Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-05-12 Daily Xml

Contents

PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT COMMISSIONER

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:20): My questions are directed to the minister representing the Premier, as follows:

1. Since the appointment of Mr Warren McCann as the Commissioner for Public Employment, has Mr McCann increased the staff in his office from the previous allocation of the previous commissioner plus two staff persons when the commissioner appeared before the Budget and Finance Committee in 2008 to a current staffing level of the new commissioner and 17 staff?

2. Did the new commissioner, Mr McCann, demand that he have two separate offices in his new abode: one being an open space office and the second an enclosed office?

3. As a result of this particular demand, were contractors brought in especially over the Christmas holiday period to demolish the existing offices and to create the new offices required by the new commissioner?

4. Did Mr McCann require the installation of a dishwasher and, if so, what was the cost of such installation?

5. What was the total cost of office renovations and any new equipment or technology required to be installed by the new commissioner?

6. What is now the total operating cost budget for the new commissioner's office, and what was the total operating cost budget for the previous commissioner when he had only two staff when he appeared before the Budget and Finance Committee in 2008?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (15:21): As Mr McCann has appeared before the Budget and Finance Committee, I am surprised that the Hon. Mr Lucas has not actually asked him himself. I thought that was what the committee was all about, and I am sure that the honourable member will have some opportunity to do so in the future. I will refer those questions to the appropriate minister.