Page 2676 - Week 10 - Thursday, 15 October 1992
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I would like to say, Madam Speaker, that our approach is in marked contrast to that employed by Mr Kaine when he was in government. I ask members to recall the appointment of the Auditor-General. At the time that that appointment was made by Mr Kaine, Madam Speaker, I was in the Northern Territory with two of Mr Kaine's then colleagues, Mr Jensen and Ms Maher, from the Public Accounts Committee. We were there to study, amongst other things, the processes and procedures for the appointment of an Auditor-General. We were advised in the Northern Territory that Mr Kaine had made an appointment. There was no apparent advertising of that position, although it was vacant; there was no apparent merit selection process. Mr Kaine had simply chosen the person he thought was best for the job. Of course, he had a right to do that, but whether that is seen as an open and fair process is another matter indeed.
I think it is also fair to say that at the time, and after that appointment was made, the then Opposition refrained from casting aspersions upon the incumbent because there was clearly a need for the community, for the parliament and for everybody concerned to have confidence in that position. I commend that course of action to members opposite. Madam Speaker, I think it is shameful the way they have continued to run this issue, although they quite clearly have nothing of substance on which to run.
MR KAINE: I have a supplementary question, Madam Speaker. The Chief Minister outlines a process which, prima facie, is a very fair and proper one; but she did not answer my question. The thrust of my question was the politicisation of the interview process, the intrusion of political appointees into the selection process. I again ask the Chief Minister: Is it the norm now for interview boards for senior officers of the public service to have a political appointee, a watchdog on the public servants and the other people conducting this interview process, appointed to such a board?
MS FOLLETT: Madam Speaker, I would say that it is the norm in some other States for the Minister herself or himself to sit upon such a selection panel. That is the norm. It is not in any way uncommon for that to occur, and, as I say, there is a special relationship between an agency head and the Minister. Mr Kaine, quite clearly, recognised that when he, without any sort of a process, made the only appointment to a vacant position made while he was in office as Chief Minister. As I have said, the question of the interview process and the selection panel is one which is decided between me and whichever Minister is concerned, and I stand by Mr Wood's comments. It is, in fact, the norm for that kind of situation to occur. The alternative is for the Minister to sit on the board. We have decided that that should not occur.
Australian Football League Team
MS ELLIS: My question is directed to the Deputy Chief Minister in his capacity as Minister for Sport. Being a keen fan of Australian rules football, I ask the Minister: What is the Government doing to support a Canberra bid for an AFL team?
MR BERRY: Madam Speaker, the full board of directors of the Australian Football League met on the evening of Wednesday 14 October, and deferred consideration of the future of the Sydney Swans for a week. Members would have seen that widely reported on television and would have seen it in
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