GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:36): I rise again, sadly, to have to raise further examples of ministerial and government incompetence, negligence or both. Sadly, these days, too often for the people of South Australia, they are confronted on a daily basis with examples. In May of this year, I asked some questions of the government in relation of whether or not Freddie Hansen, the new head of the Urban Renewal Authority, had actually commenced work prior to having a signed contract.

Of course, as is her wont, the Leader of the Government in this place led with her chin and made a series of allegations and claims that the opposition makes up these stories, she would not believe anything, etc. Embarrassingly for minister Gago, subsequent investigation of the actual contracts demonstrated that the claims made by the Liberal Party were accurate and, embarrassingly for the Leader of the Government, minister Gago, she was left with egg on her face in relation to that claim.

On 6 September of this year, I again asked some questions. One would have hoped that, having raised the issue and the minister having been embarrassed, the government might have done something about it. I asked some questions then in relation to the announcement made the previous month by the government that Tony Harrison had been appointed Director-General of Community Safety and whether or not it was correct that he, too, had commenced work without a signed contract with his minister.

These are simple things. If you are running a business, and you are going to employ a chief executive officer and you were going to pay them somewhere between $250,000 and $300,000, you would think that it is a simple matter of common sense that you would sign a contract offer and agree the terms and conditions before someone starts. But what do these Labor ministers do? No, nothing as simple as that; no common sense, having been warned in relation to Freddie Hansen, the Thinker in Residence.

Again, when Tony Harrison was appointed, I asked questions. Again, poor old minister Gago led with her chin and again said that she did not believe anything the Liberal Party said and again attacked the Liberal Party for its general approach in relation to these things. She stood by her previous assertions that the Liberal Party comes into this place with inaccurate information and assertions that are incorrect, even though she had been reminded that she had been wrong in relation to Freddie Hansen's contract.

My office, subsequent to that, had a look at the contracts for Tony Harrison and for David Place, who we assume will be the deputy of SAFECOM. Tony Harrison will also be the chief executive of SAFECOM. On 13 December, we were originally told copies were not available, and that was when we had asked a question the previous week. A week later, we were able to look at a contract, which had been signed quite clearly well after Tony Harrison had commenced work. Whilst all aspects of the contract were unsigned—and, for some reason, it is not particularly clear why the minister did not sign all the bits in the contract she was required to—there was at least one signature dated 11 September in relation to Tony Harrison's contract.

We were unable to get a copy of the contract for David Place, who was the former CEO of SAFECOM; he was holidaying overseas at the time. We were told that he had not signed his contract and, at that particular time, we were unable to have a look at his contract, either. We will subsequently, of course, follow up that issue.

What it demonstrates, as I said, is financial incompetence and/or negligence by ministers in terms of just simple issues of financial management, and I think that is why the people of South Australia are angry and are demonstrating that anger on a daily basis. It does not really matter what leaflets the spin doctors in party headquarters put out there, the people of South Australia demonstrate on a daily basis their anger at the incompetence and negligence of the Labor government and its ministers.

I have had further information which indicates that a cabinet-endorsed policy that CEOs can only be reappointed for a three-year term after a five-year term has now been regularly ignored by ministers, by the cabinet and by the government; and, on a subsequent occasion when time permits, I will take up that particular as well.