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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-03-24 Daily Xml
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Worrall, Mr L.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (16:35): I seek leave to make an explanation prior to directing a question to the Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation on the subject of Mr Lance Worrall.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Since I think May of last year I have been asking a series of questions of various government ministers about the whereabouts of Mr Lance Worrall and who was paying him.

The Hon. G.E. Gago: You got an answer today.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Indeed, and that is why I am asking a question. I thank the Leader of the Government for her out of order interjection to my question.

The PRESIDENT: Totally out of order.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: The history of Mr Lance Worrall, as members will be aware, is that he was a ministerial adviser for a former Labor premier in South Australia. He was then given a job as the chief executive of the industry and trade department with a total package of more than $300,000. He was found to be incapable of performing that job as CEO, was demoted and became a deputy CEO but kept his CEO salary of more than $300,000 a year as deputy CEO.

He was then found to be incapable of holding down that position, so the government found him a job as a project officer seconded to the University of Adelaide, to help organise a funding bid for the university for a cooperative research centre at the University of Adelaide. The government very kindly, rather than terminating him, as they were able to do under the contract, continued to pay him at the CEO salary of more than $300,000 a year to be a project officer.

We had been told at the Budget and Finance Committee that that job down at the University of Adelaide was only until May last year. In May last year I asked the Leader of the Government what was happening with Mr Worrall, and today, after a series of follow-up questions, I got an answer from the Leader of the Government on behalf of the government that his position at the University of Adelaide had been extended now until 30 June 2015. So the job that was meant to have concluded in May last year has been extended at least until 30 June 2015.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: At $300,000 a year?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: One assumes it is still at the CEO—

The Hon. G.E. Gago: You're a disgrace.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: 'He's a disgrace'?

The Hon. G.E. Gago: You are the disgrace.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: The Leader of the Government is saying Mr Lance Worrall is a disgrace, I gather, and I agree.

The Hon. G.E. Gago: You are the disgrace. The Hon. Rob Lucas is a disgrace.

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: The payment of $300,000 to any CEO—

The Hon. G.E. Gago: The Hon. Rob Lucas is a disgrace.

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. G.E. Gago: You are a disgrace. You're a despicable man.

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: —and who is now a project officer—

The Hon. G.E. Gago: You are a despicable low-life, that's what you are.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: —is a disgrace, and I can only agree with the Leader of the Government—

The Hon. G.E. Gago: You are a disgrace, the Hon. Rob Lucas, absolute disgrace—

The PRESIDENT: The honourable Leader of the Government, please. The Hon. Mr Lucas should be able to ask the question in silence.

The Hon. G.E. Gago: You should be ashamed of yourself.

The PRESIDENT: Order! The honourable minister—

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Mr President, even though she is out of order—

The Hon. G.E. Gago: You're a disgrace. You're an absolute disgrace.

The PRESIDENT: Can the honourable Leader of the Government—please, I demand respect when any of the ministers are up answering questions.

The Hon. G.E. Gago: He doesn't deserve respect, sir.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Regardless of that, the honourable minister will please allow the Hon. Mr Lucas—

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: Mr President, point of order.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Dawkins.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: Mr President, the Leader of the Government is absolutely defying your ruling and I ask you to reprimand her.

The PRESIDENT: If I sat and reprimanded everyone who interrupts while I am trying to speak—

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: She is defying you directly.

The PRESIDENT: Yes, well, the honourable leader of the opposition does exactly the same. So the Hon. Mr Lucas—

The Hon. G.E. Gago: There is a point of order, sir.

The PRESIDENT: The honourable minister.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Mr President, from time to time we all try to take liberties in this place but we do not direct you and ask you to give points of order—that is your prerogative—and the Hon. Mr Dawkins, I suggest to you, is out of order by asking you to do so.

The PRESIDENT: I think it is important that we allow, for the integrity of this chamber, regardless of what you think of his question, that the Hon. Mr Lucas should be able to ask it in silence. The Hon. Mr Lucas.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: Thank you, Mr President, for your protection from government ministers. In outlining this tawdry story of government waste and financial mismanagement, as I said, minister Gago today has finally confessed that the government has extended Mr Worrall's contract to 30 June 2015.

Mr President, can I remind you and other members that the former CEO of one of Mr Worrall's departments, when he was asked at Budget and Finance Committee why he did not just terminate Mr Worrall's position as he was entitled to do under the terms of the contract because the position had been declared surplus, indicated that he could not, because the contract was actually with Premier Weatherill and the decision rested with Premier Weatherill and not with him as the CEO of the department.

Let me be quite frank. The then CEO of the department did not indicate what he would have actually done if he had the power. The impression I gathered as chair of that committee was that, if the decision was his, it certainly would not have been the decision that had been taken by Premier Weatherill.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! As distasteful as you may think the Hon. Mr Lucas's question is, he has a right to ask it in silence, so allow the Hon. Mr Lucas to ask his question.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: As I indicated, the chief executive officer of that department made it quite clear that the decision was a decision for the Premier and not for him as the chief executive; that was the nature of his evidence. He said nothing other than that, but it was quite clear that the evidence was that if the contract was to be terminated, it could only be terminated by the Premier, because the contract was actually with Premier Weatherill. My questions to the minister are:

1. What were the total payments that taxpayers made in terms of salary and other benefits to Mr Lance Worrall for his employment at the University of Adelaide for the financial year 2014-15, given that he is projected to be employed at least until 30 June 2015?

2. In addition to the total payments made to Mr Worrall, do the taxpayers of South Australia incur any other additional costs in relation to the secondment to the University of Adelaide for that particular position?

3. Why did the government choose to extend the secondment to the University of Adelaide for this project officer position until 30 June 2015? Why did the government not terminate Mr Worrall's position, given that it had been decided that his position was surplus to the requirements of various government departments?

4. What actual work did Mr Lance Worrall undertake for the taxpayers of South Australia in the financial year 2014-15?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (16:43): I thank the honourable member for his question but note it is his usual gutless attack on individuals who are not here and cannot defend themselves; his usual gutless base attack on an individual. He has gone one step further. Usually the Hon. Mr Lucas comes in here with 'Liberal headquarters has received an anonymous fax' or other sorts of ways to make things up.

He has gone beyond just making it up from supposedly anonymous sources and now he has gone one step further and he is talking about, 'I got the impression from someone. He might have thought this.' He has gone into reading minds to pass as evidence for his gutless, disgraceful attacks on individuals. I am presuming many of the answers to the questions he has asked have probably already been answered and can be found in other places but, if they cannot, I will look to see if a response can be brought back to this place.

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