Electoral Services

The Hon. B.R. HOOD (14:55): I seek leave to make a brief explanation prior to addressing questions to the Attorney-General regarding electoral services.

Leave granted.

The Hon. B.R. HOOD: Yesterday, the presiding officer in the other place made a statement on the resignation of the member for Mount Gambier and his decision not to issue a writ for a by-election in that district prior to the March 2026 election. He made this decision based on a number of statements, which are available in Hansard. He also made mention that the people of Mount Gambier are in 'the enviable position of having two highly regarded and senior members of the Legislative Council'. He then named the Hon. Clare Scriven and the Hon. Ben Hood, the second-best looking Hood in the Legislative Council.

As the minister responsible for the Electoral Commission, can the Attorney-General please outline for the record how representation for constituents of Mount Gambier would work in practicality by answering the following questions:

1. Is the Attorney-General aware if the Crown Solicitor provided advice to the presiding officer of the other place regarding his decision not to issue a writ for a by-election in the seat of Mount Gambier?

2. Who now signs representations on behalf of Mount Gambier constituents and with what authority?

3. Has the Attorney been approached to provide any additional resourcing to the electorate office in Mount Gambier in the absence of a member of parliament and, if so, will this be done?

4. Are any current elected members of parliament permitted to access constituent files and work in conjunction with electorate office staff in an electorate office that they have not been elected?

The PRESIDENT: Just before you answer, Attorney, it is clear in the standing orders that you really should not quote from the current sessions anything that has been said in the other place.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (14:57): I thank the honourable member for his questions. In relation to any advice, the honourable member would appreciate that we don't talk about legal advice that is or is not provided.

In relation to the questions in relation to electorate offices, my understanding is the electorate offices sit within the Department of Treasury and Finance and the operation of the electorate offices is, understandably, completely and entirely separate from the Electoral Commission. Not having a member in place has occurred a number of times already in this session of parliament. We have seen three Liberal members—for a variety of reasons that I am happy to go into in great extent and at great length—in the lower house alone this term resign from parliament: a former leader, the former member for Dunstan, Steven Marshall; a former Deputy Premier in Bragg, the Hon. Vickie Chapman; and another former leader of the Liberal Party in the seat of Black, who resigned for various reasons, as I understand it, most recently, for a by-election.

I am happy, if maybe there is a supplementary question, to go into further details about the reasons for those resignations, but my understanding—although the Department of Treasury and Finance are the ones responsible for electoral services—is that, where there is a period of time where there is not a member of parliament, and that has obviously occurred on all of those occasions where someone has resigned before a new member comes in, the electorate officers in those offices remain in place and can continue to serve those communities. It is my understanding that that is what will happen until a new member for Mount Gambier is elected at the general election in March next year.