Director of Public Prosecutions

Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (15:18): My question is to the Attorney-General. Does the Attorney-General believe that current resources supplied to the DPP are limiting the DPP's effectiveness in assisting the community?

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) (15:18): I thank the honourable member for his question. The situation in relation to the DPP is one that again, if I am not mistaken, was canvassed to some degree in estimates but, at the risk of overcoming that and repeating things again, I will go into it to some extent.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: It's a shame the member for Schubert is not as interested in these important matters as the member for Hartley.

The SPEAKER: Deputy Premier, 'repeat again' is a tautology, isn't it?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Yes, indeed. Mr Speaker, you make an excellent point. Now that things are settling a little, I would like to move on to answering the question by the member for Hartley, which is important. I have to say, the member for Hartley, unlike some of the other up and comers, is interested in these issues. He doesn't leave just because there is an apprehension that time may soon expire. He stays, he listens, he is interested, and I give him great credit for that. In that respect, he is like the member for Kavel, who always sits question time out because he wants to hear what is going on.

The DPP has recently gone through a fairly significant inquiry by an organisation called Partners in Performance, who my friends, who know more about these types of consulting things than me, tell me are the best people in the world at this kind of thing. They do excellent work. In fact, I think my ministerial colleague the Minister for Health at some stage had the opportunity to see their work and actually advised me that this was really top-shelf assistance we were getting. They have made a number of recommendations, which the director is busily working his way through, so there is a process of change going on inside the office. In addition to that—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: You are pushing on an open door, mate.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Are you still with me?

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Are you with me? Not only is the office going through a great deal of change internally but this parliament recently, and to its credit, passed the changes to the major indictable practices in our courts. Although that legislation was gelded in another place, it still has some work to do, and that will involve the need for change inside the office of the director. What I am holding is indicative of what happened to the legislation, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: That is the balance of the legislation, is it?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: This is what remains, Mr Speaker. In any event—

An honourable member: Time!