Answers to Questions

Ministerial Staff

305 The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (25 July 2018).

1. As at 16 March 2018 what is the ministerial office budget for each minister?

2. As at 30 June 2018 what is the ministerial office budget for each minister?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier):

This government is being transparent about the real cost of ministerial offices.

Unlike the former government's ministerial office budgets, our budgets reflect the full cost of each office, including ministerial contract staff, ministerial liaison officers as well as all Public Sector Act staff working in a minister's office.

1. The estimated full year cost of the former government's ministerial offices in 2017-18, based on a point in time snapshot of staffing levels within each ministerial office, and presented on a basis consistent with this government's transparent disclosure of the costs of running ministerial offices, was:

*Note: Following the resignation of the Hon. M.L.J. Hamilton-Smith in January 2018, the office staff were reporting to the Hon. J Weatherill.

These figures have been estimated by the Department of Treasury and Finance based on available information, and include costs associated with staff that were funded by agencies but not disclosed against ministerial office budgets in the budget papers, such as ministerial liaison officers and some other administrative staff. On an equivalent basis, the total estimated cost for 2018-19 would have been $41.7 million.

2. The ministerial office budgets for 2018-19 as published in the budget papers (2018-19 Agency Statements) are:

Of the $4.7 million decrease in ministerial office costs, the reduction in general government expenses in 2018-19 is $4.5 million. Part of the decrease is reflected as higher dividends from SA Water and Renewal SA and savings from SAFECOM were only possible from 2019-20 given the 2018-19 budgets for emergency services agencies were set as part of the emergency services levy process.