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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-03-04 Daily Xml
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CABINET MINISTERS

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:39): I want to talk also about what some sections of the media refer to as the 'appointment of young Turks to refresh and reinvigorate a fading and lacklustre Rann cabinet'. The first young Turk was evidently Mr O'Brien who, at 59 years of age, must be the oldest young Turk in Christendom—someone who will be collecting his Seniors Card this year. I am not sure how he can be classified as a young Turk to reinvigorate and refresh a fading cabinet.

The second young Turk (as described by some sections of the media) is factional hack and wholly-owned subsidiary of Labor Unity, the Hon. Mr Finnigan's friend, the member for West Torrens, Tom Koutsantonis. As members will be aware, I have often referred to him as the welsher, and I think it is ironic that he has been appointed the Minister for Gambling. In my view it is unAustralian to have a Minister for Gambling who welshes on a bet he has with anyone, let alone a member of parliament, and it is now time for him to clear his debts and pay up, because it will become widely known that the Minister for Gambling does not uphold the bets that he undertakes with others.

The Hon. Mr Koutsantonis, as a person of Greek heritage, would also probably be offended at being referred to by the media as a young Turk. However, I guess that is an issue for him to take up with those sections of the media.

There is no doubt that members and media commentators are aware of the intense hatred that exists between the Premier and Mr Koutsantonis. This is not a recent thing; it has been known for many years. I think the headline in the paper this morning—quoting the Premier as having said that Mr Koutsantonis would be appointed to cabinet over his (the Premier's) dead body—is fair testimony to the hatred that exists between the two of them. Certainly, those who know Mr Rann and Mr Koutsantonis know the intensity of that feeling.

Mr Rann's feelings are based largely on the fact that he knows that for many years Mr Koutsantonis was probably the most prominent 'leaker' in the Labor caucus to members of the media on a variety of things. He was certainly prominent in Mr Rann's view in his losing the 2002 election—

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins): The honourable member should use correct titles.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: —the member for West Torrens—and in looking at organising the replacement for leader of the opposition Rann (as he was then) in the period leading up to 2002.

What has changed? Last year it was widely reported—in particular by Matt Abraham and David Bevan, who have very good contacts not only with the Premier but also with senior representatives of the Labor caucus, particularly the Right—that during last year's reshuffle, when there was to be one potential vacancy, the Labor Right offered up only one nominee: the member for West Torrens, Mr Tom Koutsantonis. Mr Rann said, 'No way', the political equivalent of 'Not over my dead body.'

Of course, the difference this year is that there were two vacancies manufactured, so in the end the member for West Torrens became the political equivalent of a set of steak knives—that is, Mr Rann got the nominee that he wanted, Mr O'Brien, the member for Napier, and the political equivalent of a set of steak knives was thrown in at no extra cost. He had to put up with the member for West Torrens, Mr Koutsantonis, who at last got his much desired new position.

The Hon. R.D. Lawson: Undeserved.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Undeserved and much desired. The feeling and enmity that exists within the Labor caucus about this is still very intense. Certainly, the division between the Left and the Right remains, and around parliament members of caucus from the Left are talking openly about the trifecta of political jokes that occurred in the past week.

The first two were the fact that Pauline Hanson and Warwick Capper were running for parliament in the upcoming Queensland election, while the third leg of the trifecta was the fact that Premier Rann had just appointed Mr Koutsantonis, the member for West Torrens, to his cabinet. That is the intensity of the feeling between the Left and the Right and from members of the Left caucus towards the appointment of Mr Koutsantonis to the cabinet.

Time expired.

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