Leave granted.

The Hon. SANDRA KANCK: During 1997-98, the state government announced a scoping review into the feasibility of privatising the Ports Corporation. In April 1999, the state government announced its intention to proceed with the sale of the Ports Corporation. So, the government has known for quite some time the direction in which it was proceeding. The Auditor-General's Report recently released notes that in the financial year just completed the number of employees at the Ports Corp earning more than $100 000 per annum increased from 13 to 21, with the cost of remunerating those employees jumping from $1.5 million in 1999 to $2.4 million in 2000.

The report also notes that the corporation's cash flow from its operating activities fell from $48.7 million to $44.7 million at the same time as these massive wage rises. My question is: why did the Ports Corporation spend an additional $900 000 on the remuneration of its highest paid employees when the business was being prepared for sale at the same time as its operating activities fell by almost $4 million?

The Hon. K.T. GRIFFIN (Attorney-General): I will refer the question to my colleague in another place and bring back a reply.

In reply to Hon. SANDRA KANCK (11 October).

The Hon. K.T. GRIFFIN: The Minister for Government Enterprises has advised that:

1. Ports Corp did not spend an additional $900 000 on the remuneration of its highest paid employees during the 1999-2000 financial year.

The Auditor General's report discloses that in the 1999-2000 financial year Ports Corp had 21 employees with salary ranges greater than $100 000, compared with 13 recorded within this range in 1998-99.

A number of existing senior professional employees (including a number of marine pilots) passed through the threshold reporting level for the 1999-2000 financial year due to salary increases resulting from enterprise bargaining agreements.

Consequently, the increase in total salary as reported in 1999-2000 ($2.419 million), compared to $1.491 million in 1998-1999, is directly attributable to the increase in total number of employees included in this category.

It should be noted that Ports Corp's total remuneration level across the entire organisation increased by less than $500 000, or approximately 4.5 per cent during 1999-2000.

In addition, average salary levels within the reported salary bands greater than $100 000 increased from $114 600 in 1998-99 to $115 200 in 1999-2000.

The reduction in gross revenue as noted by the honourable member is attributed to the reduction in grain exports during the financial year, after a record export level during the previous financial year. Container throughput was also reduced due to the loss of a container service linking Adelaide directly with North Asia.

However, it is pleasing to note that Ports Corp has secured additional container services to other markets. This initiative has seen Ports Corp substantially recover this previous loss in trade. In fact, in the last three months Ports Corp's Port Adelaide facility has experienced two of the highest throughputs ever.