House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-02-07 Daily Xml

Contents

Child Protection Department Chief Executive

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (15:21): Supplementary: does the Premier intend to compete, including with the Victorian government, for the best possible candidate globally for the Department for Child Protection chief executive? If so, how? With leave, I will explain.

The SPEAKER: Leave is sought. We are running the risk of, of course, entering into matters that were not canvassed by the answer itself, but we will hear from the member for Heysen.

Leave granted.

Mr TEAGUE: The Victorian Premier is reported publicly as offering $747,497 to find Victoria a new child protection boss. That's an extra $364,565 in salary to what is currently paid here. It's about what taxpayers pay Rik Morris to run the Premier's Delivery Unit. The Victorian search has already, as I think is well known, taken six months and still no replacement.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! We are testing the limits of supplementary questions.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (15:22): As I said earlier, it is a competitive marketplace. The government remains flexible to respond to it accordingly. We have the ambition, like I said, of recruiting someone of high calibre to that position, given it's a substantial responsibility. That candidate might come from interstate, might come from overseas or might come internally as well. The Victorian government can account for their process; we will account for ours, and we are getting on with it as quickly as possible.