Question Time

State Final Demand

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:20): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Investment and Trade regarding statistics.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: The minister yesterday advised the council that state final demand had dropped by 0.1 per cent, being the second consecutive quarter of negative growth. Yesterday, he told us he was advised it was 0.1 per cent, then he told us, and I quote:

We know that state final demand fell by 0.1 of 1 per cent. We know that for a fact.

Based on ABS figures, the minister's response was out by 100 per cent. The minister has a whole department, an office in parliament, advisers and a fellow economic minister sitting next to him in this council. It is difficult to imagine the minister was not advised during or shortly after question time of this. This raises serious questions about the record being corrected as soon as possible. My questions to the minister are:

1. Is he aware of any standing order or code of conduct that requires a minister to 'ensure they do not deliberately mislead the public or the Parliament on any matter of significance or arising from their functions' or correct the record when a minister inadvertently misleads?

2. Exactly what was the advice the minister was relying on when he made these statements?

3. Does the minister stand by his claim that he made some four or five times that state final demand decreased by 0.1 per cent?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade and Investment) (14:21): I thank the honourable member for his question.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I listened to the question in silence and I expect those members opposite would listen to it in silence.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Wortley, let the minister answer the question.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Mr President, thank you. The figure I was referring to yesterday—and I am sure members opposite would have been able to see in the same statistic—was the trend figure. The South Australian state final demand, I read from the official advice, 'fell by 0.1 per cent and was unchanged from a year earlier.' Members opposite were referring to a quarter; I was referring to the real trend, which is the much more accurate figure. Clearly, members opposite are a whingeing, whining, dysfunctional lot trying to choose individual statistics instead of looking at the trend.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Minister, finish your answer, please.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: The figure I was referring to yesterday was the trend figure.