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

Contents

Kerin, Dr Paul

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:46): Thank you very much. My supplementary is to the Premier. Will the Premier be making any inquiries into the comments contained in Mr Kerin's resignation letter which specifically refer to ministers and senior bureaucrats who have engaged to stymie the efforts of reform. Will he be finding out who those ministers and senior bureaucrats are and what stymie-ing activities they have presided over?

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon interjecting:

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

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (14:46): Mr Kerin offers no evidence whatsoever.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Okay, let's just conduct an investigation because you say so? The reality is that Mr Kerin has made allegations about the government that, quite frankly, the government rejects. We reject them. We reject the criticisms of Mr Kerin. The reality is this: Mr Kerin is making a political statement—

Mr Marshall: No, he's not.

The SPEAKER: The leader is called to order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —by resigning the day after the government secure a majority in the House of Assembly. His mentioning his apparent voting intentions in his resignation letter speaks to a political statement that he is attempting to make. Mr Kerin was frustrated by the election result. I don't know what conversations the opposition had with Mr Kerin in the lead-up to the election. I don't know what the Leader of the Opposition told Mr Kerin about his plans for SA Water. I do know that Joe Hockey was well schooled on the value of SA Water and plans to—

Mr GARDNER: Point of order, sir. Standing order 98—this couldn't be more 98.

The SPEAKER: I uphold the member for Morialta's point of order. Leader.