Ministerial Staff

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:31): My question is again to the Minister for Environment and Water. What process did the minister and his office follow to assign the public sector employees in his ministerial office, as he informed the house today and yesterday?

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Minister for Environment and Water) (15:31): Mr Speaker, we—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Minister, please be seated.

Mr Malinauskas: I would like to hear the answer.

The SPEAKER: I would like to hear the answer, too, leader. Thank you. Minister.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: We followed a process that would be utterly foreign to the opposition: a merit-based process.