Keogh Case

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:03): Supplementary: given that the Attorney indicated last year that he had inquired of the DPP, the Crown Solicitor or both, has he had any discussions with either of those since December 2015?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (15:03): I almost certainly have had discussions with both of those people. Whether I have had discussions on this particular topic, I cannot recall. I just think it is probably relevant for me to put in a bit of context what this is about.

There was, at one stage—well, more than one stage, probably, but the particular incident we are talking about was there was a petition to the Govenor by those seeking to support Mr Keogh, seeking the Governor's clemency in respect of Mr Keogh. I can inform the house, for those who are not familiar with the process, that the normal way in which that happens is that the Governor, in effect, seeks advice from the solicitor-general of the day. The solicitor-general of the day then goes about informing him or herself as they see fit, and in that process they examine, certainly whatever materials have been urged upon them by the petitioners, but perhaps other materials as well, and they ultimately provide a recommendation to the Governor. My understanding is that is exactly what happened on this occasion.

As to exactly what materials the solicitor-general of the day turned his mind to—bear in mind we are not talking here about a couple of manila folders, we are talking about enormous volumes of material. We are talking about volumes of material; this is not a light matter. I think that ultimately the answer to the question that is being posed by the deputy leader is that, at this point in time, it is virtually impossible to ascertain exactly what material the individual concerned had regard to and what weight they put on what, and what ultimately informed the decision-making that they ultimately put forward to His Excellency.