South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill says outgoing Education boss Keith Bartley was not pushed into resigning from his role to make way for Tony Harrison.
Mr Weatherill has stated that he had been made aware several months ago that Mr Bartley would be stepping down from his role due to personal issues. Mr Bartley had stayed on to provide a united front in the wake of former judge Bruce Debelle’s report into the handling of sex abuse cases in schools.
“He did have discussions with me some months ago,” Mr Weatherill said.
“He has a number of issues – personal, family and health issues that he’s grappling with at the moment.
“I did want him to stay on to deal with the response to the Debelle report because I thought it was important that we have a seamless response to that and he agreed to do that which is to his credit.”
The Premier also confirmed that disciplinary action at the top of the Department had begun.
