mr President.

The PRESIDENT: Pleasure.

An honourable member: Vigorous protection.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Vigorous protection. The minister said, and I quote, in her response that the Hon. Mr Lucas had 'a notorious reputation for coming into this place and misleading this place with inaccurate information…' and then went on to say, 'I would firstly need to verify that the Hon. Tom Koutsantonis did, in fact, say those things…' I provided the minister on Thursday with a copy of an article written by Daniel Wills under the heading 'Libs to cut payroll tax' on 28 October last year. In direct quotes, he quotes Mr Koutsantonis as saying:

'When a politician tells you they can cut taxes and balance the Budget without cutting services, they're either incompetent or lying,' Mr Koutsantonis said.

So I am not sure, and the minister can respond in her answer, as to whether she is accusing Daniel Wills from The Advertiser of making that particular quote up. My question is to the Leader of the Government in relation to state budget issues. Does the Leader of the Government believe that it is possible for her government to cut taxes and balance the budget without cutting services?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:32): Indeed, I very much stand by those comments that I made previously in relation to a similar question asked of me by the Hon. Rob Lucas. Indeed, he is incorrect. I wasn't smearing members of the opposition: those comments were directed at him, and I stand by them. He has a notorious reputation for coming into this place with inaccurate information, misleading this place, being ill informed and poorly researched, and damaging people's reputations. More often than not—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The minister has the floor.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: More often than not, they are the reputations of those people who are unable to come into this place and defend themselves, so I will champion those people at every cause. In relation to the comments that he put to me, he did indeed supply me with a copy of the article. Well, what can I say? If it's in The Advertiser, it absolutely must be so! I have got no idea what the context of those questions was, or any comments that were made by the Hon. Tom Koutsantonis. I have no idea what the context would be, and I refuse to make any comment in relation to that. It's inappropriate for me—

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: You don't talk to Tom, they tell me.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Dawkins!

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: —to be second-guessing the context of any comments that he may or may not choose to make. If the Hon. Rob Lucas is so hell-bent on finding the answer to this question, why doesn't he have the guts to ask the Hon. Tom Koutsantonis, who is supposedly, allegedly, the author of these comments?

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Lucas, supplementary.