The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (20:13): I rise to speak to the second reading. The bill that has been introduced to amend the Education Act seeks to ensure that a government school cannot be closed or amalgamated except by a resolution passed in both houses. As the act currently stands, the minister can close or amalgamate…
DetailsShadow Finance Minister Rob Lucas today accused Premier Weatherill and the Labor Government of a disgraceful attempted whitewash of the ‘Cartridgegate’ scandal. “Rather than ensuring an independent investigation by appointing the Auditor-General under the Public Finance and Audit Act, Mr Weatherill has appointed a committee of public servants called the ‘Procurement Working Group’,” Mr Lucas…
DetailsFurther information leaked to the Liberal Party has confirmed three more government agencies have been implicated in the growing ‘Cartridgegate’ scandal, Shadow Finance Minister Rob Lucas said today.. Embarrassingly for Treasurer Snelling, his own Treasury and Finance portfolio is now implicated together with the Department for Families and Communities (DFC) and Primary Industries (PIRSA). This…
DetailsThe Shoppies’ Union should allow Premier Weatherill to implement all of the Liberal Opposition’s retail trading policy rather than just a small section of it, Shadow Industrial Relations Minister Rob Lucas said today. A senior government source has confirmed the head of the Shoppies’ Union, Peter Malinauskas, has agreed to allow Premier Weatherill to announce…
DetailsShadow Industrial Relations Minister Rob Lucas today congratulated injured worker advocate Rosemary McKenzie-Ferguson on winning the Community Leader award in the 2011 South Australian of the Year Awards. Ms McKenzie-Ferguson was presented with the award at a Civic Reception at the Adelaide Town Hall last night by the Lord Mayor of Adelaide, the Hon Stephen…
DetailsTwo more agencies – the Attorney General’s Department and the South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission – have been implicated in the ‘Cartridgegate’ scandal, evidence to the Legislative Council Budget and Finance Committee confirmed today. AGD Chief Executive Jerome Maguire said a search of 10 years of printer cartridge purchases by the department had…
DetailsShadow Finance Minister Rob Lucas today called for Premier Weatherill to provide answers to questions about the cost of termination payments and new public sector jobs for ministerial staffers employed by former Premier Rann’s ministry. Justice Chief Executive Jerome Maguire told the Budget and Finance Committee today that Mr Rann’s former Chief of Staff Nick…
DetailsLeaked information provided to the Liberal Opposition has revealed that more than 10 Labor Government departments have been implicated in the ‘Cartridgegate’ scandal. It is now clear this scandal is spiralling out of control, as every week more and more departments and staff are implicated. Shadow Finance Minister Rob Lucas said copies of invoices leaked…
DetailsThe Labor Government has been forced into an embarrassing backflip over its latest WorkCover bill. Minister for Workers’ Rehabilitation Jack Snelling, who introduced the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation (Employer Payments) Amendment Bill 2011 on 28 September 2011, has advised Self Insurers of South Australia key provisions of the bill will now be removed and the…
DetailsThe Labor Government’s financial management credibility has taken yet another blow with the revelation that WorkCover’s unfunded liability actually blew out by a staggering $87 million in the first six months of this year. According to WorkCover’s own figures, the unfunded liability at the end of 2010 was $865 million . The 2010-11 Auditor-General Report,…
DetailsThe Labor Government must agree to a comprehensive independent inquiry of all government departments and agencies following the latest ‘Cartridgegate’ revelations. At least four government departments, involving eight staff and more than $400,000 in purchases of printer cartridges, have been identified. In most cases, if not all, staff received personal benefits for purchasing printer cartridges…
DetailsThe Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:40): I want to look at the record of Premier Rann, perhaps for the first and only time. As Premier Rann leaves parliament, a decision he has taken has united almost everyone in this parliament. Everyone cannot wait to get rid of him. That is perhaps unsurprising for members of the…
DetailsBUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (17:41): I move: That the report on the operations of the Budget and Finance Committee 2010-11 be noted. In speaking briefly to this report, I firstly thank the hardworking members of the Budget and Finance Committee, both current and past (over the 12 months we have had…
DetailsThe Hon. R.I. LUCAS (21:51): I rise to speak to the second reading of the bill. The Liberal Party’s position is that it will not be supporting the bill. I think it is fair to say that, as with some other issues, there is a broad church represented by our members, in particular, the Eyre…
DetailsThe Hon. R.I. LUCAS (17:52): I rise to speak to the second reading of the bill. As I listen to the contributions this afternoon, I am reminded that politics, indeed, makes for strange bedfellows. We have an ex-Labor minister in this council quoting a former Liberal Party chief of staff to a minister in support…
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