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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-09-29 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES DEPARTMENT

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg) (15:06): Today a senior journalist published a claim that 11 departmental officers of the Department for Families and Communities had been disciplined and/or dismissed as a result of downloading pornography while at work on their office computers. This is a most serious allegation. However, he further published that Joslene Mazel, CEO of the Department for Families and Communities, confirmed that, indeed, members of her staff had been the subject of a disciplinary process for misusing government resources and breaches of the South Australian Public Service Code of Ethics.

The allegation is that, over a sustained period of time this year, members of the department had been downloading and viewing pornography. This is a gross abuse of the Public Service resources and, indeed, of the time of these officers when they are supposed to be, as identified in the Families and Communities' mission statement, A Better Life for South Australians: 'attending to the poor, vulnerable, at risk of harm or the isolated to connect them to choices and opportunities'.

This very concerning allegation comes at a time when, whilst the departmental chief executive has been trotted out to give some explanation as to what has happened, indeed there is a further allegation revealing that, notwithstanding that the individual details of the cases have been answered, this information was being kept confidential by FACS and (a further allegation) by minister Jennifer Rankine. Well, members, and Madam Deputy Speaker, where is the minister—

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Point of order.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Point of order, member for Croydon.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Point of order. As the member for Finniss earlier took a point on the same point, the member for Bragg should refer to ministers by the title of their department or by the name of their electorate, and not by their Christian and surname.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: That was, indeed, the point of order that was raised by the member for Finniss, and I do uphold it, as, indeed, his point of order was upheld.

Ms CHAPMAN: Just for the benefit of the member for Croydon, I will repeat that quote in which the claim was made, and that was, '...are being kept confidential by FACS and the minister, Jennifer Rankine'. I go on to say: where is the minister today? Where is the minister on this important occasion when at least one senior officer in her own department has been dismissed for the use of pornography while at work? Where is she today? Well, she is in Victoria. Is she doing important ministerial business? No; she is attending the opening of an event by some other party for a housing project. Why is she not here? Could she have been here, having left yesterday? Of course she could have. When she became aware—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Bragg, I would direct you, at least in this particular area, that I think it is convention in this parliament that we do not refer to the absence or otherwise of people who may or indeed may not be here. You are well aware of this convention.

Ms CHAPMAN: What I say is this: what is very important is that the Minister for Families and Communities—

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson: You didn't even ask a question about it.

Ms CHAPMAN: The interjection from the member for Croydon—and I want this on the record—is, 'You haven't even asked a question about it.' Where is she? Where is she to ask the question? Where is she?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, member for Bragg! Perhaps I have a very, very quiet voice and you did not hear me the first time, but it is a convention in this place that we do not discuss the whereabouts, or indeed the non-whereabouts, of a person who may or may not be here.

Ms CHAPMAN: Twice this week the minister has attended the parliament and answered questions about a number of matters and, indeed, given ministerial statements. Not once this week has the minister come into this house and said to the people of South Australia, 'This is what has happened in my department. I'm sorry for it. This is what I have done about it.'

Not once has she explained to the people of South Australia why this has happened, what she has done about it, what part of the department has been under fire in this regard, where and in what aspect of the finding out of this serious abuse in her department was she informed about it, why she had not explained to the people of South Australia what she had done about it, and why she did not inform this parliament immediately about what had happened about this.

No—absolute silence from the Minister for Families and Communities, no statement to the parliament, no press conference, no issue of a media statement, not a single word. Even today, when this has become a public matter in the arena, no mention from the Premier down to any one of these ministers to explain to the people of South Australia—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Your time has expired.

Ms CHAPMAN: —what on earth is going on in that department and what they are doing about it.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Bragg, your time has expired.

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The member for Mitchell.

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