Ministerial Staff

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:06): Supplementary, then, if I may, sir: given the statement that has been made in the ICAC report, has the Premier asked his own staff whether they have engaged in this practice?

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Industrial Relations) (15:07): I'm not purporting to. The government is here to answer questions, Mr Speaker, as I understand it—not any particular individual.

Mr Gardner: He answers about your advice and you answer about his staff members.

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is called to order.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: We're very close. Sometimes he finishes my sentences. Anyway—

The SPEAKER: Do you ever finish his?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Not yet, but we're working on that. It's the other way around, you know. The point is basically this: there is what amounts to a remark of general application in the report which does not identify any particular practice in great detail, nor does it identify particular places where that practice has become evident and become a matter of concern. It is in addition my intention, in order to be able to provide the Premier with the advice that he has sought, to actually have a chat with the commissioner in order to be clear in my mind what the commissioner is absolutely concerned about.

My reading of the report leads me to believe that what he is saying probably amounts to the fact that there are some ministerial staffers—and the way I read his words, he was intending to confine it to some; he did not indicate that it was across the board—who may or may not be fully aware of what their obligations actually are pursuant to the provisions of the State Records Act. If it is a matter of their being not fully aware of their obligations and having developed, through ignorance or otherwise, practices that are not in compliance with the requirements of the act, then it would be my view that I would be asking the Premier to consider promulgating some form of edict in the way that premiers are able to do to all ministerial staff who actually are accountable to the Premier. They are actually accountable directly to the—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Indeed. That's what I'm saying. I'm trying to explain to you all the steps—

Mr Marshall: You've just gone back to the first question; why don't you answer the second one?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I'm trying to tell you about all the steps we're going through. At the end of that, once we know what we are dealing with—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Look, I do not think it will be necessary to ask the former commissioner of police to get involved in this matter. I think we are going to be capable of dealing with it, short of calling him in.

The Hon. J.J. Snelling interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Yes, but that is only a grieving family, isn't it?

The Hon. J.J. Snelling: That's a grieving family.

The SPEAKER: I think in fairness it was Sandy Biar who necessitated calling the police.

Mr GARDNER: Point of order, sir. How can that possibly be an appropriate statement?

The SPEAKER: Well, it is true.

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order, sir. I believe it was the Clerk of the upper house who called—

The SPEAKER: Yes, on a call from Sandy Biar. Time has expired. The minister has time to finish his answer.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: As I was saying, what I will be doing is ascertaining what exactly the ICAC commissioner was concerned about. I will then be seeking advice after talking to him about how we can best deal with whatever that problem is. I will be advising the Premier and I will be asking the Premier to promulgate whatever is necessary to achieve that. If there is anything else about it that needs to be done, I am sure the commissioner will tell me.