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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-03-07 Daily Xml
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PARK TERRACE DEVELOPMENT

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Housing and Urban Development) (15:18): I rise to talk about yesterday's reckless actions by the Leader of the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition went to 45 Park Terrace, Gilberton yesterday. Now, in the member for Norwood's rush to score political points, he recklessly and needlessly damaged an aspiring business and the reputation of a developer who has acted in good faith as a good corporate citizen.

We know that the housing industry is experiencing difficulties. The government is doing as much as it possibly can to stimulate the sector through a range of grants and tax relief policies—policies that the developer at 45 Park Terrace is extremely supportive of. However, because the Leader of the Opposition could not give that businessman the courtesy of a phone call, he would not know that.

The Leader of the Opposition has also potentially set back the project with his blatantly wrong comment, which he splashed across the head of his news release: 'Gilberton Development Scrapped'. Not only is that headline factually incorrect but surely an allegedly 'business-minded' person—as he claims he is—would know that attacking developments does not stimulate our economy. The developer of the project was visibly upset at being used as a cheap point-scoring opportunity by Mr Marshall and he explained as much to the journalists who attended.

After watching the news last night, what also became clear was the sneaky and not honest way in which the Leader of the Opposition and his office came to arrange their ill-fated press conference yesterday. It has been confirmed, through the director that confronted Mr Marshall during his press conference yesterday, who was upset that he was not even told he was about to be used as a political point-scoring opportunity, that the company about which Mr Marshall held the press conference received two phone calls yesterday. One was from a purported buyer of an apartment and one from someone who had an inquiry about an apartment.

The person who had the inquiry about the apartment left their details and asked to have a return phone call. The purported buyer did not leave any details and simply asked details of the development. Mr Marshall was then asked in the press conference if his office had identified themselves when they called the developer, and on TV Mr Marshall said they had not.

Now, what is wrong with the Leader of the Opposition ringing up a developer and saying, 'I am disappointed that you have re-scoped your project from the way it was advertised and I would like to come down to your site and hold a press conference'? Not this man. This man had his office ring up, not identify themselves as being from the Liberal Party or the Leader of the Opposition's office, and say that they were an interested buyer.

Mr Whetstone: Who got the dirt on the Marshall business?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I don't know. Apparently there is dirt on the Marshall business.

Mr Whetstone: Who was looking for the dirt on that?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: We know already of one staffer from the opposition who established fake Twitter sites. If there is a member of the opposition leader's staff who is making phone calls to businesses on behalf of the Liberal Party and the Leader of the Opposition and not identifying themselves—

The Hon. P.F. Conlon: Claiming to be a buyer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Claiming to be a buyer—you have to ask yourself what their motive is. Is their motive good governance? Is their motive good policies? Or is it underhanded deceit? If it is underhanded deceit, you have to ask yourself what kind of person is that? The Liberal Party claims to be the party of business, yet they turned up yesterday on a developer's site and talked down that development. Why? To score a cheap political point.

This Leader of the Opposition reminds me of a leader we used to have: a guy called Mark Latham. He is reckless. He doesn't think. He goes to Mount Lofty for a meeting, and then he stands in front of someone who has put their own livelihood at risk to develop a property and to do something for the future of South Australia, and the best a man who has had everything handed to him on a plate can do is get one of his staff to anonymously call that office and pretend to be a buyer. That is the future that the Liberal Party has for South Australia. That is how they operate. That is who they are. It is dishonest.

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