Question Time

Privatisation

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:24): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Treasurer regarding privatisations.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: This weekend just past saw the publication of a remarkably perceptive piece of analysis from one of our state's most experienced and respected political columnists. A long-time ABC broadcaster and now Sunday Mail columnist wrote about the state's Treasurer, suggesting it is well and truly time for the Treasurer to slip into a pair of crocs and retire, calling for the Hon. Rob Lucas to retire.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Can't you do something better than read the Sunday Mail for your questions?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I note the Hon. David Ridgway insults the Sunday Mail. I think it's a great record of journal, and I don't agree with that.

The PRESIDENT: It's a brief explanation. Don't incorporate the remarks of the Hon. Mr Ridgway, who is out of order, by the way.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Thank you, Mr President. I suspect such calls for retirement started probably 30 years ago for the Hon. Rob Lucas, but they take on real credence following the announcement that the Treasurer doesn't intend to serve in parliament after the next election. That the Treasurer doesn't have skin in the game means he is making the decisions that are, and I quote from the article, 'breaking the trust of South Australians'.

The examples given in the article include breaking the faith with massive increases in fees and charges—massive increases in fees and charges—and the complete and utter hypocrisy of a party and a person who once preached, I quote, 'Debt is very bad.' He once preached, 'Debt is very bad.' Subsequent to that article, we see the announcement of the privatisation of our public rail network from a party who assured voters and went on record before the last election saying they don't have a privatisation agenda. They don't have a privatisation agenda, like they don't with SA Pathology.

The problem for the Liberal Party is voters still remember the broken promises about not selling ETSA, and the opinion polls still rightfully blame the Liberals for high electricity prices, but this is a decision of a party that is led by a Treasurer who has already checked out, who has slipped into his crocs and is dreaming of tending to his ponies.

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, let's just tone back the rhetoric and get on with the question.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: He no longer has skin in the game. My question to the Treasurer is not, 'Why are you even here, Rob?' which was posed in the article.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Lucas—no first names.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: My question to the Treasurer is: why did the Liberals tell South Australians they had no privatisation agenda before the election, and does the Treasurer really have any other plan but for retirement and drinking muscats at dawn in the Adelaide Club at his leisure?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:27): It's always good to start off a parliamentary sitting week with a little bit of comedy and humour, and I thank the Leader of the Opposition. I am delighted that the Leader of the Opposition can introduce a touch of comedy and levity into the start of question time.

I can say that my very, very good friend Matthew Abraham, who I have enjoyed a very close working relationship with for over 150 years, I suspect, was very upset with my budget. Let me explain because—

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, allow the Treasurer to answer.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: He asked whether I would do a video with him and I did, which he filmed himself. One of the two questions that he was very upset about in the budget was why I hadn't funded public toilets at the North Haven boat ramp. I said that I would take it very seriously in future budgets and would have a look at it. That was his first penetrating question.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: You're mocking him now.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: It's online, Mr President. The second question indicated how upset—

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, let him answer.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: —Mr Matthew Abraham was. He wanted to know why I had chosen to eat a Krispy Kreme doughnut instead of a Vili's doughnut on the morning of the budget. They were the two questions in an exclusive video that I filmed with Mr Abraham. He asked me whether I would give him the honour of doing an exclusive little video that he could put up online.

They were the two questions he put to me. I was delighted to answer those two questions for Mr Abraham, as I have always been delighted to answer the questions from him. Matthew Abraham has been a friend and an acquaintance for very many decades, and he will continue to be a friend and an acquaintance.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Point of order, Mr President. The question was very much: why did the Liberals tell South Australians they had no privatisation agenda before the election? It wasn't about a personal feud the Treasurer is engaging in with another Advertiser columnist.

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, I am not going to uphold your—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Government benches, can I rule in silence, please? The Leader of the Opposition, I am not going to uphold it. You had a long rope on your matter of a short explanation, which involved these particular issues. The Treasurer is entitled, in attempting to answer your question, to address some of the matters you raised in your explanation. Some free advice from the President: if the brief explanation had been brief, and the question had been specifically on privatisation, then I would have upheld it.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Mr President, I thank you for that ruling. The Leader of the Opposition cannot introduce a whole series of issues in terms of his explanation, and then not expect to get his medicine back. If he is going to dish it up, he has to take it. If he is going to dish it up, he has to learn to take it as well. He can't be like the schoolyard bully. To conclude that aspect of the question, the explanation, I say that Mr Abraham has been and will remain a very close friend and acquaintance in the future.

I will seriously look at the issue of public toilet access at the North Haven boat ramp in future budgets, as he asked me in that exclusive little video, which I am sure is going viral as we speak. In relation to the other issues raised in the leader's question—I have answered this question many times before, but I will repeat it again—we were clear, we were explicit. We made a promise prior to the election, and I wrote a letter to Mr Nev Kitchin, the boss of the PSA (and I have quoted from that letter before), and that made it quite clear that, as the Labor Party before us had not ruled out or not implemented policies of outsourcing and commercialisation, we would not rule out outsourcing and commercialisation, as the Labor Party did.

We made a very clear promise and we have kept our promise. We would not rule out commercialisation, we would not rule out outsourcing, but we wouldn't be privatising SA Water, we wouldn't be privatising ReturnToWorkSA. We made a fervent promise to the people of South Australia and to the Public Service Association bosses that we would not rule out commercialisation, we would not rule out outsourcing.

What minister Stephan Knoll has just announced is that he is looking at an outsourcing model, as has existed in South Australia for buses for many, many years. He has indicated that we will not sell off the trains, we will not sell off the trams.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: Did you outsource ETSA, too, did you?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Maybe the Leader of the Opposition can answer whether or not they privatised or outsourced the Motor Accident Commission or the Land Services SA office or the Lotteries Commission or the forests. But I'm sure we won't hear an answer to any of those particular questions. Let me conclude by saying again, we have kept the promise we made, as I wrote in the letter to the head of the Public Service Association, as I said publicly prior to the election and as I have said on any number of occasions since the election: we will not rule out commercialisation, we will not rule out outsourcing. And we have been true to our word; we have kept that particular promise to the people of South Australia.