00:02David O'Byrne, thanks for your time.
00:04It's nearly a year since the election last year.
00:08What's your scorecard on the Government?
00:11You'd have to say the Government has struggled somewhat.
00:14In part early, struggling to come to terms
00:17with the nature of the Parliament.
00:19The large crossbench with a range of key issues
00:22that drive those crossbenches.
00:24I think they've struggled early on to adapt to that.
00:27They've got some challenges in terms of the budget
00:29and some of the historical decisions
00:31that they are now reaping not so much the benefits of,
00:35but the consequences of.
00:36And the last sitting of Parliament was pretty messy.
00:40We've had the recent ministerial resignations
00:42of Jane Howlett and Madeleine Ogilvie.
00:45Did those ministers mislead Parliament?
00:48Well, in terms of Madeleine Ogilvie,
00:50I think it's pretty clear that she did.
00:53And that is something that was obviously very disappointing
00:57for the Parliament.
00:58And the Parliament had no choice but to take action on that.
01:03Minister Ogilvie, or former Minister Ogilvie, did resign.
01:07Although I'm still yet to see an acknowledgement
01:09that she did mislead.
01:12Now, I think that needs to be cleaned up
01:13once we return to Parliament.
01:16According to the Premier, the opposition parties
01:18were to blame for those ministerial resignations.
01:21Were you disappointed by the Premier's response?
01:23Well, I think I've made it clear,
01:25and that's why I voted in favour of the sentient motion
01:28against the Premier in this instance,
01:30because even he acknowledged that he let people down
01:33and he disappointed people and that he needed to do better.
01:36Does the government have a problem with integrity?
01:38I think there is a perception that the government has a problem
01:41with integrity.
01:42They do have a challenge with clear communication,
01:45responding to questions when required,
01:47and one minister in particular misled Parliament.
01:51So I think there is a growing concern
01:53and a growing perception that the government needs to do better.
01:56The words I heard from the Premier at the end of the sitting session,
02:00the budget sessions, were very clear.
02:02He'd apologised.
02:03He let himself down, and I'll take him at face value.
02:07But what it means...
02:07There is a perception that the government and the Premier
02:11hasn't taken the degree of accountability for these issues
02:14that perhaps they should have.
02:15And I think that's why I supported the sentient motion,
02:18because there seemed to be a political strategy
02:21to avoid the bleeding obvious,
02:23that you had a minister who had misled,
02:26and there were clouds over other ministers.
02:28The government has spent nearly a million dollars
02:31legally challenging and defending investigations
02:35by the Integrity Commission.
02:36Do you agree that that situation's absurd?
02:39The situation around having government money,
02:41defending government ministers over a government...
02:45..essentially a related investigation
02:48doesn't pass the pub test.
02:50And I think the reforms in terms of legal fees
02:53that are afforded ministers of the Crown,
02:57if they act in good faith,
02:59the review that the Premier is undertaking
03:02is one that I support.
03:03But when you look at it, it is farcical.
03:06What do you think those reforms should look like?
03:08Well, I think there needs to be greater transparency
03:10about how and when a minister of the Crown
03:13should receive support from the government
03:16in terms of legal representation.
03:18There should be greater transparency,
03:20not only about how that decision is made,
03:22but under what circumstances,
03:24and what kind of legal representation
03:26should be afforded that person,
03:28and the consequences if the person is found
03:31not to be acting in good faith
03:32or to be acting unlawfully.
03:34David O'Byrne, thanks for talking to Stateline.
03:36Absolute pleasure, Guy.
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