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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-11-25 Daily Xml
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WATER CHARGES

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:59): I have a supplementary question. Is the $2 billion in cash dividends and returns that the Treasurer has stripped from SA Water over the last seven years before or after full cost recovery?

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations) (14:59): Oh, honestly! Do you know what it is? It is exactly what the former Liberal government put in place back in 1993.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: This leader has to be held accountable in the countdown to an election.

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition will come to order. The Deputy Premier.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Thank you, sir. In 1993, the then Liberal government had an audit commission, and that audit commission brought down a report that recommended that the government commence a process of getting a proper rate of return on the assets employed by SA Water. It then moved to corporatise SA Water. In corporatising SA Water, it was required to pay the shareholders a dividend and tax equivalents. That policy was adopted by this government, and your criticism of this government's taking dividends and profits from SA Water applies exactly to the eight years you were in government.

Mr Hamilton-Smith interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition is warned.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: The Leader of the Opposition is misrepresenting the last 15 years of water pricing in this state. It was the last Liberal government that put it in place, but I go back to—

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for MacKillop will come to order.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: —the fact that the National Water Initiative requires government to cover the cost of capital, including depreciation and operational costs, and it requires it to have a margin on top of that. It requires it, effectively, to make a return on capital—a profit.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for MacKillop and the deputy leader will come to order.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: The government has a policy of taking a substantial amount of dividend from SA Water—as did the last government. What is it to do with the money? Don't you think that money—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: SA Water has a corporate board.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader will come to order.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: A corporate board has a responsibility to adequately manage the capital requirements of SA Water, which it does, it does well and it does diligently. Excess to its capital needs to operate that business and its profits are returned 95 per cent to the shareholder so that we can spend that on schools, hospitals and police.

I want to say this, because this is the 'walking both sides of the street' tactic of the Leader of the Opposition: given that we are now moving into a full election year, I implore the media to hold this guy accountable for what he says one day to the next. Do you know what Martin Hamilton-Smith, the state opposition leader, and Mitch Williams, the state opposition water spokesman, said when releasing a document called Waterproofing South Australia—A framework for action, August 2007? Can we just listen to this?

Ms Chapman: More breaking news!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: You've got it! I do like her because she just manages to help me from time to time. You are right—breaking news.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Quite—from their own statement.

Ms Chapman: Deaf and dumb!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I don't actually appreciate being called deaf and dumb, Mr Speaker.

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: On a point order, Mr Speaker, the theatrics of the Treasurer, inviting interjection, and then you pick us up for responding. Really, sir, I call on you to bring the Treasurer to order in his reply.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. Rann: They don't want you to read out his words.

The SPEAKER: Order! First, the Deputy Premier has an objection to a remark made by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. I am not quite sure what she said. It was something about deaf and dumb.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: If she wants to descend into that abuse—

The SPEAKER: Order! I am not quite sure what to make of the remark. I do not know whom it was directed to. With regard to the Leader of the Opposition's remarks, I point out to him that both his questions contained debate. I have not picked him up on that and I have given the Deputy Premier more latitude in answering his question than I otherwise would have.

With regard to responding to interjections, whilst strictly it is disorderly, I generally leave that in the hands of the member on his or her feet to choose whether or not to respond to an interjection, and I apply that across the house. I am in no way selective in dealing with that.

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: I rise on a point of order, sir. Could you explain how my last question involved debate?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I am happy to explain how both questions contained debate. The first question accused the government of a blow-out, which is debate. It is an accusation against the government to which the government minister on his or her feet is going to want to respond.

The second question was about the government 'stripping' money from SA Water. If the Leader of the Opposition finds it difficult to see how both remarks are debate, I am more than happy to speak with him and go into it in some detail, but I assure him that the questions could easily have been rephrased so as to get the information that the leader was seeking but without containing debate.

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: I rise on a point of order, Mr Speaker.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I will not engage in debate on this. If you have a problem with my ruling there is a course of action, that is, to move dissent, but I will not engage in an exchange with the Leader of the Opposition in this way.

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: I am seeking clarification, Mr Speaker. You said that my second question entailed the word 'stripping'. I will read the second question. Is the $2 billion in cash and dividends taken from seven budgets on top of—

The Hon. P.F. Conlon:Hansard have got it.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: —or before full cost recovery? I do not recollect using the word 'stripping'. I am happy to be—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! For goodness sake! I do not require the assistance of members on my right. I assure the Leader of the Opposition that his question contained the word 'stripped'. I am more than happy to profoundly apologise if the Hansard and the recording of the Leader of the Opposition's question prove me wrong, but I assure him that he used the word 'stripped' in his question. Perhaps if the leader read the question as it has been provided to him he would get himself into less trouble.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I am not going to insist on it, but I take offence to a deputy leader of a political party calling me dumb and dumber, or deaf and dumb. If you want to throw that abuse—

The SPEAKER: Order! I think it is probably best if the Deputy Premier sticks to the answer.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Well, I think it is offensive to people with disabilities for someone in that position to be saying that.

The SPEAKER: Well, if you find it offensive then I am more than happy to direct the member to withdraw.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I also look forward to the Leader of the Opposition having to apologise, and we will, no doubt, have to have some process in that.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Well, he will have misled parliament. Let members opposite think about the ramifications of that. Can we concentrate on this as a parliament, because this is a person who says he is the alternate premier. That is a classic example of where he does not know what he says from one minute to the next.

Mr WILLIAMS: On a point of order, I strongly suspect that the Deputy Premier is now debating, and it is nowhere near relevant to the question that he is supposed to be addressing.

The SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order. The Deputy Premier.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I apologise, sir. When we read these statements, given what he has just said in his own policy document, Waterproofing South Australia—

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Order! He is getting on with it.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I have upheld the point of order.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Well, I do not know that. He has not even had a moment. The Deputy Premier.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: —Waterproofing South Australia—A Framework for Action, August 2007, it is no wonder that both the leader and the member for MacKillop have been trying to stop this being said. He said:

South Australia needs to ensure that water prices recoup the full cost of supplying water.

That is their own policy document! That is exactly what we are doing. So, before question time we get criticised for something they have said in their own document, but he conveniently forgets that, because that is the way he operates—and we saw it five minutes ago. It is either deliberate dishonesty or it is an attempt to mislead and misrepresent.

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