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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-07-26 Daily Xml
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Question Time

KLEMZIG GROUNDWATER TESTING

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (15:01): My question is to the Premier. Is it an acceptable standard of ministerial conduct that a minister only release public health information to the public if the information can't be kept from the media?

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) (15:01): As I understand it—if you are referring to events in relation to the EPA, because I think, probably, it pays to be a little bit more specific—the EPA did testing of 17 bores in the area, four of which were operational, and, if my memory serves me well, I think that three of those bores were found to be clear, a fourth bore was found to have had excessive levels of the substance—it is interesting that you have not changed the question given that the question has already been answered by the minister—then what happened is that it was re-tested on two occasions—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —and found to be clear. As I understand it, the people concerned were actually informed. Given that the minister has just gone through this in some laborious detail then I think that, perhaps, the Leader of the Opposition—

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

Mrs REDMOND: The relevance of the Premier's answer: he is not addressing the issue of the ministerial code of conduct and whether the minister's conduct was appropriate in trying to keep the information from the public unless the media found out about it.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. I don't uphold that point of order. The Premier can answer as he chooses.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: That is a nonsense and you know it.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: While the minister worked in concert with his colleagues, and in consultation with the community to save Arkaroola, the two on the front bench have fallen out before question time started.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: The minister has acted appropriately in making sure that people are informed who are affected.

The SPEAKER: The member for Torrens.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

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