House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-02 Daily Xml

Contents

MINISTERIAL CODE OF CONDUCT

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:42): My question is again to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Given that the minister asked the health department specifically to prepare material for the minister's use in the election, during the caretaker period, can he explain why this is not a breach of the Ministerial Code Of Conduct, which states:

Public servants should not be asked to work on party political matters. They should not be asked to specifically prepare material for Ministers to use in the election when the government is in caretaker mode after an election has been called.

The material obtained by the opposition under FOI was clearly material specifically requested by the minister for use in the election and was clearly during the caretaker period.

The SPEAKER: Again, that explanation really involved some argument.

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts) (14:43): Of course it does, Madam Speaker, it is clearly argumentative. I did not ask my department to do anything of a political nature. I asked them for factual information, which they provided.