Tassone, Mr B.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (14:47): I seek leave to make an explanation prior to directing a question to the Minister for Correctional Services on the subject of the Tassone payout.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: The minister told the media earlier this week that Mr Tassone's initial claim was for in excess of $2 million. In response to a question from Matt Abraham on ABC Radio, when he was asked how involved was the minister in the decision, he said, 'No, I was quite a few steps removed.' When I put a question to the minister this week, when I asked whether he or his office was advised by senior officers in the department about proceedings in relation to the possible settlement of the claim, he said, 'I'm happy to take that on notice, but to the best of my knowledge, no', which was consistent with the answer he gave to Mr Abraham that he was quite a few steps removed. My questions to the minister are:

1. Does the minister believe that it is an acceptable practice that a minister such as himself would not be advised of a claim of greater than $2 million against his department and the government?

2. Why didn't the minister establish requirements on his department that, where massive claims against the department and the government such as this one (which was in excess of $2 million, according to him), he as minister and his office be advised not only of the claim but of the progress in dealing with that particular claim?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:48): It won't come as a surprise to many within this chamber that, unfortunately, many offenders within our prison system, of which we have approximately 3,000, regularly make spurious claims. It is a statement of fact that our prison system is made up of people who are fundamentally dishonest. So, I don't think that every single time a prisoner decides to make a spurious claim there would be any reasonable expectation for me to receive a brief on each and every one of those spurious claims.