Families on waiting lists for surgery in our hospitals would be outraged when they see the thousands of taxpayer dollars being wasted on lunches and dinners for public servants earning more than $300,000 per annum. “Some of these expenses are outrageous, unreasonable and unacceptable,” Shadow Minister for Finance Rob Lucas said today. “However, the problem…
Evidence given to a Parliamentary Committee revealed there had been a massive $120 million blowout in the Health Department’s annual budget. Dr Tony Sherbon, Health Department CEO, revealed to the Legislative Council Budget and Finance Committee that budget overspends for 2008-09 totalled $120 million. “Unfortunately for South Australian taxpayers, the Rann Government’s Health Department has…
Premier Mike Rann must introduce new controls of accountability on Ministers’ extravagant spending on overseas and interstate travel and entertainment. “As a first step Ministers should be required to provide details of total costs, purpose and results of each overseas and certain interstate trips on the government website,” Shadow Minister for Finance Rob Lucas said…
Extravagant and unreasonable travel and entertainment expenses by Rann Government Ministers showed how arrogant and out of touch Premier Rann and Treasurer Foley had become. “At a time when public servants’ wage rises are being restricted to 2.5 per cent and services and programmes are being cut across the board, how can Mr Rann and…
Premier Mike Rann had again changed his defence in the debate over conflict of interest allegations against him. In a statement released late last week, Mr Rann now says the Deputy Crown Solicitor had previously advised that the simple fact that an organisation was located in a Minister’s electorate does not give rise to a…
Documents released under Freedom of Information had revealed some Rann Government Ministers had been making unreasonable and extravagant claims at taxpayers’ expense. For example, these documents of expenses paid for by Ministerial credit cards show Treasurer Kevin Foley made the following claims for meals and late night (and early morning) drinking sessions in South Australia,…
It was hard to believe claims by some Rann Government Ministers that there were no records of guests they took at taxpayers’ expense to the Government Corporate Box at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. “Documents released under Freedom of Information (see attached) showed Minister Pat Conlon and then Minister Steph Key invited guests to a performance…
Premier Mike Rann had condemned himself by his own words in the debate over conflict of interest allegations against him, Shadow Minister for Finance Rob Lucas said today. “Yesterday, in an attempted defence over conflict of interest allegations about a $50,000 grant to the Port Power Football Club, Mr Rann told The Australian: “If it…
Remuneration for some key Rann Government Boards and Committees had in the last 12 months exploded by as much as 200 per cent. “At a time when Mr Rann is asking public servants to restrict wage increases to 2.5 per cent per annum, it demonstrates how out of touch Mr Rann and his Government are…
Shadow Minister for Finance Rob Lucas said today that recent estimates of the total cost of government advertising “significantly underestimated” the real total cost of government advertising to taxpayers. Evidence given today to a Legislative Council Select Committee by senior Health Department officers confirmed that the Rann Government had allocated $2.2 million for an advertising…