Senator BUCKLAND (9:55 PM) —I would like to speak tonight about a fax I got last week. My first thought was that receiving a fax is nothing particularly unusual, but on checking the machine last week I found that there appeared to be an application for a job. Of course, one always looks at these, thinking that someone may want to join the team in my office. Sadly, I would have to tell them there was no room at the inn.

On closer examination, however, I found that the facsimile was from a person identifying themselves as the `Chief of Staff to the South Australian Premier', John Olsen. That caught my attention. I thought, `It's gone to the wrong place.' But as I read it through, it had obviously been sent to me so that I could look at what is really going on in my home state of South Australia. The letter is addressed to a Mark Hender, who is, as I understand, an employment agency recruiting on behalf of the Adelaide City Council. The letter says in part:

As I said, Mark Hender is a consultant, of Hender Consulting. He was sent the email attachment. In order to satisfy myself that I was not being set up, I did some investigations myself and found that the fax was in fact from the person described as one Vicki Thompson from the Premier's office. Still not satisfied, I did a bit more digging around to ensure that there was a position available with the Adelaide City Council. I checked through the newspapers, did some investigation and found that, on Saturday, 2 July, there was an extensive advertisement saying that the Adelaide City Council was seeking a chief executive officer. I checked that and checked the reference number, 2459, on the advertisement and on the letter that had been forwarded by Ms Vicki Thompson.

The South Australian Premier's chief of staff, Vicki Thompson, was, in my view, making a very clear statement to all that she was now, like a rat, deserting a sinking ship. The Olsen government have their difficulties in South Australia. I do not need to go into all of those things, but they are certainly running a very poor race. I guess if you were on board that team you would be looking for the quickest way out.

There is a real problem created by this, one that goes a little deeper than someone trying to find themselves a cushy job before their time is up. Ms Thompson is the Premier's closest adviser—she determines question time strategy and controls the media unit—and she has ruthlessly attacked other members of the Premier's staff who have sought to follow her lead by getting out early. Like her, many of her colleagues believe that they are in their final days of government and that they need to get out now to find something to do in the future. She has ruthlessly attacked these people for doing exactly what she has been doing. She is branding them as disloyal. It is my view that a person in a high office such as Vicki Thompson should have the utmost commitment, if not to the Premier that she serves, then to the state which his government is leading, or pretending to lead.

That is not the only job that this lady has sought. She has also sought a position with the Adelaide wine centre, believed to attract a six-figure salary, not feeling extremely confident that CEO of the Adelaide City Council would be fitting to her abilities. Even though the Adelaide wine centre has a reasonably competent CEO at the moment, one that I believe is doing a fine job, Ms Thompson thinks that she could do better, because the options left with the government are thin. I understand that Ms Thompson is having the interview with Speakman and Associates this week. They are responsible for recruiting the new wine centre CEO.

It seems to me that Ms Thompson is spending a lot more time looking for jobs for herself than Centrelink spends looking for jobs for the unemployed in South Australia. The tragedy is that it sends a very poor message to the business community. What should the business community be thinking? If the Premier's chief of staff is walking away from the government, why then shouldn't business walk away from Adelaide and the state of South Australia? The other states are very keen to pick up much of the manufacturing base that we have already and the indication given by this woman at this time is one that should be sending shivers through the business community.

It reminds me of the old song by Nancy Sinatra, a singer that I was pretty keen on when I was a teenager—These Boots Were Made for Walking. After seeing this letter and learning more about this woman and her activities, it is clear that she is wearing the boot leather thin by chasing other jobs rather than concentrating on the main game, which is to assist in the heading of the government in South Australia. For the last 12 months, this woman has been looking for a lifeline. She is like the people on the Titanic. If there had been a lifeboat or a lifeline available, they would have grabbed hold of it seeking to save their lives that were in peril. It appears that this woman is seeking to save her life, which is much in peril at the moment.

It is a tragedy, as I say, that we have to see this going on in a government that is in trouble in South Australia now. She is a woman who has criticised others for doing exactly what she is doing—trying to feather her own nest before the day comes when they are defeated and tipped out of government. In her comments, she says that in her current role as chief of staff to the South Australian Premier she has been closely involved in the promotion of Adelaide and indeed South Australia. It seems to me that she is more concerned now about promoting herself than promoting the state of South Australia—particularly all of South Australia as opposed to just the Adelaide City Council. She also says that she is regularly on overseas trade and investment missions. (Time expired)