House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-07-03 Daily Xml

Contents

Keolis Downer

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (14:57): My question is to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. Is the minister aware of the performance report received by the New South Wales government in relation to Keolis Downer and its operations in Newcastle?

Mr Szakacs interjecting:

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

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee is warned for a second and final time. The minister has the call.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:58): Good enough to have signed a contract to in 2011, not good enough to talk to post March 2018.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Has the minister finished?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: This is debate, sir. The question—

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. Is the minister finished? Is the minister still going?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: I can keep going if you like.

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: It's entirely at your discretion, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order; it was about the performance report.

The Hon. T.J. Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Primary Industries is called to order. While the minister may want to provide some relevant background information, I ask him to then come to the substance of the question.

The Hon. A. Piccolo interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Light, you can leave for the rest of question time under 137A. The minister has the call.

The honourable member for Light having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: I think we can judge the performance of Keolis Downer on their merits, and we can judge the way that Keolis Downer is viewed by the department and the government by the contracts that they get awarded. In 2011, it was obviously concluded that they were the company to run parts of our bus network. I think that is a reasonable performance report—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —into how PT services—

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order. For what?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Debate, sir. My question was about Keolis Downer's performance in Newcastle that the minister has been praising.

The SPEAKER: I have the question. He is talking about past services that a particular company, I believe, has provided. I am expecting him to come to the substance of the question pretty quickly.

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL: It's quite clear that, in relation to contractual arrangements between companies and other governments, that's not something that regularly comes across my desk. What comes across my desk are issues in relation to the public transport network here in South Australia. I am more than happy to avail to the house my responsibilities in that regard, but I don't think I am necessarily responsible for contractual arrangements in other states.