Public Service Employees

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:37): A final supplementary: are any executive members of the agency subject to a current investigation?

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) (14:38): Again, I would not venture to offer an answer to that without checking with Mr Persse.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Well, can I just make this point to—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: —members of parliament?

The SPEAKER: The leader will not make an impromptu speech in question time having been given eight questions so far.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: The way government is structured in Australia, and in probably all the common law Westminster systems, is that the direct responsibility for the management and the discipline and the promotion—and every other aspect of the public servants who work for the government—resides in the hands of the chief executive, not in the hands of the minister.

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is warned for the last time.

The Hon. P. Caica interjecting:

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

The Hon. J.R. RAU: What this means is that none of the ministers of the Crown are directly involved in matters like performance management or the discipline of the public servants who work in the agencies which they are commissioned by the governor to administer. The only one of the public servants in those agencies over which the executive government has any direct control is the chief executive of the agency, and that ultimately rests in the hands of the Premier, who has a performance agreement or a contract with those individuals, and they are accountable to the Premier and to their ministers. But the minister cannot reach through the chief executive and start administering the department as the minister might wish or not wish, as the case might be.

So, it is entirely appropriate for me to be asking Mr Persse what he is doing in his department and I am very happy to do that. I will take a copy of the Hansard today, as soon as I can get a copy of it, and have it sent to Mr Persse with a request that he assist me with information.