SA MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY SA FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY REVIEW REPORTS

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. T.A. Franks:

That there be laid upon the table of this council, within 21 days of the passing of the resolution by the Leader of the Government, the two reports prepared by Mr Mark Priadko from 2011-12 titled 'Financial Sustainability Review Reports' in relation to the South Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of South Australia, respectively.

(Continued from 16 October 2024.)

The Hon. J.S. LEE (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (20:55): I rise on behalf of the Liberal Opposition to support the Hon. Tammy Franks' motion to express our disappointment and dismay that such a motion has to be brought to this Council because of the inadequate response, lack of leadership and poor procedural process of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

As a member of the Statutory Authorities Review Committee, I strongly support this motion which calls on the Leader of the Government in this place to produce two financial sustainability review reports from 2011 and 2012 in relation to the South Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of South Australia.

As the Honourable Member has outlined, the Statutory Authorities Review Committee wrote to the Chief Executive of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet in July 2024, requesting copies of these reports that are relevant to the Committee's current inquiry into the SA Museum and the Art Gallery of SA.

The DPC stated that the documents would not be provided to the Committee as they were subject to cabinet confidentiality. However, these documents are now more than 10 years old and should be made available to the Committee under the DPC's own 10-year rule for Cabinet documents.

After some four months of back and forth with the department, which resulted in the DPC advising that the Committee would need to lodge a Freedom of Information request in order to access the documents, I am astounded at the disingenuous and disrespectful approach the Government has taken to this simple request by a Parliamentary standing committee.

I note that it is only since the Hon. Tammy Franks moved this motion that the SARC received further correspondence from the DPC, advising that the department is considering release of the documents to the committee and that no formal FOI application would be required.

However, DPC stated that it is working through the process of consulting with third parties, which is required before the relevant confidentiality can be regarded as being effectively waived, providing no timeframe for when this process might be completed.

However, finally and rather conveniently, the members of the Statutory Authorities Review Committee were notified at 11.40am today—

The Hon. T.A. Franks interjecting:

The Hon. J.S. LEE: Correct. The DPC have sent further correspondence, advising that two documents that have been—

The Hon. T.A. Franks interjecting:

The Hon. J.S. LEE: —requested will be released to us.

How convenient that this determination has been made on the same day that this motion was set to be debated. It is almost as if the department is trying to avoid the embarrassment of being called out in this place for deliberately attempting to withhold information from a parliamentary committee.

Let us remind the DPC that the Statutory Authorities Review Committee has a mandate from this Chamber to inquire into the SA Museum and the Art Gallery of SA and these reports will inform our inquiry. I eagerly look forward to reading these reports.

While this motion should never have been required, I wish to thank the Hon. Tammy Franks for moving this motion and forcing the department's hand to act accordingly in the interests of accountability and transparency.

I commend the motion.