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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-05-01 Daily Xml
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Keogh Case

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (14:23): My question is to the Attorney-General. Did the Attorney-General take any steps to seek to access former solicitor-general Chris Kourakis' legal opinion prepared in 2006 in regard to the third petition for mercy by Mr Keogh before she made the decision to make a $2.57 million payment to an accused murderer?

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General) (14:24): No, and the reason for this is that it was a legal advice to the former government. As the new Attorney-General—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: —as I understand the advice I received from the Solicitor-General in one of the very first meetings I had with him, the documentation that related to the previous attorney-general, as a predecessor, was not available. There are circumstances in which you can apply to seek that it be made available, but I can say that there was in fact material before me from the new counsel, who had been appointed by the previous government to deal with the matter, and that was obviously primary in respect of the matter, particularly as it was postdated the decision of the Full Court.

Whilst the solicitor-general in 2006 had given his assessment through this opinion to the previous government, that, in my view, was a matter that was no longer particularly relevant. It was very important to the question of the freedom of information application as a document, so it didn't really matter what was in it. It was a legal opinion that was given to the previous government that was pertinent to the legal question referred to the Supreme Court on whether legal professional privilege was waived by the conduct of Mr Foley. Singularly to that document, that was relevant for that purpose, but in relation to the—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is now warned.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: —matter as to the opinion itself, it was of historical interest but not significant to the determination.

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