House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-02-22 Daily Xml

Contents

O'Hanlon, Ms C.

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (14:27): My question is to the Premier. Has the Premier spoken to former government staff member Cressida O'Hanlon regarding matters raised in the Legislative Council yesterday? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr TEAGUE: Yesterday, it was revealed that Ms O'Hanlon's spouse had sought access to government decision-makers to discuss financial gain for his business while she was employed on the staff of the Hon. Reggie Martin MLC. The opposition tabled an email in the Legislative Council from a James O'Hanlon, who is described as 'Director of Citadel', to cressida.ohanlon@gmail.com dated 7 February 2023, with the subject: talking points. Among other content under the heading 'Purpose', the email sets out the following: 'Seeking a meeting with the minister or Chief of Staff to discuss a proposal.'

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:28): I am sincerely grateful to the shadow attorney-general for deciding to ask this question because it speaks to a major revelation, an extraordinary revelation, that a husband would send a wife their email. The fact that Mr O'Hanlon decided to send his wife an email is hardly—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: I'm trying to—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: I have read the email. I have—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The question has been asked and the Premier is seeking to answer.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: I have read the email, and I've got to say I have never been more underwhelmed by a revelation from this opposition than I was when I heard about an email from a small business owner—a husband to his wife, who also works in a small business—a gentleman who has served our country in the Australian Defence Force, who has subsequently set up a small business in our state—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —in the defence sector. That he emailed his wife I would have thought is utterly orthodox. The emails that—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Unley is warned.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: The email from Mr O'Hanlon's private email to Mrs O'Hanlon's private email address bore no relationship to anything within government. It was an email from one business owner to his wife, talking about an entirely legitimate exercise. So, yes, I read the email, and I encourage anybody else who has an interest in this matter to also read the email. I suspect they too will be readily underwhelmed as much as I have been by this particular revelation from the opposition.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!