The State Government employs around 730 people in Treasury – more than 50 earn above $100,000.

Its wages bill is $69 million.

Treasury’s objectives include policy advice to government on “revenue policy matters, Commonwealth–state relations, economic conditions and forecasting”.

Yet when the Premier’s department wanted advice on “South Australia’s strategic positioning, intergovernmental relations and the state’s economic standing” it turned to former Liberal Party adviser and prominent lobbyist Ian Smith.

Details of the consultancy show Smith, a founding partner of lobbyist firm Bespoke Approach, was paid more than $52,000 for the advice, which he provided to the Government late last year.

InDaily asked the State Government and Smith about the form of the advice, what it said and why the state had to pay for a service you’d expect from an expert department.

Neither party had much to say.

A spokesman for the Premier said: “Mr Smith was engaged through a competitive tender process to advise and consult on numerous priority issues for Government in 2013.

“His consultancy was to provide advice to Government on ‘South Australia’s strategic positioning – intergovernmental relations and the state’s economic standing’.

“These included GST and (revenue equalisation) arrangements, Holden and advanced manufacturing, highlighting SA’s defence and infrastructure opportunities and other threats to SA from potential Commonwealth changes.”

A federal election was held on 7 September 2013.

Smith, who retains strong connections to the Liberal Party, told InDaily: “I do not comment on client engagements or the nature of advice I provide.”

The Ian Smith contract ran between September and December 2013 – during which time he did manage to offered his advice on the state’s strategic direction free of charge at a Committee for Economic Development forum.

On October 31 he told a forum at the Intercontinental Hotel that South Australia needed fewer ministers.

“This is one of the greatest issues facing state politics – a stark lack of depth in politicians’ experience and ability,” he said.

“The top three or four run the show while the others in Cabinet are rarely either leaders or decision makers.”

It’s a piece of advice that has so far fallen on deaf ears.

Back at Treasury HQ it appears that Treasury staff needed more than Ian Smith’s assistance to get their job done.

Another $155,000 was spent on reviewing a re-financing deal for the State Government’s New Schools project of 2009.

The money went to a Melbourne firm, Evans & Peck, for its “independent review and due diligence of the refinancing proposal for the Education Works New Schools PPP Project”.

The New Schools Project was a private public partnership for the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of six new schools in metropolitan Adelaide.

The schools were built at Playford North, Regency Park School, Blair Athol, Woodville Gardens, Munno Para West and Gepps Cross; they opened in 2011.

Lend Lease’s financing arm Capella Capital joined with Hansen Yuncken, Spotless and CBA in a consortium called Pinnacle Education SA.

A spokeswoman for Treasury said this week the financial instruments in that deal (signed when the government completed financial close in 2009) “were due to reach maturity in July 2014”.

“Under the New Schools Project Agreement (signed by the Treasurer in July 2009) the refinancing could not be completed without the State’s consent,” the spokeswoman said.

The Department of Treasury and Finance was responsible for reviewing the proposal and engaged specialist financial advisers Evans and Peck to assist it in performing this due diligence.

“Following DTF’s review, state consent for the refinancing was provided in early July 2014.”