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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-10-28 Daily Xml
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GOVERNMENT SPENDING

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (14:40): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Premier a question about further examples of the Rann government wasting taxpayers' money.

Leave granted.

The Hon. B.V. Finnigan interjecting:

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: No, that was the subject of the question; it was not opinion. Earlier this year, I asked a series of questions in relation to the Commissioner for Public Employment, Mr Warren McCann, who had previously been—

The Hon. B.V. Finnigan interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Lucas has the floor.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: —the chief executive of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet. Some of those questions related to whether the commissioner had demanded that he, as the commissioner, have two separate offices in his new place of residence: one an open space office and the second an enclosed office; whether he had required the installation of a dishwasher and what the cost had been; whether or not a contractor had been brought in especially over the Christmas holiday period to demolish offices and create the new office requirements for the new commissioner; and a range of other questions. It will not surprise you, Mr President, that some five months later those questions remain unanswered.

I have been further informed that when Mr McCann was the chief executive of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet he had the same requirements: that he must have two offices as the chief executive, that is, an open space office and an enclosed office for when he required the use of an enclosed office.

I am further advised that taxpayers' money was expended to bring about those renovations as well as equipment-related changes. I am now advised that the new Chief Executive, Mr Chris Eccles, does not like the office arrangements of the former chief executive and is now expending taxpayers' money to re-create the old office arrangements to make them more suitable, that is, not two separate offices but just one for himself as the Chief Executive.

Finally, I am advised that cabinet recently made a decision for pay increases for chief executives and has backdated those pay increases for all chief executive officers to 1 July 2009. I am further advised that all ministerial staffers will receive a flow-on benefit of that particular backdated pay increase to 1 July 2009. Again, Mr President, you might not be surprised that, evidently, the Premier has not publicly announced that particular pay rise decision. My questions to the minister are as follows:

1. When will the questions I asked in May of this year be answered by the minister?

2. What was the cost of the office renovations and equipment changes when Mr McCann was the chief executive of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet?

3. What is the cost for the further renovations by the new Chief Executive, Mr Chris Eccles, in relation to office and equipment changes in his department as a result of the earlier changes made by Mr McCann?

4. Has cabinet made a recent decision for pay increases for all chief executives and backdated them to 1 July, and is that also flowing on to all ministerial officers? If so, why has no public announcement been made of this decision?

5. Is it correct that the Commissioner for Public Employment, Mr McCann, is now being paid a total remuneration package of almost $400,000 per year to manage a staff of about 15 people, and how does the government justify that particular set of circumstances?

6. Has the Commissioner for Public Employment recently filled a manager level position in his office? As the commissioner, has he offered tenure to that position and the payment of extra allowances for that position to take it up to a position of director level? If so, is that consistent with all the guidelines for the employment of staff that govern the Commissioner for Public Employment's office? Is it correct that this position was not advertised and, if not, why was it not advertised for applications from other officers?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:45): It is unfortunate that the former leader of the opposition should be attacking Mr Warren McCann. Perhaps my memory is failing me, but I thought Mr McCann was appointed by the then premier, John Olsen. He has served this state very well. It was a very good choice and I do not mean in any way to criticise Mr Olsen for that as it was a very good choice; Mr McCann has served this state very well as the head of the premier's department.

The Hon. R.I. Lucas: He is not the head any more; he got sacked.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Mr McCann has served this state very well for many years. He has been a loyal public servant for a series of governments, and that really is a typical cheap shot by Mr Lucas. Similarly, in relation to any pay rise to chief executives, I understood that that information has been very well known because it flows on to the officers of members of parliament. I am sure the honourable member's staff have enjoyed that same level of pay rise. It is normally from 1 July each year, on my understanding, that those sorts of increases have applied.

I understand also that those increases are passed on to the staff of members of parliament as well as to ministerial staff and others, and any rate of increase is much more modest than one would expect in the private sector or in other sectors of the Public Service. The chief executives of this state do an incredibly good job. We are lucky that this state is served by a number of very dedicated and talented senior public servants, and the sorts of rises they get are the same as those for other members of the Public Service.

The Hon. Mr Lucas began this by talking about waste. I would not have thought that paying reasonable increases, in line with increases for the rest of the community, was waste. That is the new opposition policy! It has been promising money for everything. It will find an extra $25 million for the regions and get $20 million or $30 million for an ICAC, and it is all supposed to be funded by government waste. The only waste we have, apparently, are public servants. Let every public servant in this state know that under the Liberals there will be a wage freeze, because their salaries, according to Mr Lucas, are waste. Presumably, if we get a Liberal government next March, there will be no increases for the Public Service for some time as apparently that is waste. It is interesting we have discovered that fact.

This government has made clear that it believes public sector wage increases must be constrained in the current environment, but public servants should be treated the same as other members of the community. In relation to the other specific matters, I will refer them to the Premier.

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