Treaty Commissioner

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:18): I seek leave to make a brief explanation prior to directing a question to the Leader of the Government on the subject of a Treaty Commissioner.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: The minister today issued a press release indicating that a Dr Roger Thomas had been appointed as a Treaty Commissioner in South Australia. A Department of State Development functional organisational chart issued on 16February this year indicates that in the Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation section of the minister's department there is a Roger Thomas who is listed as the manager or director of Aboriginal Heritage. My questions to the minister are:

1. Is the Roger Thomas who is in the minister's department, as either the manager or the director of Aboriginal Heritage, the same Dr Roger Thomas who has been appointed a Treaty Commissioner?

2. If so, can the minister clarify whether Dr Roger Thomas would be continuing in the full-time position of manager or director of Aboriginal Heritage, or whether the Treaty Commissioner is a full-time position, or whether it is the intention, if it is the same person, for that person to fill the position of Treaty Commissioner whilst at the same time fulfilling the full-time position of director or manager of Aboriginal Heritage within the minister's department?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (15:19): The answer to his first question is yes, and second question is no.

The Hon. R.I. Lucas interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Yes and no to questions 1 and 2. They are your answers.