HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Subject Index
Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-02-19 Daily Xml
Contents
Pdf Xml

ONE AND ALL

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (14:34): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of the Government a question about the One and All.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: Last week, I asked the Leader of the Government whether the $2 million paid to a business in Sydney to refurbish the One and All could have been spent here in South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: Mr President, throw the parrot out, please. She is a parrot; throw her out.

The PRESIDENT: Order! I think the Hon. Mr Stephens might be asking about the desalination plant.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: The leader stated that he did not think there was the expertise in South Australia to repair timber vessels, even though the One and All was built here in Adelaide. On 4 February, the minister said:

Providing refurbishment for a very specialist vessel, a wooden sailing ship, is not exactly the sort of mainstream activity that we have here in this state. Certainly, we do provide many specialist activities and services in our state, and we do our best to support them, but refurbishing wooden sailing ships is not one of those mainstream activities.

The opposition—and, I know, the Premier—has been contacted by a number of people regarding this issue. I will read an email widely circulated among electorate offices and to The Advertiser as follows:

I refer to the statement by the government that the refit of the vessel One and All was carried out interstate because 'South Australia does not have the required skills'. That statement is the greatest piece of codswallop fostered on the electorate. It would seem that the members of the government would say anything but their prayers, and they would whistle them backwards. I was a ship surveyor in the ship survey section of the then department of marine and harbours and was appointed by the commonwealth department of shipping and transport as surveyor on the construction of this vessel when built by the South Australian firm of W.G. Porter & Sons. The firm R.T. Searles & Sons of South Australia has been in existence since 1910 and is more than capable of carrying out the refit of this vessel and, if necessary, building a replica. One would think the government would be more guarded in such statements in trying to cover their actions.

That email is from Mr Neil W. Cormack. I have mentioned his name because obviously he is not frightened to make his views known. Does the minister stand by his misleading comments that the One and All could not have been refurbished here in South Australia?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:36): The honourable member is misrepresenting what I said in the answer. I said that fixing wooden vessels is not the sort of mainstream activity on which this state would base its future. I suggested that may have been one of the questions why—

The Hon. T.J. Stephens interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I repeat the comment I made in my answer. Is this really the best that the opposition can do? With all the issues around us, is a question about refurbishing a replica wooden sailing vessel really where it is all at in South Australia? Of all the issues facing us, is this really the big one? I will ask the honourable member whether the company he is referring to—

The Hon. T.J. Stephens: We ask the questions, and you are supposed to provide the answers.

The PRESIDENT: Order! The minister can answer the question any way he sees fit. If the minister has a question to help him further answer the question—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: I make the rulings on whether members are out of order, not you people sitting down there.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: The honourable member in his question referred to a company that had been involved. The obvious question is: did that company put in a tender? If it did not tender, it is easy enough for someone to say they worked for a company 10 years ago and it made a boat. I do not know the conditions and the work that was required, and I do not know the process for selecting—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Talk down the industry! An industry repairing wooden boats in South Australia—come on! Of all the industries in this state, I do not think the industry that repairs wooden replica sailing ships is where the future of the state is at, and that was the only point I made in relation to the last question. If this is the best the opposition can do, we can rest assured that the government of this state is in very good hands. If that is the best issue, clearly all the other issues are well and truly being addressed adequately by this government.

The PRESIDENT: Game, set and match to the minister.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT