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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-11-12 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Staff

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:46): This is to the Attorney: why does it take the Attorney four weeks, since the issue of the potential of this practice being exposed and the potential destruction of documents, including the emails in breach of the State Records Act, which has been identified in the ICAC report—

The SPEAKER: Can we come to the question, please.

Ms CHAPMAN: Why does it take four weeks for you to write an email to send out to the staff in the government that they are not allowed to destroy any emails if they have used this practice, and they are to cease this practice, which has clearly been indicated by the commissioner?

The SPEAKER: I think we have got the question. Deputy Premier.

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Industrial Relations) (14:47): Mr Speaker, the member for Bragg, once more, in an attempt to make a point, slightly overshoots it. She is evoking the final scenes from Downfall where, in late April-early May of 1945, a large number documents are being loaded into incinerators.

Ms CHAPMAN: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: I think the Deputy Premier is not only being germane, he is being witty.

Ms CHAPMAN: No, not this time, sir. I think it is a bit like the Chewbacca defence: it has fallen flat; it has been used so many times. It is a question of relevance: 1945 is quite a distance away and has nothing to do with his—

The SPEAKER: But it is about hiding documents; they have that in common.

Ms CHAPMAN: If there has been an admission that these documents exist, it is even more concerning as to why it has taken four weeks to draft an edict to the staff in government that they are not to do this.

The SPEAKER: I am intrigued; continue.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: To do this properly, Mr Speaker, I have to have my glasses on originally—

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon: Don't let your hand shake!

The Hon. J.R. RAU: —and my hand needs to shake. Look, the situation is essentially this: I know, and all of us know, that it is not appropriate for these behaviours to go on. I am confident that all ministers and members of parliament have read the commissioner's report and have taken appropriate action. I can assure the member for Bragg that there have not been bonfires burning in the courtyards of various ministries, and I know of no attempt at all—no attempt at all—to go around searching for or destroying any documents.

As I have said, there are questions about exactly how one can best, by way of an instrument, if that is what is required, enable the Premier to promulgate this in some official fashion. There is no question about what the position is.

The SPEAKER: Further supplementary.

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