Home›Questions on Notice›QoN 3165

❓ A parliamentary question probes the Attorney General regarding the State Solicitor's Office preparedness in the Rothwell's deal case and whether understaffing/resourcing contributed to any delays. The Attorney General denies understaffing/resourcing issues, explaining the timeline of events.

AnsweredQoN 3165Legislative Assembly

Asked

17 August 2004

Member

Mrs C.L. Edwardes

Portfolio

Attorney General

QuestionView source ↗

(b) will the Attorney General seek an explanation from the State Solicitor as to why the office was not ready to defend the action by Mr Anderson regarding the ill-fated Rothwell’s deal; and (c) is this an indication of understaffing and under-resourcing of the State Solicitor’s Office?
(c) is this an indication of understaffing and under-resourcing of the State Solicitor’s Office?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered

14 September 2004

Response time

28 days

(a)-(c) Consolidated Supreme Court Actions CIV 2490 of 1992, CIV 1473 of 1994 and CIV 1878 of 1994 were struck out on 18 December 2002. On 5 November 2003 an appeal against the striking out order was allowed by the Full Court and the State Solicitor's Office then became aware that the State needed to proceed with its defence. In June the actions were set down for hearing without the usual consultation with the parties. The State Solicitor's Office is adequately staffed and resourced.

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