ZOOS SA

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (14:26): My question is to the Treasurer. How did the Treasurer negotiate a multimillion dollar bailout with the Zoo over a five-month period and not realise that the government didn't have observers on the Zoo board?

The Treasurer has negotiated a multimillion dollar bailout package with the Zoo. There has been some confusion about an extra $1.2 million being paid to the Zoo because of a miscommunication. In November, when the package was announced, the Treasurer said:

...we'll continue having two Government appointed observers on the board, so anything that comes up...with regards to the Zoo we will know about through our observers on the board reporting back to Government.

Yesterday, when asked about representatives on the zoo board, the Treasurer told the house:

We had observers on the board, one of which was an official from Treasury.

Today, the Treasurer made a ministerial statement indicating that yesterday's statement was incorrect and that the government does not have a director or observer on the board.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Treasurer.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Treasurer, Minister for Workers Rehabilitation, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (14:27): Well, it was my understanding that we did have observers of the board. Members might recollect that we had two members of the board. I then received advice from the Crown Solicitor that the fiduciary duty of members of the board was to the board and not to the government and, therefore, that restricted what advice they would be able to relay back to the government about what was going on in the Zoo board.

I had indicated that we would change the status of those members of the board to observers. I understood that to be the case. It wasn't, but it doesn't matter because the fact is that the information was being provided to Treasury as we conducted the negotiations with the Zoo about a financial settlement to ensure their ongoing viability. We had more information available to us than I expect would have been provided as a matter of course to the board and certainly far more information than would have been able to be provided back to the government if the government had continued with having members on the board.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!