House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-10-16 Daily Xml

Contents

BUSINESS GROWTH PROGRAM

81 Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (31 July 2007). With respect to the Business Growth Program:

(a) what are the details of payments to consultants for 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08;

(b) what organisations received consultancy payments, how much did they receive and what projects did they undertake; and

(c) why were payments to consultants only $67,000 for 2006-07, when $300,000 was allocated?

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations): The Department of Trade and Economic Development (DTED) has advised the following:

(a) Details of payments to consultants for 2005-06 are as follows:

Consultant Description Amount $'000
Mr Paul Wirth To explore new foundry investments for Lonsdale Mitsubishi Plant 21
Playford Capital Commercialisation company report 11
De Brenni Associates Broadband Report 4
Robert Taylor & Associates Pty Ltd Technology based Incubator Scoping Study 10
Dumais Consulting Services Pty Ltd Concept Report - SA Embedded Software Incubator/Design Centre 5
Inventure Partners Pty Ltd Independent review of company operations 17
Inventure Partners Pty Ltd Preparation of an Information Memorandum 40
Raymond Grigg Fees to Chair the High Level Automotive Group 12
Iannella Gaskin Cutone Independent review of company operations 3


Details of payments to consultants for 2006-07 are as follows:

Consultant Description Amount $'000
Inventure Report on the Automotive Industry restructuring 40


Consultancies planned for 2007-08 relate to independent reviews of the automotive industry.

(b) Refer to part A.

(c) An initial budget of $300,000 was allocated for consultancies in 2006-07; however, this was amended to reflect the requirement for consultants during the year. The main factors contributing to the reduction were that reviews were undertaken by officers within the Department rather than engaging private sector consultants.

The $67,000 referred to is an estimated figure at the time of preparation of the Budget Papers. $40,000 is the actual expenditure for 2006-07.