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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-12-05 Daily Xml
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Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (15:18): Ministers of the Crown are in a position of trust bestowed on them by the people of South Australia. That is why the Ministerial Code of Conduct states:

Ministers should avoid situations in which their private interests conflict, have the potential to conflict, or appear to conflict with their public duty.

The member for Schubert became a minister on 22 March this year. The member tells this house that he sought the advice of the Premier as to what steps he should take to remove conflicts between his business relationships and his responsibility as a minister. The minister told the house that:

Since becoming a minister…I have distanced myself from anything that the family undertakes

and:

The best thing that I can do to make sure that I do not have a conflict of interest is, to the greatest extent possible, divorce myself from any understanding of what the family business does.

The member repeatedly told the house that his interests are declared on his 2018 register. It declares that he is a director of Sausage Boys Proprietary Limited. The same directorship is shown in his 2017 register of interests, as is another directorship, that of Knoll Consultants and Investments Proprietary Limited. That company holds the trading names of various successful and admirable businesses of the Knoll family, including Barossa Fine Foods, Schulz Butchers, Clean Catch, Angelakis Brothers and HR Smallgoods.

Those businesses operate in outlets across South Australia, including some major retail centres. As the minister confirmed, one also operates the food concession Barossa Fine Foods inside Adelaide Oval. Official ASIC records show that the member resigned his position as a director of Knoll Consultants and Investments Pty Ltd on 10 April 2018, 19 days after being sworn in as minister. That is a fit and proper response to concerns regarding conflict or perceived conflict of interest, but there is another step that we believe should have been taken that has not been taken.

There is an associated entity called Sausage Boys Pty Ltd. It has four directors: the member for Schubert and his three brothers, each fine business people. The company's secretary is the member for Schubert (the minister). The official ASIC records show that four directors of Sausage Boys are also current or former directors of Knoll Consultants and Investments. There is a direct link between the two entities.

The member for Schubert told this house last week that he has 'handed over permanent proxy' related to his roles in Sausage Boys Pty Ltd. That is not enough. If you do something by proxy, you merely appoint someone else to do it on your behalf. You can even direct how they vote. ASIC guidelines make no mention of a permanent proxy; a proxy can be revoked at any time. So where does that leave the member for Schubert?

1. He is a current director and secretary of Sausage Boys Pty Ltd.

2. That company has common directorships with Knoll Consultants and Investments, which operates major retail businesses in South Australia, including one that has a contractual commercial relationship with the SMA and Adelaide Oval.

3. Sausage Boys Pty Ltd has an interest in the financial performance of the businesses operated by the Knoll family through its company.

4. Despite the existence of a proxy, he remains a direct beneficiary of Sausage Boys Pty Ltd by way of his directorship and his ownership of 25 per cent of the company's shares.

5. As a current director, he is required under the Corporations Act to act 'in the best interests of the company'.

The minister misunderstands his ministerial responsibility. I suggest that he reads the code of conduct one more time and then asks himself, 'Have I, as a minister, avoided situations in which my private interests conflict, have the potential to conflict or appear to conflict with my public duty?' I am not, as the member claims, 'coming after the family business'. I am seeking to protect South Australians, including the Knoll family, from conflicts and perceived conflicts.

I ask the member and the Premier: have they considered the conflicts and potential conflicts with Sausage Boys and benefits that may accrue to it from a range of commercial relationships, including its relationship with Adelaide Oval? If you have properly considered it, you would see that you cannot serve two masters—that is what conflict is. On the information that the minister has given to this house to date, the parliament cannot be properly satisfied that he has, as he says, divorced himself.

There is no blind trust; there should have been. There has been no recusal by the minister from the decision to loan the SMA $42 million; there should have been. He should have divested and resigned as director and secretary of Sausage Boys; he did not. If Barossa Fine Foods does well at Adelaide Oval because of this loan, so does the minister's company, his shareholdings in Sausage Boys and his family. That is a problem that he and the Premier must address.

Ms Stinson: Silly sausage.

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

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