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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-11-15 Daily Xml
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Nuclear Waste

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:42): Can the Premier confirm that the Labor caucus will be bound to vote for the Premier's referendum bill?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:42): The question is not on our side of the chamber; it's on the other side of the chamber. There will be no referendum until bipartisanship is restored. At the heart of bipartisanship will be the policy processes that occur inside the Liberal Party. The first thing that they will need to do is resolve the policy confusion, which must be maddening on the other side. At one stage, they are out there saying, 'It's all the way with coal,' and then, on the other side, it's their idea to pursue a nuclear waste future for South Australia. The policy confusion—

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order: the Premier is clearly debating the substance of the question.

The SPEAKER: I will listen carefully. I didn't hear egregious debate.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: The question is fundamentally based on bipartisanship, and that fundamentally depends on the processes going on inside those opposite. The policy processes are—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is warned for the second and final time, and I wouldn't want to have to name him.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I am offering handy driving hints to correct the policy processes inside the Liberal Party because they are not rational at the moment. They are not rational. Unless, of course, between 8am and 10am they convened the fastest state council meeting in the history of the Liberal Party in South Australia. How did you fit that in there? How did you—

Members interjecting:

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Now that you have had a chance to listen to the Premier's answer, I ask that you enforce standing order 98, sir. He is debating the question.

The SPEAKER: The question is probably quite out of order because the Premier is not responsible to the house for the rules of the Labor Party, an unincorporated association. The Premier is choosing to answer it in his own idiom.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Let's go back to an important contribution to this debate that was made by the Leader of the Opposition in his opinion piece on 28 July 2016: 'South Australia should have had the debate about the nuclear fuel cycle 15 years ago.'

An honourable member: I don't think Tammy wrote that one for him.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No. He continues: 'Now is the time for South Australians to have the discussion and I welcome such a discussion.' Not so much now. Wait for it:

We need to ensure that South Australians have their voices heard on this issue; the nuclear future or otherwise of our state must be led by the people.

Well, what better way to lead it by the people than to have a referendum. Just be open-minded, just let the people have their say. Don't close down this debate.

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