Director of Public Prosecutions Office

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (14:25): I seek leave to make a brief explanation prior to addressing a question to the Attorney-General regarding the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Leave granted.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: Today's media are reporting that, following the Rosslyn Cox report into the workplace experience within the Office of the DPP, the state's Director of Public Prosecutions, Martin Hinton KC, has vowed to stay on as the director, but in the wake of the damning Cox report, which stated that former and current staff are being subjected to, and I quote, 'unacceptable, unreasonable and unsustainable levels of pressure and stress', Mr Hinton KC is considering requesting more funding. My questions to the Attorney-General are:

1. If requested, will the government provide more funding to remedy these serious issues within the DPP?

2. Has the DPP sought additional funding in any of the last two budget rounds?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:26): I thank the honourable member for her question. I regularly have discussions with the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to the work that is undertaken and the resourcing requirements. In the first budget since we came to government, there were extra resources provided for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. In the Mid-Year Budget Review, since we came to government, there were further resources provided to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and in the second budget that we have handed down there were extra resources provided for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.