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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-29 Daily Xml
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LABOR PARTY

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:25): The past two weeks could form a good script for a reality TV show called 'the leakers versus the duds'. Two weeks ago in this chamber I highlighted the divisions and disunity within the Labor Party in South Australia and the increasing number of leaks. I highlighted, in particular, the concerns that the Hon. Bernard Finnigan had raised in caucus the previous day and the fact that he had been carpeted by Premier Mike Rann. The Hon. Mr Finnigan got up in the chamber after that discussion and said that this was 'a government and a political party in which people like each other, actually talk to each other and are actually working for the same purpose'. I suspect that he might live to regret ever having uttered those words.

After that discussion, the Hon. Mr Finnigan high-tailed it out of the chamber and had a confidential discussion with Mr Koutsantonis and the Hon. Mr Holloway in which he said, 'This has been the worst day of my life'. All I can say to the Hon. Mr Finnigan is that, if that is the worst day of his life, he needs to get out more often.

In the past two weeks much has been written about the events within the Labor Party, and I want to highlight just a few brief points. First, the Hon. Mr Finnigan was not the first person in caucus to raise the issue of arrogance and the distance between the back bench and the leadership group. Chloe Fox, the member for Bright, in recent times had clashed with the Treasurer within caucus over the issue of the Treasurer's arrogance, which is just another example.

The two major leakers and dissidents—who everyone around Parliament House and the media know but who are never publicly labelled, so let me do so—are Mr Koutsantonis (the member for West Torrens) and Mr John Rau (the member for Enfield). Everyone knows that they have been the leakers and the dissidents in recent times, and they ought to be publicly identified. Many others are talking to the media and assisting the task. The Hon. Russell Wortley, Michael O'Brien, Leon Bignell and Stephanie Key are well-known as people who talk to the media and who have been feeding these stories to the media in the past couple of weeks.

One only has to compare the statements of anonymous sources, Labor MPs, etc. attributed within the articles that have been written within the past 10 days with what we know that Mr Koutsantonis and Mr Rau, in particular, have been saying for quite some time to see where this has been coming from.

The other thing that I would put on the public record is that, contrary to the claims made by the Treasurer, Labor MPs are openly saying around Parliament House that the Hon. Mr Foley was drunk on the evening of the 15th when he came back from his function to attend the function here at Parliament House, and that was part of the problem. Part of the problem this government has is that some senior ministers, in particular the Hons Mr Foley and Mr Conlon, on occasions over the past six to seven years, have drunk to excess in a way which has affected the work that they undertake. We are aware of the recent events with the Hon. Mr Xenophon in the bar which attracted some public prominence, and many of us are aware of many other examples which have not attracted much public prominence at all—yet.

It was also intriguing to note in the House of Assembly lounge on that evening the unusual circumstance of seeing Ralph Clarke and Michael Atkinson in the one room together after all these years. It was intriguing for many people to see and to comment on. The ongoing battles between the left and the right will be an issue that I am sure will attract discussion over the coming months.

The final point that I want to raise to highlight the poisonous nature of the relationship at the moment in the Labor Party between the leader, Premier Rann, and the deputy leader, the Hon. Mr Foley, is highlighted by an article in The Advertiser of 24 October headlined 'Foley image "worst"'. It highlights leaked information about internal Labor Party research which ranks Treasurer Kevin Foley's electoral image the worst of any of the senior ministers. They did the research in March and it questioned concerns about Mr Foley's 'playboy' lifestyle and how it affected his capacity to perform his work. It came from a senior source within the government.

Let's make it clear that the senior sources within government are sources very close to Premier Mike Rann. When you see research like this done—and I have some background in this—it is only the party secretary, Mr Brown, who used to work for Mr Foley, and the leader's staff who would have access to this sort of information—and the leader himself. Clearly, when you see this being leaked to The Advertiser, it has been sanctioned by Rann and it has been done to do damage to Mr Foley. It is part of the poisonous relationship that continues between those two and the party.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS): Order! The honourable members' time has expired. I remind the honourable member that he should refer to members by their correct title.

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