Tassone, Mr B.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:40): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Correctional Services questions in relation to Bruno Tassone.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Bruno Tassone, a convicted methamphetamine trafficker, has been awarded a $100,000 taxpayer-funded payout related to failures in his prison health management. The annual report of the Department for Correctional Services 2015-16 says:

Every patient prisoner is comprehensively assessed upon admission, including a risk assessment with care plans and pathways put in place to manage any acute or chronic health care needs.

My questions are:

1. Was a healthcare plan prepared for Bruno Tassone?

2. Did the liability of the state arise from the lack of a plan, the quality of the plan or the implementation of the plan?

3. How many people have successfully sued the department for damages in the last five years, and how much damages were paid as a result?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:41): Again, I would like to thank the honourable member for his questions on an important subject and one that has received, appropriately, a degree of attention in the press over the last couple of days. Of course, what initiated the story that appeared on the front page of the paper was the fact that the Department for Correctional Services advertised, publicly, to the entire South Australian public the fact that Mr Tassone had been awarded an amount through a compensation claim that he initiated against the state, and that money now is in trust in a quarantine fund to be accessed by the victims of Mr Tassone's crimes, wherever they may be throughout the state, or indeed throughout the country.

I have to say, I welcome the attention being provided to this issue in all of the media, whether it be the front page of The Advertiser today or, indeed, on radio this morning because it only highlights the issue to the South Australian public and others around the country that they may be able to access these funds and take ownership of these funds in the event that they have been a victim of Mr Tassone's crimes or his actions.

To the questions that the Hon. Mr Wade has asked: firstly, I am advised that case notes reflect that Mr Tassone's medical conditions were known to Corrections throughout his contact with the Department for Correctional Services and his case was managed appropriately in regard to his health issues. That is the first point. I am advised of at least one other case since the introduction of the quarantine legislation, which I understand to be in 2012, where someone has been successful in a compensation claim. In that instance, I understand that every last cent that prisoner was awarded through his compensation claim was quarantined in the fund that I referred to, but, more importantly, did end up in the hands of the victims of the individual concerned. There was a third part to your question, Mr Wade, which you might—

The Hon. S.G. Wade: Did the liability of the state arise from the lack of a plan, the quality of the plan or its implementation?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS: No, it didn't, and, indeed, in response to Mr Wade's question around the liability of the state, it is important to note that this was a settlement reached through a commercial process, a commercial decision on the basis of crown law advice, that it was in the interests of the South Australian taxpayers to settle this claim for an amount that was demonstrably less than the in excess of $2 million that Mr Tassone was originally claiming for, and that represented a value to the South Australian taxpayers in comparison to the very substantial cost that would have been realised if his action were to continue through the court process. More than that, as a result of that settlement, I have been advised that no admission of liability by the state was made throughout the settlement. There is no admission of liability by the state in this particular case.

If I can just reiterate, I do not think any South Australian taxpayer would like to see state compensation funds ending up in the hands of someone of the likes of Mr Tassone in light of the acts that he has committed, which is exactly why, as a state government, we took the initiative to put in place legislation to prevent that from occurring, to put in place a legislative framework that makes it clear that our priority is the victim of those crimes rather than the offender themselves.

Just to add one more thing to that, I have subsequently initiated that the department undertake an effort to explore the capacity of the option of further legislative change, which would mean that in the absence of a victim coming forward, albeit within a 12-month period, there is an option to introduce new legislation that would allow those funds, if they are not claimed successfully by a victim, to offset the cost of incarceration that is borne by the state and the taxpayer as a result of Mr Tassone doing the wrong thing in the first place. I am looking forward to receiving that advice from the department in due course, and if that is an option then it is one that we will explore legislatively through due process.