INTEGRITY COMMISSION

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg) (15:07): I will give her a break; she obviously can't answer any questions, so I will go to the Attorney-General, Madam Speaker. Attorney—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Ms CHAPMAN: —will the government's new integrity commission be able to demand emails from a government agency, or will the integrity commission encounter the same problems as Mr Ken MacPherson in the Burnside Council inquiry encountered when requesting access to emails, as detailed on Adelaidenowin September 2010—but if the minister doesn't recall it, in particular, emails out of the police department.

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Urban Development, Planning and the City of Adelaide, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Food Marketing) (15:07): I thank the honourable member for her question. The answer to the question is this: the exact details of the powers of the commissioner are being presently worked out. However, the intention is very clear, and the intention is that the commissioner should have the power to seek and obtain whatever documentation (electronic or physically recorded) that the commissioner considers important or necessary for them to do their job. So, I think that this is one of the things that we need to actually wait until we have the actual draft legislation in front of us before we can descend into some of these particulars.

That is why, I think, some of the debate about this topic over the last couple of days has been a bit premature, because people are saying what this will or will not do, and what it is or is not going to be capable of and, to talk about that in the absence of any information about it—in the form of a bill—is premature. But, I can assure you my intention is that those sorts of things should be capable of being obtained by the commissioner.

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I would ask the Treasurer to take a place next to the Premier today. I would remind members that this is the Treasurer's first budget speech. I hope that members on my left and my right will treat him with the respect he deserves.