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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-07-05 Daily Xml
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Local Car Clubs

Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (14:46): My question is to the Treasurer. Did the Treasurer declare his interests when the government decided to provide funding of $2 million in this year's budget and across the forward estimates to support local car clubs? With the leave of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr TARZIA: According to his latest pecuniary interest statement, the Treasurer is patron of the Austin 7 Club of SA—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr TARZIA: —and a member of the Street Machine Association of SA and the MG Car Club of South Australia.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer) (14:47): I am a hoon, sir, patron of the Austin 7 Club—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —produced as a response to Henry Ford's Model T in the 1920s, some of them capable of exceeding 20 horsepower, the Austin 7s. I am a patron of that club by virtue of the fact that its clubrooms are located in Seaton in my electorate. Alas, I don't own an Austin 7, but perhaps one day. I find the line of questioning absolutely fascinating—absolutely fascinating—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: No—

The SPEAKER: Order! The Treasurer has the call.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: The interjection was that the line of questioning was confronting. I won't say 'confronting'—

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer won't respond to interjections.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —but I will say 'bemusing' because the process is quite clear. We went to the election, having spoken with our communities over the previous four years, understanding what their needs and priorities were, and we reflected those in a suite of election commitments, not just—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —in our electorates—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Hartley is on three warnings.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —but across more than 30 electorates across metropolitan and regional South Australia. Some in this place believe that's pork-barrelling. Some, for example, who are experienced in perhaps being an education minister and promising an $80 million high school in your own electorate, might think it's a continuation of that sort of behaviour. I don't share that view.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for West Torrens! I will hear the member for Morialta on a point of order under 134.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: The minister was clearly imputing improper motive to me when he described the education minister and he described a commitment of $80 million to a school recommended by the education department and supported by his own government as pork-barrelling. He described that as a form of behaviour and was clearly imputing it to me. I take offence. It is offensive. The minister should withdraw and apologise.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member has taken the appropriate course to raise a matter with me at the earliest opportunity. He has taken offence. Maybe it is difficult to infer from the comments that were made that in fact there was a reflection on the member. Nevertheless, the standard is subjective, and I invite the minister to withdraw and apologise.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Of course, sir, I withdraw and apologise. I realise that some of us have more delicate constitutions than others, and I don't want to offend the member for Morialta. I know that he is very sensitive to this matter, indeed, and I regret that I have offended him so greatly as to his behaviour when he was minister, so I withdraw and apologise for that particular comment.

We took a suite of election commitments to an election where not only were we up-front with our community but we were up-front with the South Australian community. We weren't shy about these commitments. We posted them all over social media. We made it clear to the television media—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: We wrote to people as well.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: We wrote to people. We let them know exactly what was going on. That's what we did. Those opposite had their own priorities. There was the proposal for a new giraffe enclosure. There was a proposal to take a—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —asbestos and sulphur-contaminated lake—

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer will be seated.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr TARZIA: Sir, 98: debate, very clearly.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I am listening carefully. I draw the Treasurer's attention to the question.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: There was the suite of our election commitments that had come to light because we had engaged with our local communities. We understood what their priorities were. As we have heard the Minister for Health articulate already today, largely that was about health, and of course with the budget there are not only an extra 550 beds funded in that budget but also a series of commitments across metropolitan and regional South Australia because we—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —had spoken with communities across the state. The members opposite say, 'Oh, in just particular electorates.' No, across electorates of Labor MPs, Liberal MPs, Independent MPs. I mention the substantial commitments made in Mount Gambier, for example, the substantial commitments made in Mount Barker and the substantial commitments made in Port Pirie—across electorates that Labor, even on a great day, would not expect to win.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Like Bragg!

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Chaffey, order!

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta! The Treasurer has the call.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: But I admit that we didn't adequately factor in the behaviour of our political opponents and, despite our wildest dreams—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Hartley is on three warnings. The member for Hartley has the call.

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