Taxpayers were paying almost $800,000 every year for Rann Government board appointments of “Labor mates” or people with a close association to the Labor Party. “Mr Rann must explain publicly his reasons for continually appointing so many people with connections to the Labor Party to key Government boards and committees,” Liberal MLC Rob Lucas said…
DetailsThe Rann Government was trying to have the Parliament acknowledge on every sitting day that the Aboriginal people are the traditional owners of the land on which Parliament House is built. “This is just another example of political correctness and of rampant political tokenism by the Rann Government,” Liberal MLC Rob Lucas said today. “At…
DetailsTaxpayers had a right to know how much taxpayers’ money was being paid to key consultants such as Bruce Carter and Ian Kowalick by the Rann Government. “Premier Mike Rann and his Ministers have refused for eight months to answer questions on notice in the Legislative Council about how much taxpayers’ money has been paid…
DetailsThe Rann Government had refused to answer almost 1,200 questions on notice in the Parliament, some of which had been first asked six years ago in December 2002. “This is an increasingly arrogant Rann Government snubbing its nose at any pretext of Parliamentary accountability by simply refusing to answer important questions,” Liberal MLC Rob Lucas…
DetailsMinister Jennifer Rankine, who had employed a consultant to help her as Minister for Families and Communities, actually had 19 full time personal staff to help her with her job. “Earlier this month it was revealed that Minister Rankine had spent $80,000 over four months to employ consultant Margaret Wagstaff to help her with the…
DetailsThe Rann Government had appointed their new favourite “power couple” Margaret Wagstaff and Phillip Bentley to at least six Government boards and committees in recent years. “These appointments came in addition to the lucrative consultancies of $80,000 for four months work given to Ms Wagstaff by Minister Jennifer Rankine,” Liberal MLC Rob Lucas said today.…
DetailsThe Rann Government still had not announced details of more than half of the $10 million in cuts to the country health budget for this year. “It appears that Premier Mike Rann and Health Minister John Hill will not announce details of these savage cuts until after the Frome by-election on 17 January next year,”…
DetailsThe WorkCover claims management contract was being urgently renegotiated to ensure claims manager Employers Mutual Limited (EML) could not get a windfall profit from recent legislative changes passed by the Parliament. Evidence given today by WorkCover Chairman Philip Bentley to the Statutory Authorities Review Committee (SARC) confirmed there had been a “robust” discussion between WorkCover…
DetailsStatement tabled in the Legislative Council on Wednesday 26 November 2008 ATKINSON/ASHBOURNE/CLARKE AFFAIR Statement by members of the former Select Committee on the Atkinson/Ashbourne/Clarke Affair The Select Committee was established by resolution of the Legislative Council on 7 July 2005. When the Second Session of the 51st Parliament was prorogued on 14 August 2008, the…
DetailsAttorney-General Michael Atkinson’s department was going to spend up to $8 million extra over 10 years so lawyers could have their own separate office, contrary to current government office accommodation guidelines. In evidence to today’s meeting of the Legislative Council Budget and Finance Committee, Jerome Maguire (Justice Department Chief Executive) confirmed that he had made…
DetailsAttorney-General Michael Atkinson had approved the sale of the Public Trustee building for $7.6 million in May 2007 two months after Colliers had independently valued the property at $9.37 million. The sale of the Public Trustee building was an important part of a controversial and complicated property deal between the Rann Government and companies associated…
DetailsA former senior officer in the Office of the Public Trustee had made a series of damning allegations about waste, incompetence and maladministration in the Office. Mr John Oliver, who worked in the Office of the Public Trustee for about eight years until 2006, today gave evidence to a meeting of the Statutory Authorities Review…
DetailsThirty five Treasury documents expressing concern about the Government’s State Aquatic Centre deal had been blocked from release by the Government under Freedom of Information (FoI) laws. In June the Rann Government announced that the Aqua43 consortium, including MacQuarie Bank and Candetti Constructions, had been the successful tenderers for the $50 million State Aquatic Centre…
DetailsStunning evidence given today to a Parliamentary Inquiry revealed that the Chief Executive of a major company believed the WorkCover expression of interest process seemed "smelly” and “improper". Mr Paul Serong, Chief Executive of Cambridge Integrated Services, made the comments to the Legislative Council Statutory Authorities Review Committee about eventual successful bidder Employers Mutual Limited's…
DetailsEvidence given yesterday to the Legislative Council Budget and Finance Committee by Under Treasurer Jim Wright had revealed that Funds SA had been engaged in the practice of “short selling” of shares which had been banned recently by Australian Government regulators. Liberal Member of the Legislative Council, Rob Lucas, said today that short selling of…
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