House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2) 52 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Child Protection Inquiry CHILD PROTECTION INQUIRY Mr MARSHALL House of Assembly Norwood Leader of the Opposition CHILD PROTECTION INQUIRY Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (14:35): Given the Premier's answer, can the Premier advise, then, what purpose his ministerial advisers actually serve if they do not need to keep themselves informed of departmental actions on critical issues? The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly Cheltenham Premier Minister for State Development Minister for the Public Sector Minister for the Arts CHILD PROTECTION INQUIRY The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:35): The difficulty with the honourable member's question is that it suffers from the problem of him not listening to my answer, because my answer actually indicated that it was proper for ministerial advisers to exercise a proper function of oversight. I was going to the question of the findings that were made by Mr Debelle in this particular case and, in this particular case, he found that they were entitled to assume the matter was being dealt with properly because of the nature of communication, the lack of any follow-up communication and also because of the relevant relationship— Members interjecting: The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Mr Speaker, I am getting a barrage of interruptions from those opposite. Mr Marshall House of Assembly Mr Marshall: We haven't even started the barrage. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Will the Premier be seated? I call the Leader of the Opposition to order. Premier. The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: This is an important matter, and it should be dealt with calmly. I know that those opposite are finding it a little difficult, but— Mr Marshall House of Assembly Mr Marshall: Just get on with your answer. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: I warn the leader for the first time. The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: There was, I think, a very beneficial discussion within the report produced by Mr Debelle about the actual role of ministerial advisers. There was a very important discussion in there about the role of ministerial advisers and their relationship to a paid professional Public Service and the relevant separation of roles, especially for a professional Public Service that has the responsibility to discharge these particularly sensitive matters. I would invite those opposite to read it carefully because I think it actually does repay reading, and it does set out, I think, very sensibly where the lines of demarcation are. I think, though, it also makes some important points about ensuring that ministers are not taken by surprise when matters are raised with them publicly and, of course, ministerial advisers should keep them informed so they are not put in that position. The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting: The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, they didn't. As it happened, I was not put in the unfortunate position of actually being surprised, because the matter was never raised with me by anybody in any forum, whether it be parents or otherwise. I must say my inconvenience or otherwise is, in the scheme of things, a very small matter compared with the very egregious breaches that occurred at the level of the agency about ensuring that parents were informed. That is the critical issue here. My convenience or otherwise, or my embarrassment about being doorstopped by some media outlet and somehow not being prepared, is at nought compared with what was going on where there were parents asking for other parents to be informed about this matter and they were denied that opportunity. That is where there are very significant criticisms. They are matters we are now addressing, and we are acting immediately to put in place the recommendations of Mr Debelle to make sure these things do not happen again.