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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-06-16 Daily Xml
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Adelaide Coastline Election Policy

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (14:20): Supplementary: in light of that, and given questions surrounding the Deputy Premier's conflict of interest regarding the sand recycling pipeline, will Labor revisit the Adelaide's coastline election policy? With your leave, I will explain.

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

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order, member for Heysen. I will hear the point of order under 134.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Standing order 97: questions are not to involve argument, sir. In posing his question, he claimed a conflict of interest.

Mr TEAGUE: With leave, I will explain, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: I will hear you, member for Heysen, in relation to the point of order, but may I say that I am having difficulty hearing you at all, so it may be that you just rephrase the question and then, if necessary, the Leader of Government Business might raise a point of order at that point.

Mr TEAGUE: Perhaps I will take the opportunity to rephrase the question at the same time and speak up. Will Labor now revisit its Adelaide's coastline election policy? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr TEAGUE: Prior to the election, Labor produced the policy document to which I have adverted, titled 'Adelaide's coastline'. Since then, the Deputy Premier recused herself from any decision relating to the pipeline due to what has been described as a potential conflict of interest.

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Minister for Defence and Space Industries, Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (14:21): I think we need to be clear about the difference between a collective party position that is taken to an election—an election that, in this case, the Labor Party won reasonably successfully. One of the policies that was part of the offering was indeed relating to the management of the coastline. There is a distinction between a participation in a discussion about the development of a collective policy position prior to an election from opposition and the very serious role that is taken by someone as a decision-maker in government.

On coming into government, as I have been clear, I sought advice on whether there was any potential or perceived conflict of interest with my being a decision-maker relating to specific decisions relating to sand anywhere near where I live. Given the advice was that it could be perceived, my house not being very far away from the beach where there has been an enormous amount of trucking movements under the previous government, it would be better for me to declare that I had a conflict of interest as a decision-maker and therefore ask that another minister take my role.

With the pipeline, as the shadow minister has referred to specifically, that was not a project that was run by the department that I am now minister for and therefore the appropriate minister, the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, undertook his decision-making and brought it to cabinet and I of course was not part of that decision, having declared a conflict.

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