House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-13 Daily Xml

Contents

ADELAIDE OVAL

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (14:30): I have a supplementary question. Given the Treasurer's answer where he raised the SACA debt, can the Treasurer advise the house whether he has placed a cap on the level of SACA debt that the government will pay and, if so, what is the cap?

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Can I ask for clarification on what a supplementary is?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Transport.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: And during your interview this morning, I did.

The SPEAKER: Is this a point of order?

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Yes. I would just like clarification on what that—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: And can I say they have been reflecting on people with all of their interjections, very poorly too. It is very impolite. I just want to know how that is supplementary to the original question, because—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: I am happy to have your ruling, but the fact that it is somewhere related to the same subject matter may put it in the postcode, but does not make it supplementary.

Mr PISONI: This is a personal explanation. This is not a point of order.

The SPEAKER: We already have a point of order that we are dealing with. I uphold your point of order, minister. I think that was a question in itself. It was asked by another member and followed up, so we will count that as a question, but you have had your answer, I think, haven't you? No? The Treasurer.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Federal/State Relations, Minister for Defence Industries) (14:32): As if the government would say to the cricket association, 'You just go and spend whatever you like, and we'll cover it.' Unlike the Liberals with the Hindmarsh Soccer Stadium and with all of the incompetent management of processes over there, we have an understanding as to the level of debt, but that will all be made public.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Premier.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I just maybe suggest to the shadow treasurer that I am working with a lot of very senior, experienced people on this project, one of whom is a former senior conservative politician.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: They are now casting aspersions on Ian McLachlan's capability, comparing Ian McLachlan to Tim Marcus Clarke. The member for Bragg might be a wet who hates the right, where Ian McLachlan comes from, but I will stand here and defend that man's integrity. To compare him to Tim Marcus Clarke and the State Bank is offensive, and Ian McLachlan deserves more respect from Liberal members of parliament than for them to use the words 'State Bank' and 'Tim Marcus Clarke' when I am referring to Ian McLachlan. You would think they would—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Let the Deputy Premier answer your question.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: We have made a contribution to SACA. We will make a contribution to their debt. Perhaps it will not be all their debt. We might choose not to pay all their debt. We will sit down with SACA.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Now it's a maximum. He's gone from a cap to a maximum. I say to the deputy leader that this is a debate in advance of the government being in a position to assess the figures. It is in advance of us knowing what contribution finally will come from the federal government.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Well, let me put you through this.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I have to walk these rude people through a bit of basic mathematics. The offer from the state government is $450 million minus SACA debt. Therefore, the more debt SACA incurs, the less free cash they get for the rest of the stadium. It ain't rocket science. If we are successful with the World Cup bid we will have an opportunity to receive a substantial quantum of money from the commonwealth, which will enable the building of a stadium of the highest quality that one can have with no further contribution from the state.

If we are not successful, there will be two choices for the public of South Australia and for this government. That is, we stick with 450 and what we can get for 450, or we have a look at the improved stadium offer and make a decision on that. The government's position is clear. We have made four—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Deputy Premier, have you finished your answer?

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Yes, Madam Speaker; I give up on this.

The SPEAKER: Before I go on to the next question I just want to clarify something about supplementary questions. I did clarify that last question and asked the Clerk his opinion, which was my opinion, that it was not a supplementary question. I will have some further discussions with the clerk before the next session. I have been in this place and experienced times when we have had three questions and 17 supplementary questions, and question time went on for an hour and a half. So, I am going to be very careful about supplementary questions and establish some sort of framework so that we do not have the nonsense that we have had in the past. However, that will occur in the next session. The member for Reynell.