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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-11-09 Daily Xml
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COUNCIL OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND COMMERCE SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite) (14:58): My question, again, is to the Premier. Did the Premier personally approve—

The Hon. K.O. Foley: Look at him, all fired up.

The SPEAKER: Order! Treasurer, you are on a second warning.

Members interjecting:

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: Finished now?

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: You finished?

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Waite, get on with your question or sit down.

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Did the Premier personally approve the cutting of $200,000 worth of funding to the Council of International Trade and Commerce of South Australia (the organisation that supports 40 chambers of commerce, including the Italian Chamber of Commerce), and how, as Leader of the Government, does he justify that decision while maintaining funding of at least $1.2 million for his special relationship with Puglia?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Before you start, minister, who did you ask that question of?

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: The Premier.

The SPEAKER: The Premier, so you are asking him to justify it?

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: Correct.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Gambling) (15:00): Madam Speaker, I will justify it with the words of the Leader of the Opposition, and the words of the Leader of the Opposition are these: CITCSA generates $80 million worth of export trade out of South Australia per year. Apparently, with the $80 million they generate they cannot self-fund $200,000, which is less than 1 per cent of that $80 million. Perhaps the member for Waite should speak to his leader and find out what she said before he gets up and asks the question; perhaps he should also remember what he has said in the house—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —because the member for Waite had some interesting things to say about our investment in Europe. This is what he said: on 28 September, speaking about the government's overseas offices, he told this house:

I will be interested to explore that during budget estimates, because many of them, particularly in China, India, the UK, Europe and the US, perform very valued roles…

Who was he talking about? Our special envoys. To where? To Europe. Of course, he did it to—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Is that right? The honourable member knew, when he made that speech, that the Agent-General's Office is in the United Kingdom and that we have no offices in Europe. The special envoy we were talking about was our envoy to Europe, Mr Sasanelli, who he has made remarks about outside this house, but in this house he says he provides a very valued role. So which one is it? Is it a very valued role or is it no good? Make up your mind! Talk about misleading people—you are the one! The fact is—

Members interjecting:

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order, member for MacKillop.

Mr WILLIAMS: The minister is not answering the question that he was asked, and he is debating the subject.

The SPEAKER: The minister is about to finish answering his question.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The fact is that in this house, during his speech he said one thing about our presence in Europe—that is, it was valued—but outside this house he gets stuck into it. Why? Because you cannot trust him, you cannot trust what he says.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

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