ReturnToWorkSA

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:59): My question is to the Minister for Industrial Relations. Why was the position of the Chief Executive Officer of ReturnToWorkSA not publicly advertised, given the minister's statement at estimates this year:

It has been my policy to try to do a public call on all of these statutory-type positions, and that is even in cases where I am not dissatisfied…I have often advertised not because I am telling them—

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Point of order, sir: the deputy leader doesn't have leave to make an explanation.

Ms Chapman: I'm not; I'm quoting him.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: You don't have leave to include facts in your—

The SPEAKER: The member for Wright will be seated. The deputy leader didn't seek leave to make an explanation, so she should just ask a question and, as far as I know, the question has been asked.

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Yes, am I able to finish off with the punchline to the last answer?

The SPEAKER: No.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Fair enough. Anyway, there have been phenomenal improvements in performance, for those of you who are hanging out for it. It's been great.

The SPEAKER: The CEO.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Yes, the CEO. What has happened with the CEO's position is this: ReturnToWorkSA is a statutory corporation which is governed by an independent board. The independent board is chaired by Ms Jane Yuile, who is doing an excellent job, and I congratulate her and her board on the great work they have done in bedding down the new return-to-work scheme.

I must say that they have been doing this in the context of some quite volatile financial markets, particularly of recent times, where it got to the point where the discount rate, which I know my friend the Treasurer understands more than I do—apparently, if the discount rate goes down the value of your portfolio goes down, or maybe if it goes up. Whatever it is, there has been a lot of movement, and that has been a challenge.

Ms Sanderson interjecting:

Mr Knoll: John, what is the discount rate?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I'm not a banker.

The SPEAKER: The member for Adelaide is warned.

Mr Marshall: You are not a what?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I said banker.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is warned for the second and final time.

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert may leave for the remainder of question time under the sessional order.

The honourable member for Schubert having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: What a shame. He's going to miss what I was about to say. Anyway, what happened is that they have been doing a tremendous job. Mr McCarthy, who has really done an extraordinarily good job—and I have to say to the Minister for Health, who I think was instrumental in his original appointment, that he made an excellent choice because Mr McCarthy has proven to be an excellent person. One of the things Mr McCarthy has proven to be excellent at is assembling around him an excellent team of executives.

Ms CHAPMAN: Point of order: we have had two minutes of preamble. I raised the question, and the question was very simple.

Ms Bedford interjecting:

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

Ms CHAPMAN: It was about the current CEO—

Ms Digance interjecting:

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

Ms CHAPMAN: —as to why the current CEO's position was not advertised, not the preceding one.

The SPEAKER: With 90 seconds left on the clock, could the minister approach the substance of the question.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Not even vexatious posturing will stop me answering this question.

The SPEAKER: By the Speaker or the deputy leader?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: The deputy leader, of course, Mr Speaker. As I said, he has assembled around him a galaxy of star chief executives, an executive team, one of whom has obviously made such an impression on the board that they felt the best way to secure the ongoing improvement that was set in train by Mr McCarthy was to pick somebody whom they knew, they had worked with for some time, and in whom they had full confidence.

I was advised by the chair of the board that that was the intention of the board. She did that as a matter of courtesy. She explained to me that, having regard to the period of time that the preferred candidate had been with them, they had had a good chance to have a good look at him and that was the choice they had made.

I have to say that the experience I have had working with the current board of the ReturnToWork corporation and with Mr McCarthy lead me to believe that I should have every confidence that the board is making a very, very wise decision, and for that reason, even though at the time of estimates I did not know what they were going to do because I had not had that—

The SPEAKER: The member for Little Para.