PW2PA Alliance

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (14:49): Supplementary question: has the minister got full confidence in the capacity of the PW2PA Alliance to deliver these projects in a cost-effective and efficient manner?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:49): I rely on advice from the Department for Infrastructure and Transport, and they are the experts in road building. What I will not do is substitute my own opinion on any supplier; in fact, it would be entirely inappropriate for me to do so, to be involved in tender processes or the allocation of contracts. That would be corruption or maladministration or misconduct.

The idea is: do l have confidence in Jon Whelan? I absolutely do. Do I have confidence in Wayne Buckerfield? I absolutely do. Do I have confidence in all my executive directors, even the ones who used to work for the Liberal government and were appointed without a competitive process to be an executive director, whether it was the Department for Infrastructure and Transport? I have complete confidence in them, too, because the public sector is above politics, and they serve and work for us well.

In terms of who has confidence in these alliances, that is the job of our chief executive. It is their job to have confidence, and if they lose confidence in any alliance or any tenderer or anyone doing any scope of work, then they report that to the elected government and they give us a course of action to follow. But the idea that I would substitute my judgement for theirs—we decide priorities, they do delivery. That is the difference. I've got to say that these types of questions concern me because the truth is this: politicians should not be—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: —deciding who wins contracts and who gets the alliance contracts, and if that was the practice of the previous government, I would like to know because that would be deeply inappropriate. You have to have confidence in the people you appoint to do this work. That is why the Public Sector Act gives the Premier the ability to appoint chief executives of the department and no further—because we want the Public Service to be independent.

What we don't want is people, through maybe an unsolicited bid process, getting large-scale government contracts, who have deep personal relationships with ministers. That would be deeply inappropriate—deeply inappropriate. There have been a number of contracts let over the last four years where that accusation could be made.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister, there is a point of order from the member for Morialta, which I will hear under 134.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: Standing order 98: the question was reasonably specific. The minister is debating and straying from the substance.

The SPEAKER: There is some merit in the matter that has been raised with me. I will listen carefully, but I do ask that the minister return to the substance of the question.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: From memory, I have received no concerns about the alliance, but I will check with Mr Whelan at the conclusion of question time to see if there are any concerns with the alliance. If the member has an accusation to make or has information, here's the forum. If you have an accusation, make it. Make the accusation, and I will go away and I will check the validity of that accusation to see if it's accurate. That would be the fair thing to do.