Ministerial Statement

SUPREME COURT APPOINTMENTS

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:03): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Mr Speaker, His Excellency the Governor has today appointed District Court Judge Anne Bampton and Crown Solicitor Greg Parker as Judges of the Supreme Court. Mr Parker has also been appointed as the inaugural President of the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT).

Judge Bampton was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1985 and was appointed Master of the Court in 2006 following a successful career in private practice. Judge Bampton was appointed Judge of the District Court in February 2010. Her Honour has experience in the conduct of both civil and criminal matters, as well as an extensive understanding of the important interaction between interlocutory processes and the efficient disposition of trials. Highly regarded by her peers and the profession alike, Her Honour will make a welcome addition to the Supreme Court bench.

Greg Parker is the pre-eminent administrative lawyer in South Australia. He has been a legal practitioner since 1990 and has been the Crown Solicitor since February 2010. He was managing solicitor from 1997 to 2004, and has filled various acting and deputy roles since that time. Prior to these executive appointments, Mr Parker was a solicitor then senior solicitor in the Crown Solicitor's Office. In 2013, he was awarded the Public Service Medal for outstanding public service in the provision of legal and industrial advice.

He has extensive management experience through his leadership roles within the Crown Solicitor's Office. He has set a very high bar in the pivotal role of Crown Solicitor. His experience makes him uniquely qualified to lead the SACAT, which I might add will lead to faster and more affordable justice outcomes for many South Australians.

The government will shortly commence a process to fill the position of Crown Solicitor. I am sure that all members of the house will welcome the appointments of Mr Parker and Judge Bampton to the Supreme Court of South Australia, where no doubt they will serve our justice system with great distinction.

The SPEAKER: May I also add my congratulations to Judge Bampton and to Greg Parker, with whom I had the pleasure to work for eight years. Before I call on questions, owing to the contretemps this morning many members are on more than one warning. The Leader of the Opposition.