SA Governor told of no-confidence in Deputy Premier in ‘unprecedented’ move

South Australia’s Governor has been officially informed that parliament has lost confidence in Deputy Premier Vickie Chapman.

Ms Chapman lost a no-confidence vote in the House of Assembly yesterday, after a parliamentary inquiry found that she had a real and perceived conflict of interest and had misled the house over a decision to block a port development on Kangaroo Island.

Speaker Dan Cregan delivered the result of the vote to Governor Frances Adamson this morning.

“I’m bound by [the] vote of the house and I can’t unreasonably refuse to attend on the Governor to present the information relating to the vote of no confidence,” Mr Cregan told ABC Radio Adelaide.

The motion says Vickie Chapman should be stripped of her ministerial portfolios and from the state’s executive council.

It was an unprecedented position for the South Australian Governor to be in but, Mr Cregan says, it could have been avoided.

“If they were a resignation, then, of course, I imagine that the Governor wouldn’t need to take any other steps, if the Governor needs to take any steps at all,” he said.

“And of course, had there been a resignation already it follows that I wouldn’t need to attend at Government House on behalf of the house.”

Premier continues to support his deputy

This morning, Premier Steven Marshall said it was up to him to advise the Governor, rather than the Speaker.

“I have made myself extraordinarily clear on the issue of Vickie Chapman, for weeks and weeks and weeks. She enjoys my 100 per cent support.”

However, South Australian Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas called on the Premier to remove Ms Chapman from her position.

“He should exercise the function of leadership and dismiss his Attorney-General,” Mr Malinauskas told ABC News Breakfast.

The no-confidence motion was the culmination of the government’s loss of control in the House of Assembly, with three former Liberal MPs now sitting on the crossbench.

Two of those MPs sided with Labor and supported the no-confidence motion, with a third absent from the vote.

Mount Gambier MP Troy Bell said he made his decision after reading the parliamentary committee’s report into Ms Chapman’s conduct.

“I think independents play a very important role,” Mr Bell said.

“They’re not aligned to political parties and, I think, we bring a fair mind and transparency to the role of parliament.

Southern suburbs MP Sam Duluk also supported the no-confidence motion and said Ms Chapman should now resign from Cabinet.

“What the [Attorney-General] does from here is obviously a matter for her, but Westminster tradition says she should resign,” Mr Duluk told ABC Radio Adelaide.

Yorke Peninsula MP Fraser Ellis was absent from the chamber when the vote was held.

He described the affair as internal bickering, and said parliament should be focused on issues such as regional health, or mining access on farmland.

“I think that people living in and around Maitland really give us stuff about perception and semantics when they show up to the local hospital after hours, and there’s no locum doctor on call because SA Health can’t seem to find one.”

Ms Chapman’s decision to block the Kangaroo Island port development has now been referred to the State Ombudsman, and Mr Marshall said he’s waiting for that report.

He pointed out the two Liberal MPs on the parliamentary committee investigating Ms Chapman’s decision did not agree with the inquiry’s findings.

“Let the Ombudsman make a decision,” Mr Marshall said.

“People say there was a result from a committee that had been established but, look, the reality was [that] it wasn’t clear cut. It wasn’t unanimous,” Mr Marshall said.

“There was a dissenting statement which was filed at exactly the same time.”