BURNSIDE COUNCIL

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:32): By way of supplementary question, I stress that the minister was specifically—

The PRESIDENT: To be asked without explanation.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Okay. How do those matters affect investigation rather than reporting?

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (14:32): My position has always been that, to complete the investigation under the court decision, to rule a number of the terms of reference invalid could possibly take years. We must remember we have entered the third year of this investigation, an investigation which was to take 12 weeks. This has now created significant barriers to having the report completed. I was not prepared, like the opposition is prepared, to spend millions of dollars of taxpayers' money for an investigation that may take years to complete, if it was ever completed.