6 July 2023
The Greens have condemned Labor’s political game playing, as the Government sprung a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Parliament today and rushed through its establishment with narrow terms of reference.
“The Greens had been clear about our intention to establish an Upper House inquiry and engaged with parties from across the parliament over the last week,” said Greens Education Spokesperson Robert Simms MLC.
“Sadly, rather than engage constructively with the Greens, the Government have initiated their own committee with narrow terms of reference and a shorter reporting timeframe.”
“Labor has sought to politicise the issue of a university merger from the get-go. Rather than engaging with parties in good faith, it seems they are more interested in political game playing and point scoring”.
“This is a curious strategy for the Government to embark on if it is seeking to build support for this proposal in the Parliament,” said Mr Simms.
The Greens moved amendments to ensure that the Joint Committee could consider commercial in confidence information as well as the consequences of the merger for Flinders University, but these were voted down by the Government, One Nation, and SA-Best.
“It’s astounding that the Premier and the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science haven’t seen the business case for this proposal. Sadly, it seems that the Joint Committee won’t get to see it either,” concluded Mr Simms.