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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-11-13 Daily Xml
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GOVERNMENT ADVERTISING

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:15): Will the Premier immediately suspend, in accordance with his conscience and principles, until the completion of the Frome by-election, his multimillion-dollar, taxpayer funded, political advertising campaign during which he promotes himself?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier.

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) (14:15): Can I just say this: here we have the Leader of the Opposition—

Mr Hamilton-Smith: Or do you just live off of taxpayers?

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Do you want to talk, or do you want me to answer your question? You are getting very flushed in the face again. I find it extraordinary that the Leader of the Opposition is carrying on about the date of a by-election caused by the other side. It is very easy to avoid a by-election, and that is by serving out one's term. I know what would have happened if we had held it in December: it would have been disruptive to the retail trade. If it happened on 27 December, it would have caused disruption to the holiday break between Christmas and New Year. If we held it on the long weekend when Lance Armstrong were here with me, it would have been a diversion; we would have been trying to blot it out.

Here we have a seat that, even in the very best of Labor years—at the last election—is regarded as a semi-safe Liberal seat, and they are whingeing about the date! There is one way to avoid a by-election, and that is by not quitting your seat in the middle of the holiday season. We could, of course, have had it on 31 January—

Ms CHAPMAN: Point of order, Mr Speaker. It is one thing to be circuitous in getting to where we are with this, but the question is: are we going to be paying to look at your face for the next two months, or not?

The SPEAKER: Order! I think the question is being answered in the spirit in which it was asked. However, I will draw the Premier to the substance of the question, which is about government advertising. The Premier.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Thank you very much. There are very clear and established rules, established by precedent generation after generation, building on the mother of parliaments in the Westminster tradition in relation to government advertising, and at what stage that cuts out. Given that we did not get the resignation until last night, I make this pledge to this house today: only the most appropriate government advertising will be in place during the requisite period.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Because I know that the Leader of the Opposition is a student of Camus existentialism, as well as Jim Hacker, there will be no cessation of bushfire advertising during the election period—and if that is controversial, I apologise.

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