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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-07-01 Daily Xml
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CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY

Mr PISONI (Unley) (15:03): My question is again to the Premier. Can the Premier advise why the Adelaide campus of Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College is not accredited in China, the largest potential market for overseas students to study here in South Australia? The two degrees offered by Carnegie Mellon's remaining Adelaide campus are not accredited by the China Ministry of Education and Training. This is despite members of the Premier's Carnegie Mellon Support Unit travelling business class to China with Carnegie Mellon staff and staying in five-star hotels to drum up business.

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) (15:04): Recent reports in the local media relating to travel expenses incurred by public servants on business to promote Carnegie Mellon University are, I am told, inaccurate. In the article 'Costs of uni venture "hidden"' in The Advertiser the government is accused of hiding expenses relating to DPC travel costs seeking support for CMU overseas. The cost quoted in the article is $225,000. The actual cost of overseas travel for CMSU staff from the beginning of the contract with Carnegie Mellon to the close of the 2008-09 financial year was, in fact, $124,424.

In the Independent Weekly of 18 June the Hon. David Pisoni MP stated that $98,000 was spent on public servants for Carnegie related businesses. DPC annual reports for the financial year 2004-05 lists an amount of $98,207 relating to multiple agenda for state business travel not exclusively related to the promotion of CMU; $47,532 of this sum was spent directly on travel for CMU negotiations during this period—$47,532.

Basically, they want people to fail. You are addicted to failure because that is the story of the Liberal Party—divide, divide, sack. Look at them yesterday: all of them standing up and calling for people to be sacked—people who were sacked themselves by their own members. They are addicted.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

Mr PISONI: Point of order of relevance, Speaker: it is quite clear that the Premier has chosen to ignore the question regarding accreditation with China.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Your logic does not follow there, member for Unley, but I do uphold the point of order.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: Previous information that he put out to the media was incorrect. It is a bit like his role in the dodgy documents affair. He cannot handle the truth.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of Order.

Mr PISONI: Point of order: relevance, Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I uphold that point of order.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: It is relevant to your integrity, it is relevant to your honesty, it is relevant, as it is to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, who will not—because I know the media will ask him to repeat—

Mr PISONI: Point of order, Speaker: is the Premier going to answer the question?

The SPEAKER: That's not a point of order, member for Unley. Premier, have you finished your remarks?

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I understand that His Excellency the Governor has some information relating to the accreditation in China, and I look forward to reporting back to the house.

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