House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-04-30 Daily Xml

Contents

Federal Election

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:08): Thank you, Mr Speaker. Why is the Premier supporting a preference deal of the Liberal Party to preference Clive Palmer?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:08): Preference deals for the federal election, of course, have nothing to do with the Premier of South Australia, so I'm not sure—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —whether Kevin Naughton wrote that question or whether it was just a supplementary you thought you would freewheel along, but the reality is I don't have the responsibility for this. What I would be very interested in—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —is some sort of analysis of all the statements that the Leader of the Opposition has made recently regarding his federal counterpart's preference deal with the Australian Greens. We know what the Greens want to do. They want to cut defence spending—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —in Australia. Cutting defence spending, of course, would be an absolute disaster for South Australia. As you would know, sir, we have been the happy beneficiaries of many federal Coalition government projects in defence—$90 billion in shipbuilding alone. Those opposite have done a dirty deal with the Greens, which would see, if the Greens' policy is implemented, massive cuts to defence spending in Australia. Can the Leader of the Opposition point to any evidence where he stood up and said this would be a disaster? Can he point to any evidence where he has picked up the phone and spoken to his mate—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —his union mate, Bill Shorten, telling Bill Shorten that he doesn't think that deal should be done with the Greens? I doubt that he can. The reality is the Murray-Darling Basin Plan needs to be kept in place. It is a strong policy for us here in South Australia in the Liberal Party. It is a strong position for the Liberal Party nationally and will remain so.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the Leader of the Opposition, I am not sure that the Premier is responsible to the house for federal preference deals.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Before I give the Leader of the Opposition the call, I call the following members to order: the members for Badcoe, West Torrens, Waite, the Minister for Primary Industries, the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Playford, the Minister for Education and the Minister for Innovation. The Leader of the Opposition.