House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-05-06 Daily Xml

Contents

Question Time

MOTORCYCLE GANGS

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:03): My question is to the Premier. What is more important to the Premier than protecting innocent South Australians from bikie gunfire? The police minister stated yesterday, on behalf of the government, on radio station FIVEaa, that anti-bikies legislation was not the government's highest priority. The minister said:

Once we get WorkCover out of the road—it's accumulating debt every day—the bikies is our second priority.

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:03): I am very pleased to answer this question. As I have just said, I want both the bikies legislation and the WorkCover bill passed by the upper house this week.

The Leader of the Opposition, in his usual phoney angry manner, has failed to remember one thing: that the Labor Party in this state has never had a majority in the upper house. So my challenge to the Liberals and my challenge to the Independents, or whatever they are called in the upper house, is to pass both bills this week. Sit through the night on Thursday night, sit through the night on Friday night, sit through to Mother's Day, as far as I care, and pass the WorkCover legislation. Stop playing games. Pass the bikies legislation and stop playing games. And we saw what traders thought of the Leader of the Opposition yesterday.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. Foley interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Deputy Premier will come to order! The member for Enfield.