ATTORNEY GENERAL —
STATE LEGAL CASES — COST
974. Hon NICK GOIRAN to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Attorney General:
I refer to the costs incurred by
the state, including time spent by the State Solicitor's Office, in the
Premier's failed defence and partially successful optional cross-claim
in proceedings NSD 912 of 2020.
(1) Is the
Attorney General aware that each party is to bear their own costs of the claim,
whereas a partial order as to costs has been made on the cross-claim?
(2) Has the State
Solicitor's Office disaggregated the costs as between the claim and the
cross-claim so that the Premier and the state may recover some portion of the
costs of the cross-claim?
(3) If yes to (2), has a bill of
costs, or similar, been prepared and submitted?
(4) If no to either (2) or (3), why
not, and when will this be done?
The PRESIDENT: Again, that
question is requesting a fair amount of information.
Hon
MATTHEW SWINBOURN replied:
I thank the member for some notice
of the question. The following answer is based on information provided to me by
the Attorney General.
(1)–(4) The
premise of the member's question is incorrect. I note, however, that
the State Solicitor's Office is not involved in any disaggregation of
costs, as the Premier was not represented by the State Solicitor's
Office. Costs relating to the case are yet to be finalised and will be made
publicly available once complete.