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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-05-06 Daily Xml
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ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S OPERATING ACCOUNT

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen) (14:42): My question is again to the Attorney-General. What steps has the Attorney-General taken, or will he take, against the public servants involved in the breach of the Treasurer's Instruction No. 6 which resulted in the Attorney-General's operating account being over $4 million overdrawn?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (14:43): Mr Speaker, the issue—

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Sir, that's the difference. When we came to office, sir, the quality of accounts in government was appalling.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Yes, it is six years later, that is right. The deputy leader just interjected and said, 'Yes, but this is 6½ years later.' The only problem with that, member for Bragg, is that the guy next to you, the Leader of the Opposition, was a minister six years ago, and he was part of that government. Mr Speaker, in their time in government—

Mr Hamilton-Smith: The one that got rid of the debt?

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Yes, that's true, you sold ETSA.

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Good, and I will keep putting my record against your record any time. What is our record? Our record is a simple record but a good record. It is a record of surplus budgets—six consecutive surplus budgets. Never once did they balance a budget, Mr Speaker. What is our record? We restored the AAA credit rating. They never had a AAA credit rating—never once. It took a Labor government to balance the books; it took a Labor government to restore our AAA credit rating; it took a Labor government to fire up this economy and get this economy going—a Labor government that has generated jobs and the biggest amount of private sector capital investment in decades, if not in history. It is a Labor government that has given us the lowest unemployment since Adam and Eve.

Mrs REDMOND: I rise on a point order, Mr Speaker. My point of order is the relevance of what the Deputy Premier is saying in relation to the question I asked about Treasurer's Instruction No. 6.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I uphold the point of order. The Treasurer needs to turn to the substance of the question. However, I remind members on my left that it is very difficult for the chair to expect ministers to answer the substance of the question and not to get involved in debate when there are interjections. No sooner had the Treasurer got up than members on my left were interjecting on him. I ask members that, if they expect me to require ministers to stick to the substance of the question, they should not interject. The Treasurer.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I do apologise for misleading the house inadvertently. I said that we had the lowest unemployment record since Adam and Eve. I got a little confused because I am but a high school drop-out from Port Adelaide. It is since records were kept. I actually thought they were one and the same, but the Premier has just corrected me and said that it was since records were kept. No records were kept back in the days of Adam and Eve.

Ms Bedford interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: The Premier told me. The lowest unemployment since records were kept, that is what this government has done. But fancy an opposition wanting to talk to us about anything to do with finance. Did anyone happen to read the Sunday Mail this week?

Mrs REDMOND: I rise on the same point of order, Mr Speaker. This has nothing to do with the question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I do not know what was in the Sunday Mail. I am sure there is some relevance to the question. The Treasurer.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: No doubt Kevin Naughton got onto his good mate, Phil Gardiner, and said, 'Look, can you get this crappy story into the paper? There really is not much to it, but I'm sure you'll give it prominence.' So, what did we see? We see a consultant report into putting a football stadium in the city.

Mr Koutsantonis: It won't cost a cent!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: It will cost $500 million, but do you know what they said? They said, 'We can't tell you who the consultant is because it is commercial in confidence.' So, they get some dodgy brothers consultant out there, and, of course, the Sunday Mail just prints the story like it is not an important—

Mrs REDMOND: I rise on a point of order, sir. Again, the question was about the breach of Treasurer's Instruction No. 6 on an overdrawn Attorney-General's account—nothing to do with what the Deputy Premier is talking about.

The SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order. The Treasurer must turn to the substance of the question.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I will. On that matter, I will get a report. But the important thing here is that, when talking about financial diligence, they get a consultant and they will not tell us—

Ms CHAPMAN: Mr Speaker, on a point of order, you have just ruled on this matter.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I uphold the point of order. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

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