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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-07-14 Daily Xml
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PAROLE BOARD

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (15:05): My question is to the Attorney-General. In light of his previous answer, does the Attorney-General, as the relevant minister and the chief legal officer of the state, accept responsibility for the actions of the Parole Board, given that he has recommended and reappointed current serving members, including Tim Bourne?

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON (Croydon—Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (15:05): Let us get this right. The Parole Board members are appointed on the nomination of the Minister for Correctional Services—by cabinet, but on the nomination of the Minister for Correctional Services. For one set of appointments I was not in the room because I absented myself, and now I am responsible for the Parole Board and all its defects. I am the Attorney-General, but I am not the minister for the Parole Board. So, sorry—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: I know there is some turmoil on the opposition side. I know that they are not quite sure what their portfolio responsibilities are today, but when I checked into work this morning, I was the Attorney-General, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. So, I am not quite sure in which capacity I am being asked this. Is it perhaps veterans' affairs? There are some retired guys on the Parole Board; you know, Dennis Edmonds and Dave Haebich used to be police officers.

Dr McFetridge interjecting:

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: No, you asked it of the Attorney-General. The trick in being a shadow minister is to ask the correct minister. I did not appoint the Parole Board. Indeed, I had no participation whatsoever in the appointment of Mr Bourne because I, quite correctly and in accordance with precedent, left the room and did not participate in the deliberations. In fact, there are a few things that Frances Nelson and I agree on about this episode. One of the things that Frances Nelson and I agree on—

Dr McFetridge interjecting:

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Thank you very much. Measure me up for jodhpurs.

Dr McFetridge interjecting:

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Thank you. Touché. I do not expect that of any member of the house. There are a couple of things that Frances Nelson and I agree on. One is that it matters not a jot that Tim Bourne has been my solicitor. It is just simply irrelevant to this matter entirely. I think that, even though Rosanna Mangiarelli was trying to lead the Leader of the Opposition into the trap of denouncing the connection between Tim Bourne and I, I think she actually evaded it and made a dignified maintenance of her previous principle, that it is the cab rank rule, and lawyers have to act for anyone, even me—even the Attorney-General. But he is a very fine lawyer.

The second thing is that Frances Nelson agrees with me that it does not matter how the Parole Board is comprised, she as chairman of the Parole Board accepts responsibility for all the decisions of the Parole Board. Indeed, the Parole Board emailed me yesterday (I think Ms Nelson was the author) saying that it would be very wrong if the composition of the Parole Board in this particular decision—in the case of Shane Andrew Robinson—were released publicly. As a matter of fact, I agree with her about that. I just wonder who has released the fact that Ms Nelson was not the chairman on that occasion but Mr Bourne was.

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