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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-26 Daily Xml
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MILITSIS, MR V.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (15:28): I raise a matter of interest in relation to a very important South Australian, Mr Vili Militsis. Vili's Cakes employs over 300 people across Australia. It has become one of South Australia's most known, trusted and enjoyed brands. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that Vili's name represents what it represents; that is, the extraordinary success which can be achieved from humble beginnings with a great deal of hard work.

Vili Militsis is a dedicated person behind the success story. However, his status as a leading South Australian businessman was not easily achieved. In fact, Militsis entered South Australia as a refugee from communist Hungary in the 1950s. I imagine that during his journey getting here at the age of nine he probably endured more hardship than most self-made businessmen encounter throughout their professional careers. Upon his arrival his perseverance already differentiated him.

It is a quality which saw him through his first major challenge of mastering the English language. From word 'go' Vili Militsis grabbed every opportunity with both hands. He battled through language classes at school and, I expect, through all the social challenges that would accompany being a foreign student in the 1950s. From what I understand, Vili not only endured but also excelled in every challenge he came across. He was a top maths student and soccer player throughout his school years, and I expect that he still harbours those skills.

Right when Vili Militsis was beginning to relish the experience of being a student, he had to enter the workforce so that his family could survive. Whereas most would see this as insult added to injury, of course Vili exploited the chance. He dedicated himself to becoming a baker and, upon qualification, threw every cent he had into getting Vili's off the ground.

Vili did not get an easy ride in the early years of his business. His products struggled for a while and, true to his character, it was not because of bad business ethics or anything of the like: it was because he had the integrity to provide a quality product to South Australia, and the South Australian people took to it, although it took him a while to convince people that he was offering something better.

However, he has now won over this state and customers from all over the world. His hard work has paid off. Unfortunately though, it seems that something will always present itself to make Vili Militsis's life difficult. As most members would have read over the weekend in the Sunday Mail, Vili's current challenge has arisen from wording in the South Australian Road Traffic Act which is trivial but causing him a major headache. This issue was brought to my attention by our hardworking candidate for Ashford, Ms Penny Pratt, in the last election.

The South Australian law states that, if a body corporate owns the vehicle, someone from the corporation can provide a statutory declaration stating that they were not driving the vehicle and that they do not know who the driver was at the time the evidence was taken. The process follows that a corporate fine is issued, which is often more than the regular expiation fee, but no demerit points accompany it.

The problem that Vili Militsis is facing is that he has structured his company as a partnership with his wife, Rosemary. Apparently, a partnership does not fit the definition of a body corporate under the Road Traffic Act. Subsequently, Vili has up to 50 vehicles operating in four states of Australia and in any case, where an offence is recorded, he has to take the demerit points personally if he is unable to prove exactly who the driver was at the time or if the driver is not prepared to take the blame.

There are a couple of pertinent issues. First and foremost, I am sure that many other South Australians are under the impression that in this state we are given a fair degree of choice when it comes to founding and operating a business. This is one of the appealing things of doing business in this state: one can find a way to be professionally successful despite their situation because our state has the flexibility to accommodate a wide range of circumstances.

Vili and Rosemary have chosen to run Vili's as a partnership and it has been a huge success. They have more employees than many companies organised under a corporate structure, so we can certainly refute any argument that they should find it easier to track employees' vehicle usage within the business. Businesses always attempt to account for the activities and whereabouts of their staff and resources for a wide range of reasons. However, no system is perfect.

The other issue here is that the definition of 'body corporate' within the act provides that it 'includes the Crown in any capacity and any body or entity that is not a natural person'. I am not completely across the legal status of a partnership but I would expect that it could be classified as a body or entity that is not a natural person. So I think the legislation is a little unclear and obviously causing some problems.

Whether or not it is a matter of interpretation or need for change, this problem needs to be cleared up. This is a trivial issue that is threatening the ability of one of South Australia's leading businessmen to do his job. I attest that Vili Militsis has overcome enough challenges in achieving business success and I think we owe to him and every other business owner in a partnership to clear up this matter. I have spoken to parliamentary counsel and I expect to get support from this chamber when we attempt to change the Road Traffic Act to allow Mr Militsis (and others like him) not to be subject to losing his licence through no fault of his own when one of his employees incurs a speeding or traffic offence in another state.

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