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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-10-17 Daily Xml
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Privatisation

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (14:27): My question is to the Treasurer. Does the Treasurer consider that the privatisation of ETSA by the Olsen government, of which the Treasurer was the chief architect, was successful, and did it deliver cheaper power prices for South Australians?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:27): Mr President—

The Hon. K.J. Maher: Good question. Go on, tell everyone how much better off they are because of what you did. Go on, try that.

The PRESIDENT: Leader of the Opposition, can we just restrain ourselves. We have had a well-crafted question—something you could learn from—and now I wish the Treasurer to respond.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: That's a nice slap down for the Leader of the Opposition. I don't know that there is much more I can say, Mr President, after that slap down. The brutal reality is that the decisions that were taken 25 years ago were as a result of the State Bank disaster created by the Labor Party government of the day in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The only way this state could pay its way out of the financial calamity and the financial disaster—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Treasurer—Leader of the Opposition, please restrain yourself from using the term 'lie'. It's unparliamentary. Treasurer, would you like to continue.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: I was just admiring you admonishing the Leader of the Opposition for his unparliamentary and inflammatory language.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter: Even though it's true.

The PRESIDENT: You are not helping, the Hon. Mr Hunter. You are not helping; restrain yourself.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter: I tell the truth in here, mate; that's what I do.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: It would be the first time for the Hon. Mr Hunter, if that was the case. The people of South Australia recognise the reasons why decisions had to be taken almost 20 or 25 years ago. If the Labor Party, as they sought to do prior to the last election, want to revisit the issues of 25 years ago, and if they think that's going to convince the people of South Australia, good luck to you. You can trot out all of the caricatures; you can trot out all of the stunts. You tried all of that before the election, and the people of South Australia looked, listened and threw you out of office. We are very happy to defend the decisions that have been taken by the current Liberal government and indeed former Liberal governments.

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