BURNSIDE COUNCIL

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:32): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for State/Local Government Relations a question relating to the sale of the Chelsea Cinema.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The investigation into Burnside council is now entering its 21^st month and we are yet to receive an indication of when the investigation will conclude and when the government will take action on the report. Whilst the MacPherson investigation proceeded, a second investigation relating to the sale of the Chelsea Cinema by the Burnside council was undertaken by the Ombudsman, Mr Bingham.

The Eastern Courier recently reported that the Ombudsman reportedly found 'possible breaches of the local government act' during his preliminary investigation. However, this investigation has since been suspended, also due to the Supreme Court decision on the MacPherson investigation. The Ombudsman has stated that the reason for the suspension of the investigation is that his investigation relies on evidence obtained by Mr MacPherson. My questions are:

1. What is the minister doing to prevent current and future possible breaches of the Local Government Act in the context of two independent investigations identifying areas of concern?

2. In particular, has the minister or the government sought clarification from the Ombudsman or the investigator, Mr MacPherson, as to whether the possible breaches of the Local Government Act that they have identified were one-off past events or systematic or endemic issues going forward?

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for Gambling) (14:33): I thank the honourable member for his question. I know he is very keen to ask questions about the Burnside council investigation, and I am happy to continue taking those questions. As I have advised the house previously, the Full Court of the Supreme Court will be hearing the case that some plaintiffs have lodged in relation to the preliminary draft report of the investigator. That hearing will take place on 10 and 11 March.

Until the court determines what it is that the court determines in relation to the relief sought by the plaintiffs, it is simply not appropriate for me to speculate about what lessons are going to be learned from the investigation or any actions that might follow. That is not something on which I should speculate in advance of the court decision. Is the shadow attorney-general seriously suggesting that I should get up here and say in advance of a court hearing what action I think should be taken in response to the draft report that the investigator has produced?

In relation to the Ombudsman's inquiry, the Ombudsman, of course, is a statutory independent officer. I am happy to make inquiries through the Attorney-General's office as to any information he wants to put in relation to it. I have obviously seen the press reports about what the Ombudsman has had to say, so that is a matter I can seek further information on.

In relation to what the government is doing about local government, we have amended the act. We are looking at draft codes of conduct for elected officers and for staff. We have had the public integrity review, which has a number of recommendations in it regarding local government accountability and practice, and submissions for that review of public integrity close on 25 March. Of course, the Attorney-General will be looking at what people have had to say in regard to that, and there are certainly some detailed propositions in that review relating to the Ombudsman and his work in the local government area, as well as local government auditing and other matters.

The government certainly takes seriously the need to have accountable and responsible local government. We have put in place the legislative framework to do that. We are also examining whether there needs to be some strengthening of that across a range of areas through the review of public integrity and through looking at regulations and codes of conduct to follow on from the changes that were made to the legislation by this parliament.