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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-09-23 Daily Xml
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Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:45): My question is to the Premier. Given the Premier has conveyed to the house this afternoon that the Premier's Facebook page is a private Facebook page, can the Premier please assure the people of South Australia that no taxpayer-funded staff ever work on the Premier's Facebook page for either the production of content or the posting on it?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:45): I think that the Leader of the Opposition might like to look in his own office—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, Minister for Innovation and Skills!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —which currently has quite a number of candidates who are working, paid for by the taxpayers. Apparently they are just in their lunchbreaks going to 15 functions a day. We are doing whatever we can, absolutely whatever we can, to promote that message. I am personally very happy to make my personal Facebook available and my personal Instagram and Twitter account available to get to the key messages out to keep South Australia safe.

By contrast, the Labor Party clearly is against this. I don't know what information they do want to be providing to the people of South Australia during this pandemic. We know one example recently—it was humiliating for the Leader of the Opposition. He was forced to apologise and withdraw information—

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

The SPEAKER: The Premier will resume his seat for a moment. The member for West Torrens rises on a point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, sir. Again, a minute into the Premier's answer, standing order 98. We asked the Premier whether or not public officers employed by the taxpayer are working on his private Facebook page. The Premier is now debating the answer, talking about something completely irrelevant.

The SPEAKER: The question related to the use of staff and certain particular staff. The Premier in answering the question will address the substance of the question. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Of course, sir, people in my office do post things on my private Facebook, and so they should. This is important information. It's exactly what would happen in the Leader of the Opposition's office, exactly what happened in Premier Weatherill's office before, and we make no apology for that. It's important information to be provided to the people of South Australia.

I can't think of a higher cause at the moment than making sure that the people of South Australia have access to accurate information, information that is going to keep our state safe and our economy strong. Also, as I have alluded to before, very briefly before the member for West Torrens gets up to protect his leader but, as I pointed out very briefly before, we have to do this to counter the misinformation which is being put out by the Australian Labor Party and in particular we know that the Leader of the Opposition has recently suffered a humiliating request—

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

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Here we go again.

The SPEAKER: The Premier will resume his seat.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for West Torrens rises on a point of order. He is entitled to be heard in silence.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sir, you won't be surprised that it's standing order 98, rules applying to answers. The Premier is now again not answering the substance of the question but attempting to debate the question. The question we asked him was very specific and you have ruled on it previously. I ask you to ask the Premier to come back to the substance of the question.

The SPEAKER: And at this point I uphold the point of order. The Premier has provided an example, perhaps to illustrate the purpose for which the communication of certain messages is undertaken and its importance and so forth. The question was quite specific, directed to certain staff and the Premier will address the substance of the question.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I have just taken an opportunity to take a look at the Leader of the Opposition's Facebook page—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —which, lo and behold, has references to official government websites and information. Only a few moments ago, this was apparently a crime. I said that I hoped the Leader of the Opposition was directing people to official government lines and it turns out he is, so I offer my congratulations, and I think that it is important to get those official messages out.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Point of order.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Congratulations or otherwise, the Premier will resume his seat. The leader rises on a point of order.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: It is standing order 98. Sir, you have repeatedly upheld other points of order in this regard. The Premier persists in wanting to talk about the opposition or the Australian Labor Party, but the question is really specific and goes to who is working on his personal Facebook page—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr MALINAUSKAS: —and whether or not this is government staff.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right! The leader, in fact, raises a point of order in respect of quite distinct subject matter. The subject matter to which the member for West Torrens drew attention and the point of order I ruled on a moment ago was quite distinct. I detect the Premier, in providing this further example, is drawing a comparison in respect of the use of certain material and how it is circulated not only by himself and his staff but others—there is a distinction. I'm listening carefully to the Premier's answer. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I have finished my answer, sir.

The SPEAKER: The Premier has concluded his answer.

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