Weatherill Government answers only four of 111 questions taken on notice by State Parliament in 2016
ONLY four of the 111 questions taken on notice by the State Government in Parliament last year were answered, prompting the Opposition to promise to answer all questions within 30 days if it wins government.
ONLY four of the 111 questions taken on notice by the State Government in Parliament last year were answered, prompting the Opposition to promise to answer all questions within 30 days if it wins government.
Opposition Treasury spokesman Rob Lucas condemned the Government’s “contempt for democracy” and pledged to make it mandatory for questions on notice to be answered within 30 days, if the Liberals win next year’s election.
Figures compiled by the Opposition show the Government has provided answers to just 30 per cent of the 598 parliamentary questions asked since it was re-elected in 2014.
The number of unanswered questions since Labor returned to power has surged to a new high of 3944. Just 45.5 per cent of all questions asked since then have received an answer.
“Since being elected in 2002, this Labor Government has an appalling record of dodging scrutiny and accountability,” Mr Lucas said.
“Premier Jay Weatherill and the Government are clearly anxious to prevent embarrassing information from becoming public and seeking to minimise political damage by delaying answering questions.”
Mr Lucas said important questions had been ignored by the Government, including a 2006 query about a sharp increase in the number of child protection notifications.
A series of questions in 2014 to then Higher Education and Employment Minister Gail Gago asking if she or any member of her staff had been in contact with a registered lobbyist were also yet to be answered.
The Opposition’s promise is much more ambitious than the one unveiled by Opposition Leader Steven Marshall in the lead-up to the 2014 election, when he promised to answer all questions inside 90 days.
Mr Lucas said the shorter time frame would allow South Australia to catch up with other states.
NSW requires answers to be provided inside 35 days, while answers must be provided inside 30 days in Victoria and Queensland, and within a month in Western Australia.
“If every other jurisdiction can meet the 30 to 35 day requirement, there’s no reason why it should be 90 days in South Australia,” Mr Lucas said. There is currently no time frame in which a South Australian minister must answer questions.
A State Government spokesman said many of the unanswered questions “relate to matters already on the public record”.
“The Government is answering a record number of questions in Question Time,” he said.
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