Page 1947 - Week 05 - Thursday, 3 May 2012
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MR SMYTH: A supplementary.
MR SPEAKER: Before you take the floor, Mr Smyth—
Ms Gallagher interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Order! Chief Minister, please. Members, I do not expect the Chief Minister to be continually questioned while she is trying to give an answer. That is what the supplementary questions are for. I will start dishing out warnings shortly because there is a lot of interjecting going on too.
Mr Seselja: On the ruling, Mr Speaker—
MR SPEAKER: It is not a ruling.
Mr Seselja: We should not have to ask supplementary questions that are exactly the same as the first question because the Chief Minister refuses to answer. She still refuses to answer and that is why we are asking her to actually answer the question: when did she become aware?
MR SPEAKER: Thank you, members. We will proceed with Mr Smyth’s supplementary question.
MR SMYTH: Minister, on what date did you seek legal advice regarding the conflict of interest or the perception of conflict of interest that forced you to step aside from the investigation?
MS GALLAGHER: I sought advice on this matter from Tuesday, 24 April and I finalised my decision on Friday morning, following discussions with my colleague.
MR HANSON: Supplementary, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Mr Hanson.
MR HANSON: Minister, can you explain the basis for the legal advice that you state informed your decision to disclose to the community this potential conflict of interest?
MS GALLAGHER: The legal advice and the discussions I had presented me with a range of options. One of them was to do nothing, as I have done nothing wrong. I am the Minister for Health. Normally, all matters relating to my portfolio would be managed by me. There was an option of standing aside as health minister that I put on the table should this be the case, and I discussed that option.
There were options in between. Ultimately, it was a decision that only I could make. I made the decision that in relation to a potential for a conflict of interest, for those matters that dealt with that issue, they should be handled by another minister and I asked the Deputy Chief Minister to take on that responsibility.
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