Page 2518 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 1 August 2018
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coal-fired power stations in Australia will reach the end of their useful life. If we have had a stall in investment in renewable energy between 2023 and 2030, we are going to be very poorly positioned as a nation when those coal-fired power stations start to close.
Land—Dickson land swap
MS LAWDER: Chief Minister, you said in question time on 31 July and again today that an investigation is underway into alleged missing documents regarding the Tradies Dickson land swap. Who is conducting the investigation into alleged missing documents and when will it be completed?
MR BARR: As I mentioned in my response to the previous question, the director-general of the planning directorate has sought further information from the Auditor-General in relation to the matter. I do not have a time frame. To a certain extent, if the missing documents exist and are found then that presents a time frame. But the search for non-existent documents could, in theory, go on forever.
MS LAWDER: Chief Minister, will the outcome of this investigation into the alleged missing documents be made public?
MR BARR: If the documents, a, exist and, b, are found, then, yes, there would be a huge amount of public interest. If the documents do not exist and/or cannot be found, then there is nothing to make public.
MR COE: Chief Minister, when did the government initiate the investigation into these missing documents? How long have you been waiting for the Auditor-General to get back to the Director General?
MR BARR: It was initiated when the allegations that the documents were missing were aired, I understand. That would potentially have been during the audit process. I do not have an exact date. As to the second part of the question, that remains to be determined.
Land—Dickson land swap
MR WALL: My question is to the Chief Minister and Minister for Economic Development. Minister, was a staff member from your office in regular contact with officials from economic development and/or the LDA regarding the Dickson Tradies land swap?
MR BARR: It would be routine business for staff members to be following up on cabinet decisions. What constitutes regular contact would appear to be, from a statement made by an official, every couple of weeks, which is not unreasonable. You would expect staff to be in contact with departmental representatives, probably on a weekly basis. I am briefed by most of my directorates on a weekly basis, and there would be follow-up actions that would come from weekly briefings. This was clearly a cabinet decision to alter the course of a process where the then directorate had a preferred outcome. The directorate’s preferred outcome was not supported by cabinet.
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