The 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…
DetailsTreasurer Kevin Foley had been embarrassed by revelations of further major problems with the management of a major IT project in his Treasury Department. Evidence given in June this year to the Legislative Council Budget and Finance Committee by Under Treasurer Jim Wright had revealed that the original $22.5 million budget for the Revenue SA…
DetailsThe Rann Government had spent $5 million on an IT programme called “Maintenance Works” for the South Australia Housing Trust (SAHT) which did not work. Senior executives from the Department for Families and Communities (DFC) giving evidence to the Legislative Council Budget and Finance Committee today confirmed that the SAHT had now scrapped and written…
DetailsLiberal Member of the Legislative Council, Rob Lucas, today called on Premier Rann to introduce new controls of accountability on Ministers’ spending on overseas and some interstate travel. “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…
DetailsThe Hon. R.I. LUCAS (21:33): I rise to support the Address in Reply and, in doing so, I formally thank the Governor for the speech he presented to parliament on behalf of the government. In opening my remarks, I endorse the remarks of my colleague the Hon. Michelle Lensink in her conclusion that, as I…
DetailsThe Hon. R.I. LUCAS: I turn now to the second issue that I want to raise in my Address in Reply contribution tonight, and that is to return to the issue of the arrogance of the state Labor Government, Premier Rann and his ministers. We in the parliament see every day the arrogance of the…
DetailsDocuments released under Freedom of Information (FoI) had revealed the Rann Government had employed more than 140 people working full time inside Government departments’ on public relations, media and communications functions and was spending almost $19 million each year. Liberal Member of the Legislative Council, Rob Lucas, said today that the staff working inside Government…
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