Page 1948 - Week 05 - Thursday, 3 May 2012
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
In short, there was a range of options, as you get with legal advice. It was a matter of me—because this is an ethical decision. There is not, as I said in my ministerial statement, a textbook. There is not anything that says what you should do in these situations. In fact, I have not been faced with a situation like this before and at the end of the day it was my judgement after taking advice from trusted advisers and some legal advice.
MR HARGREAVES: A supplementary, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Mr Hargreaves.
MR HARGREAVES: In the context of conflicts or perceived conflicts of interest concerning connections with family members, is there an inconsistency between the opposition’s insinuation regarding the health data matter and the fact that the Leader of the Opposition’s chief of staff, outed by McLeod for dereliction of responsibilities under the enterprise agreement relating to the attendance records—
Mr Smyth: On a point of order—
MR HARGREAVES: He is the brother-in-law of that member.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Smyth, on the point of order.
Mr Smyth: Firstly the preamble and, secondly, the relevance of—
MR HARGREAVES: There was no preamble.
MR SPEAKER: There was preamble.
Mr Smyth: most of the question to the initial question.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, there was some preamble. On occasion when the member gets to the question, by the time I have worked out there is a preamble, I let it go. It is not ideal but there is a bit of flexibility. Mr Hargreaves, the reference to Mr Seselja’s office was irrelevant. If you can reframe your question to the Chief Minister.
MR HARGREAVES: Mr Speaker, each of the three questions, the original and the two supplementaries, were prefaced by the notion of the conflict of interest around a family member. In fact, by my records, that was the fifth in a row and that was why I prefaced my question, not a preamble, by saying to you that it is in the context of that conflict of interest. I want to know whether there is an inconsistency between that and the fact that the chief of staff of the Leader of the Opposition’s office is his brother-in-law and that is a conflict of interest in the business of McLeod prior to that. That is the end of my question.
Mrs Dunne: On a point of order—
MR SPEAKER: Thank you, members. Mrs Dunne has the floor.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video