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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-09-22 Daily Xml
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Premier and Cabinet Department

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:37): My question is to the Premier. Has anyone within the Department of the Premier and Cabinet informed the Premier that his department is under an investigation from the Ombudsman?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Elizabeth is warned. The Deputy Premier will resume her seat.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned for a second time. I remind—in this case, particularly members on my left—that the question having been asked it is entirely within the discretion of the government for a minister to answer the question and, if given the call, the minister is entitled to be heard in silence. If it's a member's desire to raise a point of order, that's orderly. Interjections are disorderly and interjections by way of cacophony on the conclusion of a question are particularly disorderly. The Deputy Premier sought the call. The Deputy Premier has the call.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning and Local Government) (14:39): As advised by the Ombudsman himself, he has in fact confirmed that he has referred the matter to the OPI for assessment. Those are his words from his statement. That is what has occurred.

The parliament have already been informed as of May this year, when we had a report from the Privacy Committee of their assessment. Indeed, they had reported their request to all government chief executives as to whether there were any links in relation to NationBuilder and other material, because this was an inquiry into whether there had been any collection or misuse of private information. The Privacy Committee themselves confirmed in that report that they had made those consultations.

The SPEAKER: The Deputy Premier will resume her seat. The leader rises on a point of order.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: Point of order: standing order 98. Notwithstanding the Attorney-General being an expert on everything, my question—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Chaffey is warned. The leader rises on a point of order. It's not an opportunity for debate. I will hear the point of order.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: My question was to the Premier, sir. I asked the Premier whether or not any member of his department, the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, had informed the Premier that their department was under investigation. That was a specific question. It doesn't bear any relevance to the Ombudsman's statement. It only goes to whether or not the Premier was informed—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right!

Mr MALINAUSKAS: —by his own department.

The SPEAKER: I have the point of order. For the time being, I draw the Deputy Premier to the substance of the question. The Deputy Premier has the call.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: In May, as was advised to the parliament, the request for information had been sought from all—

Ms Hildyard: Was he informed? That is the question.

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

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: —state government chief executives. Obviously, the Department of the Premier and Cabinet is included in 'all'.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: As to whether there had been any links and the information was provided, I am advised, if the members want to refresh their memories on the Privacy Committee's report, that all agencies advised the Privacy Committee that they had deleted the relevant documentation links, etc. All of that had been conveyed to the parliament in May. The Privacy Committee confirmed that they had provided that report to the parliament here. It was tabled in the parliament, plus they had provided it to the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman has now referred the matter, as he says in his statement, to the OPI for assessment. He has made no final conclusions himself—he makes that very clear—and he has sent it over to the OPI for assessment. That is an agency that members are all familiar with. We understand it is the independent body in relation to this. He has sent it there for assessment, so we will of course await that assessment.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Ramsay will cease interjecting. Before I call the leader, I warn for a second time the member for Elizabeth, I warn the member for Reynell and I call to order the member for Ramsay.

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