House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-06-19 Daily Xml

Contents

Gillman Land Sale

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:07): I have a supplementary for the Premier. As the person who signed the Gillman option deed, as described by the Deputy Premier, will the Premier confirm who is correct regarding this as being a requirement of a resources hub: the Treasurer or the Deputy Premier? The Deputy Premier is saying it is an option; the Treasurer is saying it is a requirement. You signed the deed; what is the answer?

The SPEAKER: Well, I didn't actually sign any deed and I call the deputy leader to order.

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Industrial Relations) (14:07): I've had the document that presently exists described to me—and I think this is probably the correct legal description—as an 'option deed', which says that if a certain number of things happen at certain times, then further steps will unfold. I have said also in the parliament on a couple of occasions—and the deputy leader would be very aware of this—that there is presently litigation proceeding in the Supreme Court.

It would seem to me that the appropriate way for the parties to that litigation to go about obtaining material relevant to their proceedings in the Supreme Court is to use what we used in the old days to call 'discovery' or 'interrogatories'—I know they have new names now, but I am a bit of a traditionalist and that's what we used to call them—and that this is not the forum for that sort of inquisition to occur.