House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-03-19 Daily Xml

Contents

Defence Industries

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:57): Supplementary: did the minister request or instruct his staff to request a favour from the federal Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator the Hon. Don Farrell, to meet with Citadel Secure or any other defence companies?

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION (Taylor—Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Planning) (14:57): The member takes a phrase in an email out of context deliberately.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: My department and my office act professionally and courteously at all times. What this is an attempt to do is to take one phrase out of an email, and then what you do is try and smear people.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: That is what you are trying to do here: smear a veteran-run business. After 20 years of serving their country—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION: —in places like Rwanda, Timor and Afghanistan, you want to smear this company run by two good Australians. That's what you want to do, on the basis of a single phrase in an email. My staff are courteous and respectful in their engagements with the department. That's all this represents. What we've got here is an opposition that is slowly descending down the Trumpist extremist wormhole, which is not just about knocking off moderate women; the other part of it is getting stuck into veterans.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! There's a point of order from the member for Morialta at 134.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: I think the minister is in breach of standing order 98.

The SPEAKER: That may be. However, it may be that he has also concluded his answer.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Adelaide has been waiting patiently.