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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-09-08 Daily Xml
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Comas, Ms T.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (14:15): My question is to the Premier. Were fraudulent time sheets submitted to Electorate Services on the instruction of Minister Wingard to conceal that Ms Tui Comas was engaged in paid work while on paid maternity leave in March 2017? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: The opposition has obtained an email from Allison Mildren to another staff member in the Mitchell electorate office dated 15 March 2017 at 3.06pm, and I quote:

On the phone earlier Corey mentioned the following details about Tui's working days here;

Thursday March 6 is the first day Tui is allowed to get paid (given her Mat leave entitlements) however she is not able to be in the office on that day as she is away. Therefore she is planning on doing two half days BEFORE 6 April—…March 24 and another half day on…March 27.

Then from Thursday 13 April she will be in regularly.

Hope that all makes sense—Corey said he would follow it up with you and work out what paperwork needs to be arranged.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:16): I thank the member for his question. Yesterday, there was a similar line of questioning, and I did commit to speak to the Treasurer about this matter. He has made an investigation. He started an investigation, and so he will be making a statement when that is concluded. It could be today, it could be tomorrow, it could be on a subsequent day, but certainly he is looking at this issue.

There was a performance management issue, which goes back to the time when the previous government was in place. In fact, the member for West Torrens, the person who is asking the question today, was in fact the minister responsible for electorate offices during this time, so it begs the question what he knew at the time, what action he took at the time. I know for a fact there are many issues with regard—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —to staffing issues at electorate offices.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We take them very seriously. One of the other things I committed to doing yesterday was asking the Treasurer whether there were other issues in electorate offices that he was aware of, and I've got to say I was a little bit surprised by some of the matters that were raised—for example, the electorate office in Badcoe where very serious allegations were raised about the very high staff turnover there. We know that the member for Badcoe is no longer the shadow minister in the opposition's front bench.

The SPEAKER: The Premier will resume his seat for a moment. The member for West Torrens rises on a point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Standing order 98, sir: the Premier is debating the question rather than answering the substance of the question.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is called to order.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is warned.

Mr Brown interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Playford is warned for a second time. The question in its terms was quite specific. Facts were introduced by leave. The Premier, in his capacity representing the Treasurer, was providing a substantive answer to the subject matter of the question. I will allow the Premier to complete his answer, but I do direct the Premier to the substance of the question.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Sir, the substance of the question, as you would be more than aware, was about some incidents with regard to activities in electorate offices. We know that the people who work in our electorate offices work very, very hard, but from time to time there are issues around performance management. As I was saying to the house, I spoke to the Treasurer regarding a matter that was raised yesterday—

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Point of order, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: The Premier will resume his seat. The member for Lee on a point of order.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Mr Speaker, you have already ruled on debate and you specifically directed the Premier to the substance of the question and not to stray from that, and he is immediately disobeying your ruling.

The Hon. S.S. Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I take the point of order as amplifying the point of order made by the member for West Torrens, and on the same terms. I just make the observation that the Premier has referred to the undertaking of an investigation. I am listening very carefully. It may be that there is light to be shed on the scope of the investigation, otherwise the Premier is drawn back to the substance of the question. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you very much, sir. The substance of the question was regarding an incident which occurred back before we came to government. I have updated the house that the minister responsible for this period of time for electorate offices was, of course, the member for West Torrens in his capacity as the Treasurer at the time, so now he has brought this matter here.

I committed yesterday to speak to the Treasurer in the other place. I have had that preliminary discussion. He said that he will be making a statement. He says that from time to time there is performance management within electorate offices, and there was one around this time. He is going to make a further statement to his house, and I will be able to table that in this house.

Yesterday, I also committed to asking him whether there are other issues within electorate offices around performance management, or any other allegations that might be occurring, and I must say I was absolutely shocked with what I heard from the Treasurer. There are a large number of issues being raised against issues that have occurred in electorate offices right across the Labor Party's electorate offices, and I must say I am flabbergasted. I was particularly concerned about what was going on in the Badcoe office.

Earlier in the year, we had the member for Badcoe who said that she was resigning for a deeply personal matter. We've really—

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Point of order, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: The Premier will resume his seat. The member for Lee rises on a point of order.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Standing order 98: this is now the third time within the same response that the Premier is debating the answer. The question was specific, about the misuse of time sheets in the minister's electorate office and nothing else. You have directed him twice to come back to the substance of the question, and each time the Premier chooses to ignore that and to stray into debate.

The SPEAKER: I once again—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I once again uphold the point of order drawing attention, as it does, to the substance of the question. I have also adverted to the fact that the Premier, in answering the substance of the question, has highlighted the existence of an investigation of sorts. The Premier has, in describing the circumstances of the investigation, had occasion to describe the investigation. I have listened carefully to the answer. The Premier is drawn back to the substance of the question. Unless there is anything further to add in relation to the substance of the question, I invite the Premier to conclude his answer.

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