Ministerial Staff

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (14:31): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment regarding staff appointments.

Leave granted.

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE: On 20 July 2019 an 'Off the record' article appeared in The Advertiser about minister Ridgway's performance in his portfolios. The article revealed that there has been a concerted effort to 'help Ridgy'. The article also revealed that former federal staffers Andrew Ockenden and Kathryn McFarlane had been shoehorned into his office after the minister's former chief of staff was given his marching orders. My question to the minister is: did the minister personally select his new members of staff or did the Premier make a captain's pick, and if so, is the minister concerned his new staff will be reporting the minister's movements back to the Premier's office?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:31): What a lovely question! Actually, most of the help that Ridgy gets is leaks from that side to help them help me. That is most of the help I get. In answer to the question, I interviewed and chose both of those new staff myself.