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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-05-25 Daily Xml
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Finniss Electorate

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (15:24): It is interesting listening to the member for Giles on the warship. Member for Giles, if you do happen to secure one, and good luck to you, just make sure they do not do what they did in my electorate with the Hobart: they put it in water where the tide runs too fast and you cannot get to it. However, I digress.

I am absolutely delighted that today at Victor Harbor the federal member for Mayo, Mr Briggs, announced a grant of $500,000 to the Victor Harbor Football Club and the Victor Harbor RSL to build a new multi-user facility at the Victor Harbor Oval. I have been in the background on this, plotting away for some time. It is not the entire amount needed, but it is a huge starting gesture and it will be—assuming the council come on board and we can get some money out of the state government—an absolute bonus for Victor Harbor.

It will give the RSL a new home and the Victor Harbor Football Club will benefit of what is currently a tired facility. There will be the capacity for the school to have some education on matters of enormous significance to Australia at the museum the RSL has there. So, I am really pleased about that. It is terrific news. I have spoken to the RSL president, Mr Dave Miller, this afternoon and he is blown away by it. We look forward to that coming on stream in due course.

Another thing I want to raise is that the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption, Mr Bruce Lander, has been doing tours around the state since he took on the role. I have the utmost respect for Mr Lander and the integrity of his position. I think it is good that he goes out and about around South Australia and talks to the regional areas. Just recently, I attended a meeting that he had on Kangaroo Island, along with Mr Wayne Lines, the State Ombudsman. I am concerned that Mr Lander might have been given incorrect information by the council there prior to him speaking.

For example, he talked about the fact that the information was that $300,000 had been spent by the council on legal expenses to do with matters pertaining to members and inquiries and heaven knows what else. My view is that that is erroneous, completely erroneous, and that Mr Lander might have potentially been given the wrong advice. I say that because I actually FOI'd to the end of 30 June of last year the cost to the Kangaroo Island Council. It is in my office and anyone is welcome to look at it. There are several A3 pages, and there is absolutely no way in the world that $300,000 was spent on what was suggested. I think Mr Lander has been put in a very difficult position by that, and I invite him to have a look at that and work it out for himself.

What really concerned me then was that the council over there put out a media release on their letterhead but, as luck would have it, on their website they have left the encryption on the bottom. This is where it gets very murky indeed because the encryption reads: http://www.kangarooisland.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/news/Media%20Release%20—and then it says—ICAC%20Final.pdf. What it actually has on there is a link back to Ms Tracy Riddiford, who works in the Office for Public Integrity, as I understand, and it would appear that she is the author of the release which has been put out under the Kangaroo Island Council.

There is something very odd about that, as far as I am concerned. I took some advice on this before I spoke about this in the chamber, on whether I should or not, but it was suggested to me that, indeed, it should be put on the record in the chamber, so I do so. I invite Mr Lander—for whom, I repeat, I have the utmost respect—to have a look at it and to look into the matter. If indeed he has been fed a load of rubbish and hogwash, I dare say he will take appropriate action, but it is important to put it on the record.

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