Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-09-24 Daily Xml

Contents

TAFE SA

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:34): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills a question in relation to TAFE.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I am advised that on 16 April 2014 retired TAFE chief executive, Mr Jeff Gunningham, emailed a TAFE college regarding the submission to the federal house of reps inquiry into the role of the technical and further education system and its operation. He reportedly said that he had contacted the minister's office seeking clarification regarding the process which had been agreed in writing. We presume that the agreement in writing is in relation to how the submission's preparation should be managed. The email states that the chief executive of DFEEST, Mr Garrand, had given directions over this matter and those directions differed from what had been agreed with the minister or her office. My questions to the minister are:

1. To what did the process agreed in writing in the email relate?

2. How did Mr Garrand's directions differ from that process?

3. As a result of contact between Mr Gunningham and your office, were any changes made to the process?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (14:35): It is obvious that the opposition is running out of questions, even after a five-week break. I have previously answered this question quite substantially. In fact, I think I have answered it on a number of occasions. I previously outlined the process that was put in place in relation to both the written submissions and the verbal or face-to-face sessions in relation to the House of Representatives inquiry into these matters.

I am not going to go through it all again, because I will be accused of taking up too much of question time. Heaven forbid! The opposition has already run out of questions but heaven forbid—I would not want to lessen their embarrassment by talking for longer than I need to. I will not go through all those details. I have already indicated that initially there was consideration of separate written submissions. Cabinet then decided that it would be a whole-of-government response, and information was exchanged. I have already indicated in detail what took place around both those matters.