Legislative Council Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3) 51 3 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Development Policy Advisory Committee DEVELOPMENT POLICY ADVISORY COMMITTEE The Hon. DAVID WINDERLICH Legislative Council DEVELOPMENT POLICY ADVISORY COMMITTEE The Hon. DAVID WINDERLICH (14:50): I have a supplementary question. Did any of the six other women who applied for the DPAC position have experience of local government that amounted to more than one term? The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY Legislative Council Minister for Mineral Resources Development Minister for Urban Development and Planning Minister for Small Business DEVELOPMENT POLICY ADVISORY COMMITTEE The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:50): As I indicated to the honourable member, Mrs Quirke was the only woman who was an elected member of local government. There were two positions for local government; in the other position I appointed Rosa Gagetti, who has worked in local government for 20 years but as a paid employee. I think that at least one other woman applied who was working for local government but not in an elected capacity. I would have thought that, in the case of the Development Policy Advisory Committee, you would want not just planning experience but a balance with a view from elected officials. How often do we see in local government where there is a division? I see it all the time in planning where advice coming from planning officials will be different from that coming from elected officials, who have a different perspective. In terms of getting the balance appropriate on this committee, even though it has a limited number of applicants, I appointed Ms Gagetti, who is a paid official of a council, a planning official, and also Mrs Quirke, who was an elected councillor. I believe that that is the sort of balance that is warranted for a committee like this. Certainly, if the honourable member wishes to argue that we should just have council public servants as representatives then he really needs to explain that to local communities. If we are doing that, why would we bother to have elections for local government officials if their councillors do not count and we only have people who are appointed?