Whyalla Airport

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:53): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Attorney-General, representing the Premier in the other place, a question about Whyalla Airport.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: On 30 January, amid the crisis enveloping the Whyalla Steelworks, the Premier lobbed into the embattled town by car with much fanfare to announce his government's $13.8 million commitment to the $32.4 million upgrade of Whyalla Airport, with the rest of the money coming from the federal government—$16.2 million—and $2.4 million from the Whyalla council. While there, he also announced a further $5 million to fully fund the upgrade of the Whyalla Surf Club and cafe. The previous day, federal minister Catherine King had dropped into town in a chartered VIP jet to do a $3 million cheque handover for a splash pool on Whyalla's foreshore.

The Premier was on a whistlestop tour of Eyre Peninsula, and his Whyalla visit was in the same period his government was secretly planning its strategic masterstroke to place Sanjeev Gupta's OneSteel into administration. I compared it to The Godfather movie, saying that Michael Corleone could not have executed a better hit job.

Observers at Whyalla Airport noted that there were two private jets parked on the tarmac that day, and the Premier and his entourage was seen boarding one of those two private jets to return to Adelaide that afternoon. My questions to the Premier are:

1. Whose jet did he use for the trip?

2. Was it a private charter and did taxpayers foot the bill; if so, how much did it cost?

3. Alternatively, did he and his entourage travel on the jet as guests of Mr Gupta rather than pay and wait for a commercial Qantas flight?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (14:56): I will be happy to pass those questions on to the Premier and seek a response.