House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Electoral Commission of South Australia Electoral Commission of South Australia Mr TELFER House of Assembly Flinders Electoral Commission of South Australia Mr TELFER (Flinders) (14:54): My question is to the Minister for Local Government. Has the government provided any extra resourcing for the Electoral Commission to deal with complaints and uphold the integrity of the election, and is the minister aware if ECSA has been assisted by the Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce in any investigation into local government elections? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain. Leave granted. Mr TELFER House of Assembly Flinders Mr TELFER: ECSA have confirmed that they have received more than 800 complaints, apparently a new record. The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN House of Assembly Lee Treasurer The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee—Treasurer) (14:55): I am certainly aware that we have had to provide some supplementation to the Electoral Commission. Of course, there was the not unexpected by-election in Bragg and we are working through whether we need a separate contingency for another one this financial year as well— Members interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Order! The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN House of Assembly Lee Treasurer The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: —if we can pin down someone's intentions, of course, in the coming months. But I hear, according to Breaking @ 8 on FIVEaa, that this may be imminent. The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell interjecting: The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Member for Mawson! The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN House of Assembly Lee Treasurer The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: As to the member for Flinders' specific question about supplementation for the commission with respect to local government elections, my understanding is they predict that every four years there will be an additional effort in order for the Electoral Commission to play its superintendence role of providing the elections, but I am happy to come back to him with the details of what component that is of their budget, particularly in this financial year, and, perhaps if it helps the member, how that compares with normal years when these sorts of specific elections aren't being held.