Public Sector Executive Salaries

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (14:20): I seek leave to make a brief explanation prior to directing a question to the Leader of the Government on the subject of pay increases for chief executives and ministerial staffers.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: There has been significant public concern expressed—

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: There has been significant public concern expressed at the revelation that the Premier had secretly given very significant pay increases to a small number of chief executive officers, in particular the CEO of SA Health, Mr David Swan, a $67,269 a year pay rise; and the CEO of the education department, Mr Tony Harrison, who received a pay increase of $51,675; and the new Under Treasurer, David Reynolds, who received a pay increase of $71,746 when compared to his predecessor.

Of course that comes after the Premier gave his own CEO a total salary package increase of $150,000 to be the CEO of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet. At the end of October, I asked a question of the minister, which she took on notice, which was whether or not the cabinet had approved a salary increase for CEOs of government departments and agencies and, if so, what was the level of that increase and was it made retrospective to an earlier date?

In addition to that, the Liberal Party has been informed that cabinet took a decision that ministerial staffers will get that same general increase, which we are advised was 2.5 per cent for the general increase, and the suggestion was that it, too, was made retrospective to 1 July as well. My questions to the minister are:

1. Given that the question was asked back in October, has the minister had the opportunity to check whether or not that information was correct?

2. Can the minister clarify whether or not the CEO of SA Health and the CEO of the education department received these 2.5 per cent salary increases in addition to the salary increases highlighted on the front page of The Advertiser today? If that was the case, then the CEO of SA Health's salary would jump by a further $12,500 to $512,500, if that was correct.

3. Is the minister in a position to be able to clarify whether any general increase applied to CEOs was applied to the CEO of SA Health and the CEO of the education department and the Under Treasurer; and also whether or not it was made retrospective to some earlier date such as 1 July?

4. Finally, is the minister able to confirm whether or not ministerial staff have been given a general salary increase? If so, was it 2.5 per cent and was it made retrospective to 1 July?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:23): I thank the member for his questions. I am not in a position to provide any further information in relation to these salary matters. I have not been able to gain any further information in relation to the questions asked some time ago, and I'm happy to put these questions on notice and to bring back a response. So the answer is no, I am not in a position; and, no, I am not able to clarify.