Questions on Notice

The Hon. H.M. GIROLAMO (14:22): My questions are to the Attorney-General as the Leader of the Government in this place. What is the government trying to hide by not answering expired questions on notice, and why are they showing such a degree of arrogance to the South Australian public?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:22): I thank the honourable member for her question. Once more, I am very pleased if the opposition want to repeat not just the same question on different days but exactly the same question twice in a row.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Gone are the days—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —when we were last in government and we had to—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —face people like the Hon. David Ridgway.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: We used to worry when we had the Hon. David Ridgway over there holding the government to account.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: You were concluding your answer, I am sure.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I will conclude the answer. As I was saying, when we were last in government, we had people like the Hon. David Ridgway leading the opposition. We used to be concerned. There was a great fear instilled in us when we came to question time because occasionally issues of substance would be raised, things that the people of South Australia wanted to talk about.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: Point of order: standing order 110 applies here. The minister is clearly debating the answer.

The PRESIDENT: I actually thought the minister was trying to answer the question.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: Point of order.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I will listen to your point of order.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: Mr President, could you take that under consideration and see previous rulings on standing order 110 and whether or not the standards of this place reflect that that would have been debating the answer?

The PRESIDENT: I will do that, and I will also have a look at Hansard overnight and will revisit that perhaps next sitting week.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I am happy to conclude. As I said in response to the almost identical question asked immediately before this question, there are, as I understand, some hundreds of questions that have been answered, that have been diligently answered, and questions will be answered when they are available and the proper processes have been followed.