House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-02-19 Daily Xml

Contents

ROYAL ADELAIDE HOSPITAL

Mr PISONI (Unley) (14:56): My question is to the Premier. Did the minister or any ministerial or government officer initiate discussions in the past three months with Marjorie Jackson-Nelson regarding the controversy over the naming of the hospital?

An honourable member: Give the dirt to David.

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) (14:56): Very, very dirty; you are very, very dirty. Can I just say this—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: No, I will answer the question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: That is a disgrace. That is another insult on a fine—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —decent and great Australian.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: But I will tell you this and I will reveal to the house that, when I met her on Friday—and I heard the absolute tripe being said on radio yesterday that somehow Marjorie Jackson-Nelson was forced into this. Quite the opposite. And also I heard people being quite defamatory, like the Daniel Gannon Twitter stuff, over which he is twittering himself towards the criminal as well as the civil courts, but that is another issue.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: No, I think he is one of Pyne's supporters. But the thing is that Marjorie Jackson-Nelson came to see me on Friday and asked me if she could have her name removed from the project because she did not want to see the continuing controversy damage an outstanding project.

On the way back from Tailem Bend yesterday, I phoned Marjorie Jackson-Nelson and I read her the ministerial statement I made in the house yesterday, and she made only one suggested change—because I took notes from the meeting with her—which was to add the part about not wanting to damage a project that would be of great benefit to the people of this state, which is the measure of her and her decency and also the comparison against the member for Unley—

Mr PISONI: A point of order, Mr Speaker.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —who sinks yet again to a new low.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Unley.

Mr PISONI: The question was specific, sir. It only requires a yes or no answer. We—

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Unley will take his seat. The Premier.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: No-one in this government asked Marjorie Jackson-Nelson to remove her name from the project; in fact, it was the reverse.

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley will come to order.