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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-10-28 Daily Xml
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Question Time

Kerin, Dr Paul

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:35): That may be so, sir. My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier now apologise to the taxpayers of South Australia and their families for using their water bills to prop up this government's budget, as evidenced by Dr Paul Kerin's resignation letter?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (14:36): After the state election there were a lot of very upset people, but Labor was—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Mount Gambier is called to order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: There were a lot of people who were disappointed with the result that the Liberal Party achieved at the election by not winning the majority of seats, but MacKillop did not fall. The resignation of Mr Kerin—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —was one of disappointment—

The SPEAKER: The member for Finniss is called to order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —but he wasn't the only person to resign after the state election. The former leader of the opposition resigned from the Liberal Party and joined the government. The member for Davenport has announced his resignation because he is bored; he didn't win the election so he is quitting. Mr Kerin's resignation is a political statement—

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is warned for a second and final time.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: It is not a statement about the function of the government or its policymaking: it is about the outcome of an election. The government respects the independence of ESCOSA. We are the ones who wanted to have an independent Essential Services Commission, and it is a very important function that the independent regulator has; some of that function used to be in price setting in energy. The government deregulated, in an important economic reform in the last parliament, the regulated pricing of electricity, and that was a good thing, and it has seen prices drop.

What Mr Kerin was attempting to do was not just be the regulator but the policymaker also. There is a very important distinction also when it comes to policymaking that is done by elected officials, not appointed individuals.

The reality is that the opposition, the government and every parliament in the country from the commonwealth down maintain this principle that it is elected representatives and elected members of parliament who set policy and appointed individuals regulate. That is how it has always been and that is how it will remain, and any independent regulator who attempts to set policy will be frustrated by governments that want to express the will of the people. This is a question about who should own SA Water. Should it be private interests who take those profits elsewhere, or should it be the public?

Mr GARDNER: Point of order, sir. The question was, 'Will the Premier apologise to the taxpayers of South Australia for using water bills to prop up the government's budget?' The Treasurer has strayed a long way from it and is entering into debate.

The SPEAKER: No, I think it is—perhaps to use an overused word—germane that the Treasurer is explaining what he thinks the hidden meaning or purport of the question is. Treasurer.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: As I said today to the media and to the public, this government believes in the public ownership of our water assets. Do they return a dividend to the government? Yes, they do. What do we do with that dividend? We spend it on our hospitals, we spend it on our schools, we spend it on our institutions and on our roads and on our police. We spend it on the essential services—

Mr Tarzia interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hartley is warned.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —that the public of South Australia demand. If SA Water was privatised, those dividends and those profits would not be socialised: they would be sent offshore or interstate to the private company that owns them. This is a debate that we have had. I can assure you, Mr Speaker, that immediately after the election, at the first Treasurer's conference, Joe Hockey was well schooled on the value of SA Water, almost as if there was some sort of secret plan in place ready to go had there been a different outcome—perhaps the outcome that Dr Kerin was looking for at the election but that the Leader of the Opposition could not deliver.

Mr Pisoni: You rob them blind and it's everyone else's fault.

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is called to order.

Mr Whetstone: Always someone else's fault, Tom.

The SPEAKER: And so is the member for Chaffey. Leader.

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