House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-06-22 Daily Xml

Contents

TREASURER'S REMARKS

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (15:47): My question is to the Premier. Given that the Treasurer told the house this morning, 'I do fully accept responsibility for inaccuracies given to the parliament relating to when I was first advised of the possible cost overruns in the project', what are the consequences for the Treasurer of accepting that responsibility?

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) (15:48): I know that the Leader of the Opposition is new to her position, but those who have been in this house for a long time know that the cardinal sin in the Westminster system, as established by the mother of parliaments in Westminster, is whether there is a deliberate overt attempt to cover up. How can you accuse the Deputy Premier of a cover-up when he was the one who came out publicly and said he had made a mistake? And that is the difference.