Emergency Services Commissioner

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (14:35): Given the minister's answer, will this person be a commissioner in name only and be in a similar situation to the position Mr Tony Harrison was in when he was appointed as the director of community safety?

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:35): I thank the honourable member for his question. I am not aware of all the details of how far that previous proposal got, but certainly what I can say is that—and it is consistent with what I said on Monday in my statement—what I am proposing to do is to keep the chief officers in their existing positions within the current legal framework.

I am also seeking, as requested by a number of people in the emergency sector, to beef up SAFECOM by reallocating resources from those resources which are, in the member's own words, 'duplicated' or 'triplicated' across the sector. Those resources will go into SAFECOM to make sure they are not doubled up, and so the commissioner will have a very active role across the sector.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: That's correct. What the current act—

The Hon. J.M. Rankine interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright is warned.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: What the current act makes very clear is that SAFECOM can provide a whole range of directions—this is the current act. The current act makes it very clear that SAFECOM can provide direction to the chiefs, with the exception of any matter dealing with the operation of an emergency, etc. There will be a lot of work for the new commissioner to perform.