Question Time

WORKCOVER

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:11): I seek leave to make an explanation prior to directing a question to the minister representing the minister for WorkCover on the subject of WorkCover.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: On 18 September, WorkCover announced that then CEO, Mr Thomson, had resigned immediately for what they described as 'personal reasons', having served just over two years of his contract. On 28 September, the Liberal Party, under freedom of information, requested a copy of any letters sent to minister Snelling and the chairman of the WorkCover board expressing concerns about the behaviour and/or actions of the chief executive officer.

WorkCover has responded to that freedom of information request by indicating that they had received a letter, but they refused it under the section of the act headed, 'Documents affecting personal affairs'. They quote subsection (2) in particular:

A document is an exempt document if it contains allegations or suggestions of criminal or other improper conduct on the part of a person (living or dead) the truth of which has not been established by judicial process and the disclosure of which would be unreasonable.

Although it has been three months since the FOI request was lodged with minister Snelling, minister Snelling's office has still not responded to that particular freedom of information request. At the same time, we have been seeking copies of Mr Thomson's contract with WorkCover under the terms of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet's circular PC027—Disclosure of Government Contracts, which states under section 3:

Cabinet has approved that this Circular applies to all public authorities as defined in the Public Finance and Audit Act 1987.

Under section 21, it states:

Copies of executive contracts will be made available for inspection on receipt of a written request to the Chief Executive of the public authority in which the executive is employed. In the case of contracts with Chief Executives, the written request must be made to the Commissioner for Public Employment and the contract provided will include the Total Remuneration Package Value (TRPV) and the schedule in which the TRPV appears…

The Hon. R.P. Wortley: It's a long question.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: This is the explanation firstly. The Commissioner for Public Employment's officers indicated that WorkCover has refused to provide copies of the WorkCover CEO's contract under the terms of this particular policy. WorkCover has refused to make available copies of the contract, saying all correspondence should be entered into with the minister. The minister has now corresponded and refused copies of the contract, saying that there are commercially confidential provisions, that their contracts are different to those of anyone else in the public sector and that the opposition should seek copies of it under freedom of information legislation. My questions are as follows:

1. Does the minister accept that WorkCover is bound by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet circular PC027—Disclosure of Government Contracts, and if so can he explain why WorkCover and he as minister have refused to comply with the requirements of that policy?

2. Will the minister now take action to ensure that WorkCover complies with the requirement of the DPC circular PC027 and if not, why not?

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) (15:15): I thank the member for his questions and will refer them to the Minister for Workers Rehabilitation in another place and bring back a reply.