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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-07-23 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Accountability

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:23): Thank you, sir. My question is again to the Premier. What will it take for you to sack your ministers? How long will you continue to defend the indefensible?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Point of order, sir: that question offends standing order 97. It's in no way an appropriate parliamentary question.

The SPEAKER: If there are going to be points of order for the Minister for Education saying 'you', the leader should also not say 'you'; he should say 'the Premier'. If the leader could slightly amend the question, I am willing to hear it.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. My question is the Premier. What will it take for the Premier to sack his ministers? Why is the Premier continuing to defend the indefensible?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:24): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. There is no doubt in my mind that there have been errors here. They are unacceptable and I have made it very clear to my team from day one when this came to light that these errors are unacceptable.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Playford will cease shouting.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: But I do not believe there has been deliberate dishonesty. I do not believe that this is a government which is trying to sweep these problems under the mat. In fact, by contrast, what we are doing is shining a light on these issues. Every member of my team—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: No, sorry, that's not correct.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Every member of my team since this has come to light has gone through and checked 10 years' worth of records—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —10 years' worth of records.

Mr Picton interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Kaurna!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: And all those errors have been identified to the Clerk—

Ms Hildyard interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Reynell!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —and there have been actions taken.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: More than that—

Dr Close interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Deputy leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —we have done what we have needed to do to put a better system in place, a better system than we have ever had in the history of South Australia and, quite frankly, a better system than exists in any other jurisdiction in the country. We replaced the system that was presided over by those opposite for their 16 years in government. They have not done the same as we have. They have not required their members of parliament to go through 10 years' worth of records to check every single one of those dates and to make amends if there is a problem. We have done that.

We have made a submission to the Remuneration Tribunal. We have made that public. We would like to have greater clarification in regard to the country MPs' accommodation allowances going forward. I am not going to be lectured by the Leader of the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition, we don't need to go back and look at his performance—

The SPEAKER: Premier, there is a point of order. If the Premier could be seated please.

The Hon. C.L. Wingard interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Police is called to order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: this is debate, sir, and personal reflections on the Leader of the Opposition.

The SPEAKER: I am listening carefully.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Well, the member for West Torrens raises this argument, but the question that was raised by his leader was: what would it take? So I think it is only fair to provide to the house the types of behaviours and standards that existed in the former government, which were completely and utterly ignored.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The way that they treated the taxpayers' dollars—the member for West Torrens once put in a claim for $5 for car parking despite the fact that he had a ministerial driver, a taxpayer-funded vehicle for that driver, a subsidised vehicle for himself and a car park as a member of parliament, but he put in a chit for $5 to the taxpayers. Then, of course, we don't need to look too far to really take a look at his love for fine dining and wine. There was virtually not a restaurant in Adelaide that the member for West Torrens, when he was a minister, wasn't out booking up a tab to the taxpayers in South Australia.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Point of order: this is debate.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I uphold the point the order. Can the Premier come back to the substance of the question.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you, sir—I was just trying to. Let me just say this: there is plenty more to this story that will be rolled out because I think the taxpayers need to know how their money has been spent.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Some people like fine wine; some people have a particular brand they like and support very significantly with the taxpayers' dollars. I think the taxpayers need to understand this. They have a right to know. Of course, the Leader of the Opposition could come clean. He was a member of cabinet for a long period of time. He's probably quite aware of some of the expenditures that he and his cabinet colleagues made over an extended period of time.

The SPEAKER: The Premier's time has expired. The member for Playford, I cannot have you yelling in the chamber at that level. If this continues, you will be leaving. The member for West Torrens has the call.

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