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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-10-14 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

Indigenous Communities Funding

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:16): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I wish to address the circumstances that arose earlier today where the member for Morphett made a series of remarks under the guise of moving a motion of privilege which concerned conduct that I allegedly engaged in when I was minister for Aboriginal affairs.

Mr GARDNER: Point of order, sir. The convention that has been established, and upheld by you, is that ministerial statements be circulated in writing at the time that they are given.

The SPEAKER: It is just that: it is a convention. We are on a slippery slope here.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: It does remind me of Yeats:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Well, you can withdraw leave for the ministerial statement if you want to.

Mr GARDNER: Sir, I am making again the point that you say it is a slippery slope. The abuse of process by the government in the way that they are doing it today, and have done so throughout the course of the year, is extraordinary, and I ask you again to uphold the convention.

The SPEAKER: No, the convention is that once leave is granted it is maintained until such time as the person on his or her feet flagrantly violates the terms.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Well, there has to be a reason. You can withdraw leave willy-nilly.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: You can, yes.

Mr Marshall: Sir, it's nothing to do with willy-nilly.

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley.

Mr PISONI: Sir, ministerial statements are to deal with ministerial responsibility. What is the Premier's ministerial responsibility?

The SPEAKER: This is like an Australian union of students conference.

Members interjecting:

Mr Pisoni: And you're running it.

The SPEAKER: Yes, you're right. I am running it. The member for Newland.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: Sir, generally, it is not taken as a conversation backwards and forwards between the Speaker and those on the floor except through observing the general standing orders which have arisen through points of order and arising in the debate on the point of order. You are engaging with people not standing on their feet when they make their contribution.

The SPEAKER: Thank you to the member for Unley and the member for Newland for helping me with my responsibilities. The Premier tried to make a personal explanation, leave was withdrawn, as it may be, contrary to my earlier ruling; I was wrong. I will say that again if you would like. The Premier has now segued into a ministerial statement, and any member can refuse leave again, if you dare. Premier.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, Mr Speaker. As I was attempting to say, the member for Morphett earlier today made a point of privilege, suggesting that I had misled this house. He relied for that on a question that I answered I think the last time we were here concerning the question of municipal funding and whether I had agreed to take over municipal funding from the commonwealth. In his explanation to try to persuade you that I had misled the house, he himself acknowledged that there was a series of correspondence that passed between myself and former minister Brough.

I am seeking to put before the house some elements of that correspondence, in the short period I have had to be able to gain access to that correspondence, to seek to explain the nature of that interaction. A fairly rich detail here is that one of the letters that I understand he was relying upon—because it is hard, in the period that I have had, to be able to work out what, in fact, he was relying upon—I say about that letter, in my correspondence to Mal Brough:

Your letter of 20 July to the South Australian Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee is misleading in a number of ways.

I go on to say, later in that same letter:

MCATSIA—

which is the Aboriginal affairs standing committee of ministers from around the nation—

notes that all MUNS funding is being preserved until such time as a transitional plan which responds to the commonwealth's reform agenda is finalised and implemented in consultation with states and territories.

So, the explanation that I am giving is that this was a live issue of contention. No agreement had been reached between the commonwealth and the states about the transfer of MUNS funding. What the member for Morphett waves away as just 'detail' that we had actually agreed to hand over MUNS funding was detail about money, which is a fundamental and necessary condition before any finalisation of any agreement could be reached.

If there is one fact which should make this clear to all those listening about the fact that there was no agreement reached, it is that it was still a live issue come the Abbott government. The Abbott government unilaterally withdrew MUNS funding and we are in dispute about it. But it is a serious matter to come into this place and allege that any member has misled this place, especially without a basis.

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