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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-06-30 Daily Xml
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Members, Accommodation Allowances

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (15:48): I will state to the house unequivocally that I like Terry Stephens. I thought that Terry Stephens was one of the good guys of the parliament: he was always very friendly and always had some very friendly banter. He is someone who I thought was a decent man. I do not know what has happened; I do not know what the details are. The ABC are one of the organisations that do not go to air unless they have everything legal to within an inch of its life. The journalists involved in the exposé on Terry Stephens are some of the most reputable journalists in South Australia, if not the nation. So we have this quandary: the person we know and the report from the journalists, whom we trust. That puts us in a very awkward position, because I do not like the stuff that we have to say and do in our role as Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition.

It is our job to hold the government to account, to scrutinise what they do. We make it very plain and clear that no law enforcement can enter this building to conduct any inquiry without the permission of two people: the Speaker and the President. Why? For the ancient rights and privileges that this parliament has. What does that mean? It means that listening devices cannot be installed here, search warrants cannot be executed here, investigations cannot be conducted here without the consent of the individual chambers. It is very simple. The parliament is supreme. It is sovereign.

So what happens when one of our own behaves in a way that may be illegal, may be corrupt? What do we do? We have a choice to make: the individual or the institution. I choose the institution. It gives me no comfort to say it. Terry Stephens needs to stand aside because it is him the Anti-Corruption Branch would need to seek permission from to examine the documents in question. It is in his own interest to say no. He is terribly conflicted. He has to stand aside.

If he does not, the Premier needs to use his authority in the Liberal Party, and the party room, to make him stand aside. If he does not, I am sorry but the Premier is complicit. There is no other way of looking at it. You cannot have politicians secretly claiming hundreds of thousands of dollars in allowances that they are not entitled to. It is just unacceptable. Do you know why? Because the country members' allowance is one of the most important allowances we have.

The member for Flinders—and I do not want to embarrass him—served his first term then announced he was not running again. I suspect it was because the workload of being a country member and getting here is overwhelming on family, on your mental health, being away from home—it is awful. That is why I never wanted to go to Canberra. The idea of being away from home so often is terrible. The burdens on this life are difficult. I am not asking for the public to feel sorry for us, but they should.

Country members get it even tougher, and it is more dangerous. They are on the road a lot more. That is why this allowance is vital. It is vital because I like that the member for Flinders is here. I do not want him to be a Liberal necessarily, but I like that he is here. I especially like the member for Port Pirie (member for Frome) being here. That means we have to have integrity in these systems, and if the President of the Legislative Council is abusing this system and using his position as President to withhold or stop any investigation, and the Premier is complicit, what else are we left to do but ask these questions, because then everyone is suspect.

How is it possible then that the member for Narungga stays with a member of the upper house—the President, Terry Stephens—and claims an allowance when there is no expense incurred? That puts at risk every country member who legitimately needs that money to be here. I point out that I think it is a legitimate use to buy a property to be here because it is an expense you would not have incurred had you not been elected. But staying at a mate's place rent free and pocketing the money is not cricket. It is corrupt and it needs to stop.

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