Published on : Tuesday, July 24, 2018
The Government confirmed that Rob Delane would “cease” to be the deputy director-general of International Education, Trade and Investment in the super department next month.
The Government is already trying to find a new person to permanently lead the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, after it sacked Stephen Wood earlier this year.
Labour had hand-picked Mr Wood to head up the super department it created on winning office.
Mr Delane was only appointed to the deputy director-general role in July.
A spokeswoman for Premier Mark McGowan said “discussions between Mr Delane and his employing authority, the Public Sector Commissioner regarding his ongoing employment, [are continuing]”. Acting Opposition Leader Liza Harvey said the tourism super department was in “chaos” and she was worried about the message it was sending to the public service.
Tourism’s falling off a cliff and we’ve got the worst performance for international student numbers, which is a result of this Government’s decision.
Gwyn Dolphin was dumped as Tourism WA chief executive officer last year and received a $375,000 payout.
Mr Wood was later appointed director-general of the newly-created Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, and the Government also controversially made him Tourism WA CEO as well as part of its machinery-of-government changes.
Mr Wood was then sacked in April and received an almost $500,000 compensation payment.
Since Mr Dolphin was sacked, the Opposition has repeatedly called for the Government to appoint a dedicated CEO to Tourism WA. In a statement, a spokeswoman for Mr McGowan said Mr Delane would finish up in his role at the end of August.
Restructuring within the department has seen a new role of managing director [of] Tourism WA being established as part of the Government’s plans to elevate tourism, diversify the economy and create jobs.
Tags: WA tourism