Deegan, Mr M.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (14:50): Supplementary: could the Treasurer advise if this is the same chief executive officer who was serving on a selection panel for the appointment of this position but then was appointed to the position himself without even the production of a CV?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:50): I think the Hon. Ms Franks has a very good memory of previous Budget and Finance Committee meetings. My recollection—and I will check the details; I am pretty positive I am correct—is that Mr Deegan sat on the panel for the selection of the new chief executive of DPTI and, at the end of that process, he and others decided there wasn't anyone suitable and then proceeded for him to be appointed.

He had very strong Labor connections. He had been a former chief of staff to two Labor ministers in New South Wales and was a favourite son, a fellow traveller, of the Australian Labor Party. Much admired by the current member for West Torrens and the current member for Lee, they often laud his virtues as to being what an outstanding public servant he was.

I am not surprised given that, through his obfuscation and refusal to even comply with the Ombudsman's requests to provide invoices, he managed to forestall the publication of this particular damning Ombudsman's report until after the state election, when clearly the Ombudsman was trying to complete the report, as he should have, prior to the March 2018 state election.