The Advertiser: Give me answers, says angry Kerin [24may05]
OPPOSITION Leader Rob Kerin has accused the Government of “absolute arrogance” for refusing to answer questions in State Parliament.

“What we saw today was an absolute disgrace,” a frustrated Mr Kerin said after asking a series of questions of Attorney-General Michael Atkinson about the Kapunda Road Royal Commission and underspending in his department.

Mr Kerin said the Government had avoided giving answers to any of the questions which included whether or not Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Pallaras, QC, had been consulted on the terms of reference for the commission. Mr Atkinson was also asked why the Government had legal representation at the commission when both he and Premier Mike Rann had said they did not want the inquiry turned into “a lawyer’s picnic”.

During rowdy scenes in Question Time with MPs on both sides hurling angry interjections at each other:

DEPUTY Opposition Leader Dean Brown described Deputy Premier Kevin Foley as “a bully boy” while Labor MPs taunted the Opposition about rumblings over Mr Kerin’s leadership.

MR FOLEY later had to apologise after claiming the Liberals had never asked a question about overspending in the Attorney-General’s department when later it was shown they had asked about the issue twice before.

Mr Kerin said Question Time was supposed to be about the Government being accountable to Parliament and the people.

“We saw the Attorney-General not willing to answer any questions about the royal commission which is of great interest to the people of SA,” he said. “The Attorney-General failed miserably today. He was asked a series of questions and to every one of the questions we heard from the Attorney what was a Sergeant Schultz plea – `I know nothing’.”

Mr Kerin said Mr Atkinson had taken a bad memory to a new level and was making an art form of remembering only what was useful for him to remember.When asked about whether the DPP was consulted on the terms of reference for the royal commission Mr Atkinson said it was a most peculiar question and he was sure the Opposition had better questions to ask. “He was not consulted about the terms of reference in the sense of what he would like the terms of reference to be because the DPP’s office is under scrutiny over the Eugene McGee trial,” Mr Atkinson said.

In answer to another question about why Solicitor-General Chris Kourakis, QC, had invited the royal commission to make a suppression order when publishing his report, Mr Atkinson said he would talk to Mr Kourakis about the matter and “get a full answer for the Opposition”. Asked a supplementary question, Mr Atkinson said he had no recollection of asking Mr Kourakis to call for a suppression order.