Forensic Science SA

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (15:02): I have a further supplementary for the Deputy Premier. Why was the payment for Henry Keogh expedited within the first 90 days of the Marshall Liberal government but it took more than 16 months for the announcement of this scanner?

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General) (15:02): Let me just firstly say that a cash payment, which I frequently approve in relation to ex gratia payments for victims—for example, of sexual abuse cases where that process occurs—I would have thought would have been immediately obvious to the member is a little bit quicker to implement than it is to procure, select and, of course, then purchase a piece of equipment.

At the time that this was announced—not 16 months into the government—it was identified that it would take about 12 months to go through the procurement process, to enable it to be acquired and then installed. The one I visited, the CT scanner which is currently being used by Forensic Science SA and which is at a northern site, is also used to deal with scanning in this way of animals, so it has a multifunction purpose. It is obviously quite a way from the city and it requires the transporting of bodies to this facility and back, sometimes directly back to a funeral parlour and the like. So it is quite a distance.

If the member is familiar with the installation of CT scanners, even once you have procured and had them approved and purchased, they then have to sit in a certain room that is built to certain standards, obviously, to ensure that those who work in the operation of the CT scanner are protected. It's a process that is a little more complicated than writing out a cheque. I hope that answers the question.