Nuclear Industry

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (16:50): My question is directed to the Minister for the Environment. Does the minister agree with Premier Weatherill's statement on Monday this week when he was asked about his change of policy on the nuclear industry? He said:

The threat of climate change is a greater risk than the threats associated with the deepening involvement in the nuclear industry.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (16:51): I think we have to always be very careful of questions launched up here by the Hon. Mr Lucas when he talks about a change of policy. I don't think—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Just answer the question.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: I intend to try to answer the question but, of course, the Hon. Mr Ridgway, as you understand, the Hon. Mr Lucas sometimes leads you down or up the garden path. I don't think the Premier talked about a change of policy: he talked about having a royal commission to air the facts. He talked about involving the community in a debate and actually talking about these issues openly and transparently so that people could be involved. That is the issue before us, and the Hon. Mr Lucas comes in here and tries to turn these words around into things that people did not say at all.

The Hon. R.L. Brokenshire: I heard it on the radio.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: The Hon. Mr Brokenshire thinks he heard it on the radio. He thinks he hears lots of things and sometimes the radio is not even on, but back to the Hon. Mr Lucas's question.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: Point of order. I do believe that the Premier said that we were going to raise the standards of civility, and referring to mental illness in that way is not appropriate.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, take note, thank you.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Yes, I always take note, sir, as you direct, of course. As I was saying, the Hon. Mr Lucas comes into this place and uses tricky lawyer tricks even though he is not a lawyer. He must have learnt them from someone who is very good at the job. But that is what the Premier said—we are going to have a royal commission to air all of these issues about the nuclear fuel cycle in South Australia with the only caveat being that we will not be talking about military use.