A WA parliamentary question on notice regarding the provision of incorrect information to the Minister and Parliament by departmental officers, and the Minister's response, which largely deflects and refers to previous answers.

AnsweredQoN 1175Legislative Council
Asked
22 August 2003
Portfolio
State Development

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to question on notice No. 871, June 13 2003 -
(1) Can the Minister explain why he regards departmental officers including the Director General providing ‘incorrect information’ or misleading information to the Minister and then this information being repeated in the Parliament as being a ‘extremely serious matter’?
(2) If no to (1), why not?
(3) Can the Minister explain why he has to rely on the Department as an ‘important source of advice’?
(4) If no to (3), why not?
(5) Can the Minister specifically state the date on which it occurred and how it was first ‘raised as an issue’ and then apparently ‘resolved’ by the department?
(6) If no to (5), why not?
(7) Can the Minister explain the rationale as to why he does not regard the department or the particular officer involved as being incompetent in providing incorrect and misleading information to the Minister and inturn Parliament given that it took the department well over 3 years from August 1998 to July 2002 to discover that they had provided incorrect and misleading information?
(8) If no to (7), why not?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
15 October 2003
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for State Development
Response time
54 days
(1) The Minister considers it important that information provided to ministers is accurate or is believed to be accurate at the time it is provided. (2) Not applicable. (3) All ministers in all governments rely on advice from their respective agencies. (4) Not applicable. (5) The Minister refers the Hon member to the response to his Question on Notice 233 and the response to the Question on Notice 902 from the Hon Tom Helm, dated 17 December 1998. (6) Not applicable. (7) As previously stated, the Department resolved the matter when it was raised as an issue. (8) Not applicable.
(2) Not applicable. (3) All ministers in all governments rely on advice from their respective agencies. (4) Not applicable. (5) The Minister refers the Hon member to the response to his Question on Notice 233 and the response to the Question on Notice 902 from the Hon Tom Helm, dated 17 December 1998. (6) Not applicable. (7) As previously stated, the Department resolved the matter when it was raised as an issue. (8) Not applicable.
(3) All ministers in all governments rely on advice from their respective agencies. (4) Not applicable. (5) The Minister refers the Hon member to the response to his Question on Notice 233 and the response to the Question on Notice 902 from the Hon Tom Helm, dated 17 December 1998. (6) Not applicable. (7) As previously stated, the Department resolved the matter when it was raised as an issue. (8) Not applicable.
(4) Not applicable. (5) The Minister refers the Hon member to the response to his Question on Notice 233 and the response to the Question on Notice 902 from the Hon Tom Helm, dated 17 December 1998. (6) Not applicable. (7) As previously stated, the Department resolved the matter when it was raised as an issue. (8) Not applicable.
(5) The Minister refers the Hon member to the response to his Question on Notice 233 and the response to the Question on Notice 902 from the Hon Tom Helm, dated 17 December 1998. (6) Not applicable. (7) As previously stated, the Department resolved the matter when it was raised as an issue. (8) Not applicable.
(6) Not applicable. (7) As previously stated, the Department resolved the matter when it was raised as an issue. (8) Not applicable.
(7) As previously stated, the Department resolved the matter when it was raised as an issue. (8) Not applicable.
(8) Not applicable.

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