Question Time

Parliament House Staffers

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:16): My question is to the Premier. What action has the Premier taken to address the extraordinary and shocking allegations against Liberal staffers that have been subject to public speculation in the last 24 hours?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:17): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. I think he hit the nail on the head when he referred to it as speculation. What we do know is that there was a court case recently, which has concluded, following events which occurred on 13 December 2019. Everybody can read that judgement. We know that the equal opportunity commissioner—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —came into this workplace and conducted an audit. She found that the practices here were substandard. I note that they were presided over by those opposite for 16 years. But, under my government, the equal opportunity commissioner came in and did an audit. She has made recommendations to the government and to the parliament. Many of those recommendations have already been put into place and some of them are in train.

We accept that there were matters that needed to be addressed—the practices in this place, the processes in this place. The opportunities for complaint and pathways to complaint and resolution were not adequate. I believe that they are going forward because of the recommendations of that report. There are other pathways if people choose to make formal complaints regarding matters on that evening.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Lee is warned for a second time. The member for Playford is warned.