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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-02-20 Daily Xml
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Office of Hydrogen Power

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Leader of the Opposition) (14:30): My question is to the Premier. Will the government retain Office of Hydrogen Power chief executive Sam Crafter? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Mr Crafter is around the fifth highest paid public servant in South Australia and receives more than half a million dollars every year.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:30): The short answer to the Leader of the Opposition's question is yes. The longer answer to the Leader of the Opposition goes to the wages of senior public sector managers and leaders in our state who have always earned sums that are considerably more than anybody in the parliament, and I know that that is often a source of conjecture in the public realm, but let me say something.

We bemoan the public sector often, and I am more than happy to acknowledge that in government and in the public sector there are inefficiencies, and we should always strive to improve that. We should acknowledge that. As a beast, government is never perfectly efficient. It will never be as efficient as what we can see in the market from time to time. That is just a truth and that is why there has to be a discipline with government, to try to rein it in and work towards efficiencies.

But I will also say this: there are some things that only government can do and when push comes to shove, when people's backs are against the wall, when it's time for a group of individuals to step up and intervene and lead, I am very proud that in this state we have a group of highly accomplished, extraordinarily dedicated and professional senior public servants—amazing people. We saw evidence of this during the pandemic. During the pandemic, when no-one else really knew where to turn, we saw the public sector in this state at every level stand up and get things done. The South Australian public, including in business—we watched in awe as the quick mobilisation happened, across a whole range of agencies.

In recent days, having had the privilege to be able to work with these people intimately, as we started preparations for the events that we have seen unfold here—which has been a crisis. It has been a crisis not of government's making but through the circumstances around GFG, and we had to come up with a policy intervention that achieved the desired objective, but done so in a way that didn't have other repercussions in a market-based economy. Watching these people step up and get to work and then come up with the sorts of solutions around support for small business like the one I just enunciated, watching them get to work, they are worth every last penny—every last penny. A range of officials have stood up to the plate.

I particularly want to acknowledge the CEO of DPC, Rick Persse; the Deputy CEO of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, whose name isn't mentioned in the public realm very often but Nari Chandler has been outstanding in her stewardship of this issue; Paul Martyn, the brand-new CEO of the Department for Energy and Mining, who only started late last year and who has been working around the clock on this endeavour, in conjunction with the Under Treasurer; and also Adam Reid from DSD. These people have really stood up to the plate. Amongst them, through all of that effort, has been Sam Crafter from the Office of Hydrogen Power, and his team, whose engagement in Whyalla is unlike anything I have ever seen. So, yes, he will be staying onboard. Yes, we know that there are some public servants who get paid oodles of money; and what I would say, and from what I have witnessed in recent weeks and months, is that they have been worth every cent.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: standing order 131, interruptions are not allowed. The entire time the Premier was speaking, the deputy leader was interjecting constantly and while I'm speaking now, they're interjecting. The moment anyone else is speaking, he's the first one to move points of order. The hypocrisy is breathtaking.

The SPEAKER: Thank you for your point of order. I thought that was the quietest four minutes we have had all day. They were pretty good. I thought what the Premier had to say was important and I thought that the opposition and other members listened with the respect that the answer deserved. I am dismissing your point of order, as much as I know you are the grandfather of the house.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: Well done, sir. Don't put up with his nonsense.

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