Trade, Tourism and Investment Department

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (14:38): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment regarding departmental staff.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: In recent media, there was a somewhat disastrous assessment by former departmental employees of how the current department is running, with some employees making comments such as, 'Morale, I would have to say, is the worst I've experienced in my years in government,' 'The new government doesn’t appear to have a clear agenda or strategy for their trade and investment area,' and, 'This government doesn't yet appear to have any idea.' My question is: has the minister put any measures in place to improve morale in his agencies?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:39): I thank the member for his ongoing interest in the trade, tourism and investment portfolio. It was disappointing to see that article yesterday that I don't think accurately represents the great working team that we have in the department. As I said yesterday, I am disappointed that members opposite want to continue to talk it down and to try to find fault instead of trying to talk it up. I used to think that the Hon. Gail Gago, when she called the former opposition 'a lazy, whingeing, whining opposition', was perhaps going on a bit much, but I can see where she gets that from. I can see now that we have the same sort of response.

The honourable member talked about quoting somebody on what our agenda was. We have a growth agenda and we have selected now our nine sector plans that are being developed in consultation with industry. This is something different from the former government; these will be industry led. Industry will own these.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: Point of order, Mr President. I understand that he wants to talk about his agenda, and that's great, but my question was actually very specific, which was: what measures have been put in place to improve morale in his agencies?

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Ridgway, just keep it on point and get on with it.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: We will talk about morale, Mr President. We are constantly looking at the ways that we can continue. It is really an operational matter for the chief executive and acting chief executive at the moment, of course, because we have that wonderful news, which has been welcomed globally, about Ms Leone Muldoon coming to head up the organisation. That in itself, I think, will give a significant boost to morale.

Some of the actions of the government, to know that we are getting on with things, include today's announcement of MIT coming to Adelaide, the world's number one university. My department is the one that did the negotiations to bring them here. It was as a result of 2½-year, well before government, approach. MIT is coming. The department is excited that they have a government that want to get off their backsides and do things. The morale itself will continue to grow and continue to improve, because we have a Marshall-led government with a strong plan for growing South Australia.