TOURISM COMMISSION

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:34): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Tourism a question about staff in the Tourism Commission.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Mr President, the industry has lost confidence in this minister, pointing to a litany of stuff-ups, like the Kangaroo Island surf carnival, the visitor centre fiasco, and the parachuting of Rik Morris—a Labor Party factotum, former press secretary to three failed ALP ministers, someone who lost his job when Mike Rann walked the plank, someone with no skills or experience in tourism—to the position of General Manager of the South Australian Tourism Commission. My questions to the minister are:

1. Does the minister have confidence in the Chief Executive Officer of Tourism SA, Mr Ian Darbyshire?

2. Is the minister planning to knife the CEO and have him replaced with Mr Rik Morris in a temporary role?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:35): Mr President, the honourable member has been nodding off over there on his front bench, dozing away and dreaming, rather than actually getting off his tail and doing any work or serious investigation or serious research. He sits there, nods off into noddy-land, and dreams up these concoctions.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Absolutely dreams up concoctions. The employment of Rik Morris was done completely independently of government. As I have already indicated, the South Australian Tourism Commission is an independent statutory authority. The hiring and firing of their staff is completely managed by the South Australian Tourism Commission, other than the chief executive's position; there are statutory obligations there. In terms of the hiring and firing of staff, it is completely independent of government. I or any other government member had no input whatsoever into the decision of the SATC to employ Rik Morris.

As I said, it was done completely independently, and it was a usual process, conducted by the South Australian Tourism Commission. They have a particular protocol where they advertise, have a selection and appointment panel, and interviews are done, etc. My understanding is that the typical type of appointment and selection process was adhered to in the case of Rik Morris, and he was selected from a bunch of people.

As I said, it was a decision completely independent of this government so, in suggesting otherwise, he is away in la-la land, Mr President. The answer is quite simple: no. There is no plan to replace the Chief Executive with Rik Morris; no intention whatsoever, and no plan whatsoever to do so, so that answer is quite simple.

I have put it on record before that the current Chief Executive I believe has worked extremely hard in difficult circumstances. He works hard, he works in a very diligent way, he is incredibly passionate about his commitment to tourism and he should be acknowledged for the work that he does.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Ridgway has a supplementary.