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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-10-30 Daily Xml
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Question Time

MINISTERIAL TRAVEL

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:32): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for State/Local Government Relations a question about a malfeasance, the suffering South Australian taxpayer and the minister's duty to see Europe with his family.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: The Minister for Local Government spent $47,000 of taxpayers' funds—$47,000—on a three-week trip to Europe accompanied by his wife, former senator Dana Wortley, and their teenage son. The trip included the desirable visitor destinations of Paris, London and Edinburgh. As a South Australian taxpayer, I want to see where my money has been spent and why.

As we all know, when a member of this chamber goes on safari to wild and exotic places, or even travels within this state, section 7 of rule 13 of the Members' Handbook states that the member must lodge a travel report within 90 days of the trip. However, a check of the relevant parliamentary website is curiously blank on this junior minister's 19-day magical tour and, as we have learnt, the minister is refusing to release the itinerary.

In fact, not even the Premier had seen Mr Wortley's travel report—neither, as I understand it, had anyone else in cabinet—until the minister was forced to explain himself. Some functionary in his office has come up with a set of words that would make the scriptwriters of Yes Minister blush. The lackey said:

The purpose of the travel was to examine a number of areas relevant to the local government portfolio, including community capacity building, the concept of 'localism', the roles and responsibilities of councils, and, specifically, in relation to the responsibilities for the Adelaide Cemeteries Authority, the management of the heritage aspects of cemeteries

My questions are:

1. What does the minister understand by the term 'community capacity building'?

2. Can the minister please explain the concept of localism, and why he did not study the concept of localism locally?

3. Can the minister only study localism in Paris, London and Edinburgh?

4. When the minister was supposedly studying overseas cemeteries, did he see the gravestone of ministerial accountability?

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (14:34): In regard to the duration of the trip, I departed on 21 September and arrived back in Adelaide on 9 October, so it was not three weeks. The honourable member is wrong. The purpose of the travel was to examine a number of areas that are currently of great relevance to the state/local government portfolio in South Australia. These include community capacity building, the concept of localism and the role and responsibilities of council, among others. There have been some very significant changes in local—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Do you want to hear the answer?

Honourable members: Yes, we do.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Well, that's good. I think everyone else would like to hear it, too. There have been some very significant changes in local and regional government in the United Kingdom over the past 15 years. In 1997, the Blair government created the Scottish and Welsh parliaments and instigated a policy of 'new localism' with an increased focus on the capacity of local government to provide essential services.

The Cameron government is now implementing its own localism policies which have devolved even more power to a local level. Within this context of change, this travel provided an opportunity to meet with people in local, regional and central government who have spent the past decade and a half giving careful thought to the relationships between the spheres of government and the best way to deliver services to their communities.

Within the wider discussions on the reform of roles and responsibilities, I also took the opportunity to examine specific issues that we are currently examining here in South Australia. These include the English and Scottish councils' experience and policies on the conduct and accountability of public officials. The many interesting discussions I had in this area will inform the work of the Office for State/Local Government Relations as they continue to consider the broad range of issues relating to council governance, accountability and conduct that are at the next stage of our local government accountability reforms.

I also met with representatives from the city of Paris to examine the Paris Open Data initiative and the management and/or revival of dilapidated buildings. Also, given my responsibility for the Adelaide Cemeteries Authority, the travel provided an opportunity to take a closer look at the management of the heritage aspects of cemeteries and the opportunities for tourism that this heritage can provide. A briefing was also provided by the management of the Père-Lachaise Cemetery about heritage and preservation issues for graves of historical significance.

Since 2002, local government policy in South Australia has focused on building capacity within the sector, for councils to become more financially sustainable, to better manage assets, to become more accountable to their communities particularly in regard to financial and governance practices, and to increase voter participation in local government elections.

Over this time, local government has been the subject of similar changes in jurisdictions across the world in countries that have focused on the best way to deliver local services. Over the past couple of years, councils across the United Kingdom have been promoting a localist agenda while focusing on the best way to deliver key local services. I was able to take a closer look at many of the proposed changes, particularly the provisions of the new Localism Act 2011 which focuses on empowering cities and other local areas.

I met with representatives of local councils in England and Scotland, along with the peak representative body for councils in Scotland and with members of the central government in both Edinburgh and London to discuss many issues including matters relevant to the conduct and accountability of public officials in local government and the policies that affect not only councils but the entire community of the United Kingdom.

I met with representatives of local government from the city of Paris in France to examine the Parisian Open Data initiative to explore the potential hurdles and risks linked with shared data and statistics. South Australian local government has a strong interest in this idea, and there has been discussion of creating a coherent process for managing data and its release into the public domain to better inform all citizens.

It is this data that will increase government accountability and transparency, and that can be the catalyst for a stronger link between communities and government. My view is that a project of this nature could also tap into real potential for innovation and economic development. I met with the deputy mayor of housing to discuss the management of dilapidated buildings and to gain an insight into the council's wide-ranging responsibilities for the restructure of older run-down buildings that still have heritage value.

I also had the privilege of meeting with Pascal-Hervé Daniel, head of cemetery services. His comprehensive briefing and the tour of the cemetery were not only fascinating but a significant lesson about the heritage value of cemeteries in general. We had interesting discussions about the practical aspects of managing such an iconic cemetery in the 21st century.

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