Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-06-06 Daily Xml

Contents

Shop Trading Hours

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (14:37): Supplementary: has the Premier met with former Liberal candidate and Wattle Range Mayor Peter Gandolfi—or you, minister, have you met with him in relation to the deregulation of shop trading hours and its impact on Millicent businesses? Has the minister or the Premier met with Mayor Peter Gandolfi?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:37): I thank the honourable member for her supplementary question. As honourable members would be aware, sadly I was on a pair last Thursday and had to attend the funeral of Mrs Margaret Baker, wife of the former member for MacKillop, the Hon. Dale Baker. It was at the Mount Burr golf club. I was a little ahead of time, so I slipped in to Millicent.

I rang my good friend Peter Gandolfi, the Mayor of Wattle Range, and went into his shop and bought myself a new R.M. Williams shirt because I always like to support local businesses when I am there. I had a discussion on a whole range of topics with Peter Gandolfi. Most of them I couldn't repeat in front of the Labor Party because you would be offended with some of the things we may have discussed about the damage you have done to the economy over the last 16 years. Nonetheless, I have met with Peter Gandolfi. I meet with him on a regular basis. He often talks to me about a whole range of issues—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I'm not even going respond to the interjections, Mr President, because they are juvenile and immature. They are juvenile and immature. But to answer the other member's question: I have met with the Mayor of Wattle Range. I meet him nearly every time I am in the South-East. We are good friends, and I respect the work he has done as the local mayor. He often calls in when he is up here on local government business to update me on what's happening in the Wattle Range Council.