ATTORNEY GENERAL — UNFAIR
DISMISSAL CASE
973. Hon NICK GOIRAN to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Attorney General:
I refer to the revelation last week
that the Attorney General has intervened in an unfair dismissal case brought by
a former staff member of the Deputy Premier.
(1) Who first
drew this case to the attention of the Attorney General, and when did this
occur?
(2) Are reports
that the Attorney General applied on 2 November to intervene in the case true;
and, if not, what is the correct date?
(3) The Attorney General's
spokesperson is reported last week as saying, ''On questions of
intervention, the Attorney always receives legal advice''. Who did the
Attorney General seek advice from on this occasion and on what date was it
sought and then subsequently received?
(4) What has been
the cost to the state of the intervention so far?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question
and answer on behalf of the parliamentary secretary. The Attorney General has
provided the following information.
(1)–(4) The Attorney General sought leave to intervene in
proceeding PSAB 31 of 2020, which was commenced by an electorate officer who worked at the electorate
office of the member for Kwinana and was employed by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, on 20
October 2021—that is, within one day of the Attorney General becoming aware that the appellant had sought to
have witness summonses issued. The intervention was in the form of written
submissions to assist the board with the interpretation of the law. On 10
November 2021, the registrar of the Western Australian Industrial
Relations Commission confirmed that, consistent with the Attorney General's
submissions, ''there is no authority for the Registrar to summons a witness
to give evidence before the PSAB under
[section 33 of the Industrial Relations Act 1979 (WA)]''. The
submissions were prepared by government lawyers at no external cost to
the government.