Legislative Assembly

Tuesday, 26 February 2008

THE SPEAKER (Mr F. Riebeling) took the chair at 2.00 pm, and read prayers. LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY — TELEVISION FOOTAGE AND PHOTOGRAPHS Statement by Speaker THE SPEAKER (Mr F. Riebeling): I have approved media organisations taking television file footage and still photographs between 2.00 pm and 2.30 pm at the side doors of the chamber and in the public gallery. This is conditional upon the footage being available on a pool basis to other television stations and media organisations. CARPENTER MINISTRY — PORTFOLIO ALLOCATION Statement by Premier MR A.J. CARPENTER (Willagee — Premier) [2.03 pm]: Yesterday, I announced a reallocation of state cabinet portfolios. The Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mrs M.H. Roberts, will have her employment protection portfolio transferred to Hon Jon Ford. Mrs Roberts will now be responsible for Indigenous affairs, housing and works, heritage, and land information. Hon Jon Ford will be the Minister for Employment Protection; Regional Development; and the Kimberley, Pilbara and Gascoyne. The strengthening of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet’s intergovernmental relations unit has removed the ongoing requirement for a Minister Assisting the Minister for Federal-State Relations. This will result in the Minister for Corrective Services and Small Business, Ms M.M. Quirk, shedding her portfolio as Minister Assisting the Minister for Federal-State Relations. For the information of members, I table a list of the new ministry and the new administration arrangements for the representation of ministers between the houses. [See paper 3639.] LIBERAL PARTY — LEADERSHIP POSITIONS Statement by Leader of the Opposition MR T. BUSWELL (Vasse — Leader of the Opposition) [2.04 pm]: On Thursday, 17 January, I was elected Leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party and the member for Dawesville was elected Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party. The member for Roe was appointed as opposition Whip on Friday, 25 January, and the member for Cottesloe remains the manager of opposition business. LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY CHAMBER SEATING PLAN Statement by Speaker THE SPEAKER (Mr F. Riebeling): In accordance with the changes outlined by the Leader of the Opposition, and seating changes that have resulted from other matters, I have approved the current seating plan as put forward by the Independents and the Leader of the Opposition. ELECTORAL DISTRICT OF MURDOCH — VACANCY Statement by Speaker THE SPEAKER (Mr F. Riebeling): I regret that I need to formally advise members that the member for Murdoch, Trevor Raymond Sprigg, MLA, died on 17 January 2008. Accordingly, on Thursday, 24 January 2008, acting under section 67(4a) of the Electoral Act 1997, I determined that a vacancy existed in the electoral district of Murdoch and directed the Electoral Commissioner to proceed with an election in the Murdoch electoral district. The writ listed the following dates for the purpose of the election: Friday, 1 February 2008, for the close of nominations; Saturday, 23 February 2008, as the polling day; and Wednesday, 23 April 2007, as the last day for the return of the writs. MR TREVOR RAYMOND SPRIGG, MLA Condolence Motion MR A.J. CARPENTER (Willagee — Premier) [2.06 pm] — without notice: I move — That the house records its sincere regret at the death of Mr Trevor Raymond Sprigg and tenders its deep sympathy to his family. Trevor Raymond Sprigg was born in Wagin on 10 August 1946. He attended Wagin Junior High School, Bunbury High School, the University of Western Australia and Claremont Teachers’ College.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 277

Trevor had a long sporting and media career before entering politics. He played 152 league games for the East Fremantle Football Club, as well as six games for Western Australia. In 1971 he moved to Tasmania and played 92 games for the Glenorchy Football Club, as well as 10 games for Tasmania. He also played first-grade cricket for Fremantle and was a life member of the East Fremantle Football Club, the Fremantle and Districts Mercantile Cricket Association and the East Fremantle Cricket Association. Trevor was the chairman of selectors at the West Coast Eagles Football Club from 1990 to 1992, including the year of the club’s first premiership in 1992. He was also a consultant to the Western Australian Football Commission on the formation of the Fremantle Dockers Football Club. Trevor pursued a part-time media career in television and radio and with the Sunday Times and The Age. Trevor entered this house as the Liberal member for Murdoch following the general election on 26 February 2005. He succeeded the previous Liberal member for Murdoch, Hon Mike Board. During his relatively short time in Parliament, Trevor was a member of the Parliamentary Services Committee, the opposition spokesperson for sport and recreation, and opposition Whip from 27 August 2006. His untimely death was a great shock to us all. On behalf of all members of this house, I extend our deepest sympathy to Trevor’s wife, Lyn, and his family. MR T. BUSWELL (Vasse — Leader of the Opposition) [2.08 pm]: In support of the Premier’s condolence motion, it is worthwhile pointing out that Trevor Sprigg was one of those rare members who already enjoyed a widespread public reputation when first elected to Parliament. He brought the best sporting ethic— determination, toughness, teamwork and loyalty—to the community, to Parliament and to the Liberal Party. The attendance of 1 200 people at his moving and dignified funeral service at East Fremantle Oval last month was the most striking testimony to the way in which Trevor was valued as a family man, a friend, a sportsman and a colleague. Trevor was born to a farming family in Wagin in 1946. He was educated locally and in Bunbury and was trained and qualified as a teacher. What is better known about Trevor is that as a 17-year-old he commenced playing with East Fremantle in the West Australian Football League and that he played 152 games for his beloved club Old Easts. Between 1971 and 1975, Trevor lived in Tasmania. He took up the position of captain/coach with the Glenorchy Magpies, with whom he was to play 92 games, taking them into the finals and winning the state flag in 1975. Through his sense of responsibility to others, Trevor was always more than a vigorous player, being chosen at an early age as a players’ representative and as a teachers’ union representative. Returning to Western Australia in 1976, Trevor came to make a unique contribution to football as a commentator. He also served the game in a number of senior roles. He was chairman of selectors at the East Fremantle Football Club for the club’s 1979 premiership win and he was also a selector at the West Coast Eagles Football Club from 1990 to 1993, during which time the club won its inaugural grand final in 1992. He played an integral role in the establishment of the Fremantle Dockers and of their Derby Club in 1995. In his employment career, he moved from teaching to sales and hotel management. Trevor had been interested in politics from an early age, and he displayed his characteristic determination and honesty from late 2003 when he sought Liberal preselection in two contests: firstly, for the seat of Riverton, and then successfully for the seat of Murdoch when Hon Mike Board announced his retirement. Trevor campaigned with energy and thoroughness, and was elected with 55.9 per cent of the final vote, which was a majority of nearly 3 000 votes and a swing to the Liberal Party of 1.8 per cent. This was a notable result for a contest in which a popular sitting member had retired and in which generally there was no overall two-party swing to the Liberal Party in the metropolitan area. Not all the component suburbs of the Murdoch seat voted consistently for the Liberal Party, but he won all but one small polling booth. Indeed, Trevor improved the final Liberal vote in Kardinya by 10 per cent—a tribute to both his campaigning and his public reputation. He vigorously represented the interests of his electors during his parliamentary term, especially those affected by the construction of the Perth-Mandurah railway. He had an equal grasp of basic concerns such as graffiti and of complex matters such as the impact of land tax. Trevor was the natural fit as Liberal spokesman for sport and recreation, and later as opposition Whip. He brought to this task all the best attributes of a coach, but a coach who was playing hard in this his chosen field, the chamber of the Parliament. He took initiatives to build teamwork among our members and their staff. He had an absolute commitment to his new career and was clearly a potential cabinet minister. Trevor stated in his first speech to this chamber that he was the fifth former East Fremantle Football Club player to serve in the Parliament, following John Tonkin and Jerry Dolan of the Australian Labor Party, and Sir Ross Hutchinson and Arthur Marshall of the Liberal Party. The first of these was a Premier, two were ministers, and Sir Ross later served as a Speaker. Had it not been for his untimely death, Trevor would also have been remembered alongside these distinguished names as a notable parliamentarian, as well as the great sportsman who has been so widely mourned. Either way, Trevor Sprigg will always be remembered as a loyal friend, a family man and, above all else, a very good human being. To Lyn, Sharon, Natalie, Jarrod, Travis and Brett, and to all of Trevor’s family, we again express our sympathy.

278 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

MR T.K. WALDRON (Wagin — Deputy Leader of the National Party) [2.12 pm]: It is with great sadness that I speak to this condolence motion for the late Trevor Sprigg, the former member for Murdoch. On behalf of my National Party parliamentary colleagues and the National Party, I offer our sincere condolences and sympathy to Trevor’s wife, Lyn, and the Sprigg family. Our thoughts have certainly been with them since we lost Trevor. As the member for Wagin, I also speak today on behalf of his many family members and his many friends in the Wagin electorate—Wagin, of course, being Trevor’s home town. The people of Wagin have always been very proud of Trevor as a person and of his many achievements in sport, in the media and in life. Trevor always enjoyed going back to Wagin and was always keen to know what was happening in his old home town. I also offer my personal sympathy to the Sprigg family. It was a great pleasure for me to know Spriggy personally over a number of years, mainly through my previous involvement in football, whereby Trevor and I crossed paths on many occasions. We also worked together on football issues and with the media, and I also worked with him in his role as the Liberal Party Whip in this house. It was great to work with Trevor in this Parliament over the past three years and to enjoy his company and friendship. Trevor’s achievements and history have been very well covered here today, so I will not go over them again, other than to say that Trevor was outgoing, forthright, up-front, a fantastic and tough footballer and an all-round sportsman. He was a man who really cared, and I think that showed in the way he went about serving his electorate. Above all, he was a great bloke who enjoyed life. He brightened the lives of all of us and all those— and there were many of them—who were involved with him over the years. We will all miss Trevor heaps, but we are lucky to have known him. Our thoughts are with his family. Rest in peace, Spriggy. DR K.D. HAMES (Dawesville — Deputy Leader of the Opposition) [2.14 pm]: I add my voice to the condolences for Trevor Sprigg. I did not know Sprigg for very long. I was re-elected and he was elected in the same year, so I knew Trev for only three short years, but we developed a very close friendship very early. Trevor, the member for South Perth, and I had similar interests. I was amazed to hear at the service that was held for him at East Fremantle Oval the huge range of issues with which he was involved and the large number of friends whom he had. He had a large number of children—just as I do, but not quite the same number—and he worked hard. He was greatly loved by his children, who had a huge amount of respect for him and the way he ran his life. I guess old sportsmen never die; they just find other sports. It is hard to think that Trevor, a great football and cricket player, in the end was reduced to doing the things that the member for South Perth and I like to do—that is, play golf and bowls. We were in the parliamentary bowls team together and played bowls at various locations. Whenever the opportunity arose, Trevor and I, and often the member for South Perth and others, were involved in whatever golfing pursuits were going. One could never watch Trevor play a game of golf and know that he had been a great sportsman because he had one of the most awful golf swings one could ever imagine. It was interesting to hear at his service that he got very annoyed with people who tried to tell him how he should change his swing. The few times that I played with him, I made some gentle suggestions about how he could improve his style. The great thing about Trevor is that good sportsmen are always good sportsmen. Although some of us might have big swings and hits, Trevor’s were straight down the middle, so much so that Trevor and I won the trophy at the inaugural Speaker’s golf day that was held between members of the Labor Party, National Party and Liberal Party. I feel extremely proud to have been part of the team that won. Trevor brought a different style and attitude to Parliament. As our Whip, he got us together, he got us organised, and he got us to attend social events so that there could be better bonding between all of us and we could develop a heart to work together as a team. That is what Trevor was always about. He was a great team player and was great at teamwork. Trevor would be looking at us now saying, “Come on guys; last quarter—let’s get out there and make sure that we work together and kick straight!” To Lyn and his family, I express my deepest condolences. He will be up there now practising his swing, and we wish him well. MR J.E. McGRATH (South Perth) [2.17 pm]: I also rise to support the condolence motion for my good friend and former colleague and former opposition Whip and former member for Murdoch, Trevor Sprigg. I note that Trevor’s children are in the public gallery today. I think it is very important that they are present to hear the condolence motion for their father, who was deeply respected by us all. Trevor was taken from us suddenly when he had a heart attack at home on 17 January, only hours after cutting short a holiday on the Gold Coast to attend a special Liberal Party room meeting. He and his wife, Lyn, had arrived back in Perth late the previous night, but Trevor did not make it to the party room meeting. I will never forget the feeling in the party room that morning when, as we tried unsuccessfully to contact our colleague, it suddenly dawned on us that something must be seriously wrong. Returning to this chamber today, I feel a sense of emptiness that Spriggy, the former member for Murdoch, will not be sitting in the seat at the entrance to this chamber as our Whip. The former member for Murdoch and I were elected to Parliament on 26 February 2005. It was quite a coincidence because we had been friends for a considerable time while working in the media. That helped us,

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 279 and we were able to support one another as we came into what was a challenging new world for the pair of us— this world of politics. Trevor became the twenty-ninth league footballer from either the West Australian Football League or the Victorian Football League to be elected to the Parliament of Western Australia. I do not want to differ from my new leader, but my statistics show that Trevor became the seventh player from the great club East Fremantle to move from football to politics. The others players were Dexter Davies, who represented the National Party; John Jerry Dolan, who represented the ALP and taught me at John Curtin high school; Tom Hughes, who represented the ALP and was also an Independent; Sir Ross Hutchinson, who represented the Liberal Party; Ray McPharlin, who represented the Country Party; and Arthur Marshall, who represented the Liberal Party. The member for Wagin is also on that list of 29 league footballers elected to the Western Australian Parliament. He does not talk about it much, but he played 29 games for Claremont Football Club and 17 games for South Adelaide Football Club. In winning the seat of Murdoch, Trevor Sprigg followed in the footsteps of two fine members of Parliament: Barry MacKinnon, who went on to become the Leader of the Opposition; and Hon Mike Board. Some people thought that Spriggy and I were a bit old to enter Parliament—Spriggy was 58 and I was 57. Fortunately, that view was not held by all members of the Liberal Party or the people of Murdoch, nor was it shared by the then Leader of the Opposition, the member for Cottesloe. Trevor Sprigg told me on a number of occasions that the member for Cottesloe had encouraged him to enter politics. I do not know whether he held that against him after a few rowdy sessions in this place! In his inaugural speech on 31 March 2005, the former member for Murdoch gave a special vote of thanks to the member for Cottesloe, who “persuaded me fairly strongly to put my hand up and put my neck on the line in this quest.” Trevor always had the view that someone with life experience had a lot to offer as a member of Parliament. He also mentioned in his inaugural speech — I see a problem with our modern-day society. The human resources gurus of the world suggest that at age 45 everyone is history, on the scrap heap and phasing down to retirement. I must tell the house that I think I am far more experienced and better equipped to deal with the issues of life now at age 58 than I ever was at 45. I think we all agreed with that! Trevor used his life experiences to the fullest as he confronted issues in both his electorate and this place. His time spent playing football and cricket—as the Premier pointed out, he excelled at both—taught him the life values he held dearest: loyalty, passion, mateship and working towards a common goal. Trevor was always destined to represent people in one way or another. He was a school prefect at primary school in Wagin and also at high school. He was a student councillor at the University of Western Australia and a teachers’ union representative. When he first started playing football at East Fremantle, he became a players’ representative, and his job was to handle negotiations with the club. In those days, players did not earn much money playing football and it was tough getting a pay rise. In his inaugural speech he recalled lobbying for soap in the showers and cold squash after a training run. However, right to the end, Trevor was lobbying. This time he was lobbying for the people of Murdoch, be it about too many trucks on Leach Highway or the ugly face of graffiti. In his role as shadow Minister for Sport and Recreation, he was particularly passionate about the need for a new stadium, and he offered the government and the minister bipartisan support on that project. I was with him one day when he met with the then federal sports minister, Senator George Brandis, who was then in Perth. Trevor said to me, “We have to meet with this guy. We have to get the feds to put some money into the stadium”. Even though we were not in government, Trevor argued that for the sports stadium project to go forward, the Howard coalition government had to put some money into it. In closing, this Parliament has lost a much respected member in Trevor Sprigg. Those of us who had the privilege of working with him will never forget his contribution. MR A.D. McRAE (Riverton) [2.23 pm]: I rise to be part of this condolence motion because although Trevor Sprigg and I had what could only be described as a fairly forthright and combative political relationship, at a personal level our relationship was quite different. Mr Speaker, last December you and I played golf against Trevor Sprigg, and we were given a full display of his stroke playing and skills. Both of us offered him some advice about how to hit the ball more cleanly, but as a part of the team that beat us, he showed us that that advice was not necessary! Trevor Sprigg was always passionate. He never stopped pursuing something that he believed was right. I have the ignominy of being on the losing end of a quite-famous bet about when the train line to Mandurah would be completed and the train would run. We made that bet partly as a sort of jest with each other when we were having a cup of coffee in the members’ bar one day. I said, “Look, I don’t trust you; we’re going to have to write that down.” We wrote it down on a serviette, and it was held behind the bar for some seven months. At one stage The West Australian got a copy of it to check on the conditions of the bet, because there were claims and counterclaims about when the due date fell for that bet.

280 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

My loss on that bet was Trevor’s gain. His good sportsmanship and compassion allowed us to be part of contributing to Scouting Western Australia. I declared publicly that I would donate the winnings to Scouting Australia, and suggested that Trevor, being a good capitalist, would invest the winnings in personal shares! He was ashamed enough to declare that he would also give the winnings to Scouting Australia. On Sunday, on behalf of the Premier, I attended the 100th anniversary of Scouting Western Australia, along with the Leader of the Opposition. I record in this condolence motion that the scouting movement was aware of that bet and had nothing but praise for Trevor Sprigg for agreeing to donate his winnings to the scouting movement, and it recognised him as one of its great supporters. I extend my condolences to Lyn and the family for their sad loss. MR M.J. BIRNEY (Kalgoorlie) [2.26 pm]: Trevor Sprigg was quite simply a real man and a good bloke. He was somebody who loved a bet, a beer and a joke. Many people could perhaps be forgiven for thinking that he was a born and bred Kalgoorlie person. He fitted in very, very well with the people of my electorate in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. He had that wonderful rough charm that appealed to the average man and woman on the street. Even though Trevor may not have had a long history with the Liberal Party, or with politics for that matter, he was a dream candidate. He was the sort of candidate that political parties go looking for when they are trying to win a difficult seat. He was the sort of bloke that appealed to most people out in the community, notwithstanding perhaps his lack of political experience. In the context of what I have just said, it was odd to learn that some people were trying to convince Trevor Sprigg to stand for another seat. I do not know anything about it, who they were or what their motivation was, but I can tell you, as somebody who has worked with Trevor Sprigg, that a political party would be very lucky to find a better candidate who had a better chance of winning that seat. He was not the sort of guy who would be found sitting around, plotting and planning the downfall of others. He was not a particularly factional person. He was simply a team man and a team player who never missed an opportunity to lift the spirits of the team for the benefit of the team. I hesitate to tell this story because it is a little bit political, but I will tell it anyway because it will give members a bit more of an understanding of the man Trevor Sprigg. About four days after my leadership challenge, which I subsequently lost, Trevor Sprigg showed up in my office and said to me, “Matt, you know I didn’t vote for you.” I said, “Yes, Trevor, I sort of gathered that.” He said, “I just wanted to tell you that I think I’ve done the wrong thing and I’ve had a knot in my stomach for the last few days.” I think I said at the time, “Trevor, I only lost by one vote, so if you’re here to get me to untie the knot in your stomach, you’re in the wrong office!” I also said that I really appreciated his honesty and his forthrightness. That was the sort of guy he was. He would not hold back; he would tell you exactly what he felt and why he felt it. He was an honest guy and a straightshooter. I am also reminded of something that the member for South Perth said during Trevor’s funeral, a comment that I thought was rather amusing and perhaps summed up the whole mateship and camaraderie thing that surrounded Trevor Sprigg. The member for South Perth said that when Trevor and two or three of his colleagues worked for the Swan Brewery, they had a motto, which was that they would drink what they could and sell the rest! I thought that was particularly amusing and it did not surprise me one bit, because Trevor was a bloke that really liked a beer, a bet, a good time and a joke. I imagine that to his closest friends he was a particularly good friend. Mr Speaker, sometimes in life, even though we search, we just cannot find answers to things that happen and it seems that the more we search, the more the answer eludes us. I simply say to Trevor’s family and to his wife, Lyn, that my sympathies are certainly with you; just let time do its work, because time really is perhaps the only true healer of all pain. MRS D.J. GUISE (Wanneroo — Deputy Speaker) [2.30 pm]: I support the condolence motion for Trevor Sprigg and express my deepest sympathy to Lyn and the family. Others have spoken in this place today about the contribution Trevor made to his party, to the sport he loved, to the community and, indeed, to this place. I came to know Trevor in two very different roles, apart from the usual interaction members have in this place. One was in his role as opposition Whip, working together during estimates week. Trevor was obviously new to the role, but as opposition Whip he was very eager to learn how it all worked, and equally eager to assist and to make sure it all ran smoothly. He performed that task very well. I also got to know Trevor on the bowling green when we participated—as the members for Dawesville and South Perth can attest—as members of the parliamentary sports club. This was a sport that was relatively new to me and I had underestimated Trevor’s ability, as he seemed to take to bowls in the same way he clearly took to his football career. He was very competitive and wanted to make sure that we were all up to scratch and were going to do the deed for the sports club. He certainly took us all to task and made sure we had a lot of fun at the same time. He made it enjoyable for everybody. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the assistance Trevor gave me during the estimates hearings, and I particularly thank him and remember him for the shared laughs we had on the bowling green. I again express my deepest sympathy to his family and friends.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 281

MR A.J. SIMPSON (Serpentine-Jarrahdale) [2.31 pm]: I rise to express my condolences. I knew Trevor for only the three years, since we were both elected to this Parliament. For the past 12 months I actually sat next to him in this house, in this very chair, and got to know him very well. Spriggy was a big man with a big heart. His sporting achievements are very much out there. He ran this side of the house in the same way that he coached his football teams; he kept tabs on members who were required to stay in the house and reminded members of how many grievances they had raised. He kept us in line, and. as the member for Kalgoorlie acknowledged, he also kept our social club and football tipping competition going. The last time I saw Trevor was for the recording of a TV show called The Couch on Access 31, which we had done for the past couple of years, along with the members for Swan Hills and Ballajura. Unfortunately, Trevor could not stay for our regular segment and did his own segment at the start, because he was taking Lyn to dinner at a pub up the road, the Bel Eyre, which belongs to a mate of his. Trevor loved his publicans and his pubs and was a great supporter of them. Just last night I dropped in to my local, the Byford Tavern, to have a drink with the owners, Trevor and Carlene Holgate, who were great friends of Trevor. We had a great chat about Trevor’s achievements. Trevor Holgate told me that every time he had to resolve an argument over any sort of sporting event, he would ring Spriggy and he would resolve it for him. We reminisced about how Trevor had attended last year’s Melbourne Cup luncheon at the Byford Tavern and had won the prize for best dressed man of the day. He was a man who loved punting, loved football and loved his beer. He was a great man. My thoughts are with Lyn and the family; take care. DR G.G. JACOBS (Roe) [2.33 pm]: I note what a privilege it was to know Trevor Sprigg. I did not know Trevor until I came to Parliament three years ago; I knew the name and the fact that it was a famous football name. Trevor took over from me as opposition Whip, and regretfully it looks as though I will now take over from him as Whip. As many people have remarked today, Trevor took on the job of opposition Whip with enthusiasm and introduced new measures in order to do the job better. As the member for Kalgoorlie said, we really never know what is around the corner. Trevor felt really passionate about his job and found it a privilege to be a member of Parliament. I suppose that same attitude is what Trevor would want us to take from his unfortunate demise. Trevor always did his job enthusiastically. I shared an office with him just across the corridor from the chamber. I have never seen a man work the phones like Trevor Sprigg did. I have never seen a person with such a positive, proactive attitude to everything he did. As we all know, our involvement as members of Parliament is a team effort with our families, and I thank Lyn and the family for their contribution to this Parliament through Trevor Sprigg. It was with great sadness that I walked into the office this morning. The stark realisation of someone’s passing can leave us with an awful, empty feeling. The fact that we cannot determine our future makes us feel uncomfortable. We are here one day; gone the next. Trevor’s very Christian-based funeral reminded us that Trevor had a very deep belief in God and Jesus Christ. In that belief he has gone to a better place; to a good place. Hopefully, he will see us, and his family will see him, again. Trevor, we love you; we thank you for what you have done for us. We thank your family for letting us experience you and, hopefully, we will see you again one day. MR P.D. OMODEI (Warren-Blackwood) [2.36 pm]: I rise to pay tribute to Trevor Sprigg, who was a good friend and colleague of all the members of this house. My sympathies go out to his family on this occasion. It is a solemn occasion to be eulogising the death of a friend and colleague. If I can pay one tribute to The West Australian, I thought the obituary in yesterday’s paper by Peter Poat was very good. I commend anyone who has not read it to do so. It is headed “A champion on and off the footy field” and encapsulates Trevor’s life. Trevor represented everything that we would perceive to be Western Australian. He was passionate and, in many ways, compassionate, and there was no doubt that he was very competitive. He was my Whip in this place when I was the Leader of the Opposition for a couple of years. I would often say to him, “Trevor, where are those bastards? Get ‘em in this place. I pay you 20 grand to get them in here.” I did not really pay him 20 grand; the taxpayers did! Trevor would say, “But leader, the pricks just won’t come in!” Whilst I am very sad and still coming to terms with his untimely death, I do not think that Trevor Sprigg would have wanted us to be too sad for too long. I believe we should be celebrating his life as a good, honest, hardworking, straight-shooting guy who really took everything he did to heart, no matter what it was. Members have already explained how he went about his business and how passionate he was about everything he did. In light of that, I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker, and that of the Premier, for just one minute, please. Every morning when Parliament sat, Trevor would come into the strategy meeting with a set of questions he wanted to ask. Obviously, sometimes the issues of the day pushed his questions aside. However, on this occasion, on Trevor’s behalf, I want to put a few of them on the record because I think he really would have wanted me to do so. The first one I will read to the house is addressed to the Premier. It reads — In view of the fact that the public consider you to be a 9-5 Premier, will you table the schedule of functions you have attended after 6pm this calendar year?

282 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

There we go. Another question he really wanted to ask is addressed to the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, and it reads — Why haven’t you implemented your Government’s 2005 election promise to remove trucks from Leach Highway and South Street in Riverton? Another question is addressed to the Premier, and it reads — As exhaustive due diligence has already been done by your appointed Langoulant Task Force and the only issue is one of governance of the facility, I ask: When will you make a decision on the venue for the new multi-sports stadium? At least that has now been determined. Another question is addressed to the Minister for Education and Training, and it reads — Will the findings of the Twomey taskforce reviewing the State’s education and training workforce be made public or will it be kept secret like the Sanderson report on Aboriginal affairs? Can members imagine Trevor asking these questions? Another question is addressed to the Minister for Water Resources, and it reads — Why has your government reneged on its 2000 promise to provide $10.85million in funding to replace the Stirling Dam white water slalom course that Canoeing WA was forced to relinquish? There were a few others, which I will not read to the house. The questions I have read to the house are the questions that he really wanted to ask, particularly the one about the nine to five Premier, which he pushed me time and again to ask. Now, Premier, at some time in some way you might answer that question and Trevor will be satisfied. I attended a lot of functions with Trevor. We went to Chris Mainwaring’s funeral, together with Brett. Channel Seven gave up some of its seats for us to have a good vantage point. I will not forget that day, because it rained so heavily and, of course, Trevor had a lot to do with Chris Mainwaring and I could see that he was really feeling the pain of the passing of a very popular sportsman. We attended sports events together, including, rugby, football and sports stars award nights. He was always there on time, immaculately dressed and always very competitive. He always wanted me to meet anybody I had not already met. He also wanted to progress the Liberal Party as much as he possibly could. His family, Lyn and all the kids, can be very proud that their father and husband was, for all intents and purposes, a really true blue Western Australian and someone they can be very proud of. MS J.A. RADISICH (Swan Hills — Parliamentary Secretary) [2.42 pm]: I only got to know Trevor Sprigg after he was elected to this place in 2005. It is fair to say that perhaps he and I represented two points of extreme diversity in the Western Australian Parliament. Trevor and I had more than a couple of public tiffs, largely on the question of gender equity issues. However, we had a few things in common. One was our shared love for the Eagles football team. I frequently saw Trevor at the football. Only today I learned that Trevor was also a guild councillor at the University of Western Australia, something that I did not know we had in common. Today I particularly express my condolences to Lyn, who I have got to know over the past few years, and Trevor’s family. The last time I saw Trevor he was with Lyn. Lyn was an outstanding support for Trevor and I am sure he often acknowledged that. Even on the last occasion we saw each other Trevor and I were egging each other on. He was a good sparring partner. I think the member for Serpentine-Jarrahdale can vouch for that. It was late one December night when we were at Channel 31 doing a community TV recording. That is the place where we probably got to know each other best—outside this place, with all its trials and tribulations. It was in the outside world and we were working with real people we all represent. The short comment I will make today is that, while Trevor and I enjoyed a good strong, heated argument, he never held a grudge, at least not in my experience in dealing with him. Whilst we had different views on just about everything one could imagine, he happily agreed to disagree with me, as I did with him. What I respected most about Trevor Sprigg is that he never resiled from his point of view or made apologies for it. I admire that kind of strength of character. It is something all members in this place could take from Trevor. I hope he rests in peace. The SPEAKER: I thank members for their contributions and ask members to rise and support this motion by observing a minute’s silence. Question passed, members standing. The SPEAKER: Members, as a further mark of respect for the passing of a sitting member, it is my intention to leave the chair for approximately 30 minutes. Sitting suspended from 2.45 to 3.17 pm

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 283

DEATH IN CUSTODY — MR WARD Statement by Minister for Corrective Services MS M.M. QUIRK (Girrawheen — Minister for Corrective Services) [3.17 pm]: I provide the house with some detail regarding the death in custody of Mr Ward at Kalgoorlie on 27 January 2008. Mr Ward was a 46- year-old Aboriginal man and member of the Warburton Community. At 9.30 pm on 26 January 2008 Mr Ward was arrested at Laverton for driving under the influence. Police allege that his blood alcohol reading was 0.222 per cent. He was also serving a suspended sentence in relation to a previous conviction for driving without a motor driver’s licence. At 9.35 pm Mr Ward arrived at Laverton Police Station. A lockup medical assessment was undertaken by police at 9.42 pm. The prison transport contractor, Global Solutions Ltd, has informed the Department of Corrective Services that police telephoned the GSL supervisor at 10.00 pm to advise that they required transport as Mr Ward would be remanded in custody. At 10.10 pm bail was refused by a justice of the peace over the telephone. At 11.20 am on 27 January 2008 GSL arrived at Laverton Police Station. Mr Ward was transferred into the custody of GSL at 11.30 am, and the transport vehicle departed at 11.40 am. At 12.15 pm the GSL officers phoned Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison to advise that they were approximately four hours away from Kalgoorlie. At 3.10 pm they made a further call to advise that they were 10 minutes away, and then made another at 3.15 pm to advise that they were five minutes from arrival. I am advised that on hanging up the telephone, the officers heard a thud from the back of the vehicle and via the CCTV camera in the van observed Mr Ward lying on the floor. The van was stopped immediately and the doors opened. A faint pulse was detected on Mr Ward’s ankle. At 3.18 pm the vehicle arrived at Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital. I am advised that at 4.35 pm Mr Ward was pronounced brain dead and that at 4.50 pm he was pronounced dead. There last been some speculation about the air conditioning in the van. I am advised that the air conditioner was checked by an auto electrical contractor on 7 January 2008 after a fault was reported. The invoice details indicate that the system was checked, including the temperature in the cab and in the rear compartment, with the system being run for 10 minutes, and that no faults were detected. The death of Mr Ward has been subject to a police investigation and will be subject to a coronial inquest. I have written to the Attorney General and asked that he canvass with the State Coroner whether the hearing of the matter could be expedited given the intense public interest, and whether autopsy information could be released to the family before the inquest. Accordingly, the Attorney General has written to the coroner. The coroner has advised in his reply that the cause of death has not yet been determined. When more is known, information will be provided to Mr Ward’s wife, and the Clerk of Courts at Kalgoorlie will convene a meeting of the Warburton community to discuss the cause of death and the inquest hearing process. The coroner advises, however, that there may be some delay with the forensic pathologist in determining a cause of death, and with the police in finalising their investigation. Both personally and on behalf of the government, I wish to express my deepest sympathy to the wife and family of Mr Ward, and to the Warburton community, of which he was an important and respected member. INDIGENOUS DEATHS — CORONER’S REPORT Statement by Minister for Indigenous Affairs MRS M.H. ROBERTS (Midland — Minister for Indigenous Affairs) [3.22 pm]: Yesterday, the State Coroner handed down his findings in response to the inquest into the deaths of 22 Indigenous Western Australians from the Kimberley. The state government welcomes the coroner’s report and his contribution to a significant body of work aimed at improving outcomes for Indigenous Western Australians. While much of the focus has turned to the coroner’s broader recommendations, we must not forget the individual stories behind this inquest. On behalf of the government, and I believe all members of the house, I extend my sincere and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the deceased. For too long, many Indigenous Western Australians in regional and remote parts of our state have lived in unacceptable conditions. Coroner Hope’s report reflects the need and opportunities for government, community and the private sector to work together to overcome the intergenerational cycle of poverty, substance abuse and premature death. The state government has put significant resources and hard work into improving the lives of Indigenous Western Australians. The government has already made significant headway in Indigenous housing, health and education, but much more needs to be done. Australia has embarked upon a new era of Indigenous affairs following the Prime Minister’s apology to the stolen generations on 13 February. There is a new era of optimism, opportunity and mutual engagement on behalf of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The state government is committed to working with the federal government, community groups, non-profit organisations and business, including the mining industry, to help more Indigenous Western Australians engage in employment. The state government, in partnership with the commonwealth, is working to trial income quarantining in circumstances in which children

284 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] are being abused. We are also working to expand income management initiatives in association with our responsible parenting orders. The October to December interim report by the Drug and Alcohol Office indicates that liquor restrictions at Fitzroy Crossing are working. The report details a 43 per cent reduction in the number of reported incidents of alcohol-related domestic violence, and a 60 per cent decrease in the number of people presenting at the hospital’s emergency department in October last year compared with October 2006. The Carpenter government is on record as supporting further liquor restrictions in remote communities where alcoholism is endemic. Prior to 2006, the state government recognised the need for urgent action in Halls Creek to improve the lives of people living in the town and nearby communities. Since then the government has allocated an additional $83.6 million for improved housing and infrastructure. In Halls Creek, 33 public and Indigenous houses and an additional 23 homes for government officers are being built. To improve child safety, a hostel for children aged from zero to five years old was completed in September last year. The second stage for older children is on target for completion next month. I have been to many remote communities throughout our state’s north west. I know how awful some of the living conditions are. That is why the Department of Housing and Works is conducting a comprehensive audit of Indigenous housing in remote communities to capture the standard of housing and the current need for housing. The Carpenter government is fully and carefully considering the coroner’s findings. A meeting of the Directors General Group on Indigenous Affairs has been set for Friday, 29 February, later this week. The group will respond to the coroner’s recommendations and continue its work to develop effective strategies to improve Indigenous health, education, housing, law and order and child protection. There is no quick fix but we must not lose sight of the fact that we can all—Indigenous Australians, all spheres of government, private enterprise and the non-government sector—make a difference every day and take a step forward every day. DOMESTIC GAS SUPPLY — INTERRUPTION Statement by Minister for Energy MR F.M. LOGAN (Cockburn — Minister for Energy) [3.26 pm]: I rise to inform the house about a major interruption to the supply of domestic gas to Western Australia during the first week of 2008. As part of my statement I want to place on public record my appreciation to several organisations that contributed to the management of what was a critical and unforeseen event, unprecedented in Western Australia’s history. I also wish to place on record the series of events that enabled us to manage this issue, partly because the media commentary on this matter has been, frankly, utterly woeful. It became clear on 3 January that the shortage of gas caused by the shutdown of Woodside’s Karratha gas plant would threaten power supplies across the state. An additional 10 to15 terajoules of gas was identified as being critically needed if we were to avoid load shedding. The Office of Energy advised that several major gas consumers, including Burrup Fertilisers Pty Ltd, were not affected by the shutdown because they were supplied with gas by Apache Energy. I was advised that Burrup Fertilisers had already indicated that it had no surplus gas, but had not been asked to scale back production in order to make gas available for electricity generation. I phoned the company secretary of Burrup Fertilisers and asked if it was prepared to limit production to provide gas for electricity generation. He asked whether this was a request on behalf of the government, to which I said yes. He asked about price, but I made it clear the price would need to be negotiated with Verve Energy. Following a conversation with his chairman, Mr Pankaj Oswal, he advised that Burrup would make the gas available. I then phoned the appropriate general manager at Verve Energy and told him that Burrup Fertilisers was willing to provide up to 15 terajoules of gas for 24 hours. He asked whether the price had been discussed. I told him that the price would need to be negotiated, but that Burrup Fertilisers had already made a commitment to make the gas available as it was an issue of state importance. I told him it was therefore appropriate for Verve Energy to be reasonable in its negotiations and not to use the situation as a trading opportunity; that is, that Verve Energy should not seek to profit from the situation. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Because of their nature and the time limits involved, short ministerial statements are usually heard without interjection. That is a good rule and one that I intend to enforce strictly. Mr F.M. LOGAN: The general manager of Verve Energy advised that Verve had paid $35 per gigajoule to another gas supplier earlier that day, and that that price would be offered to Burrup “to start with”. I only became aware of the actual price paid when I read reports in The Australian newspaper last week and subsequently had the price confirmed. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank those people involved in dealing with the North West Shelf gas shutdown, including the people at Burrup Fertilisers and Verve Energy. Of course, I would also like to thank Western Australians who responded to our call to reduce energy use.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 285

Most of the reports in The Australian newspaper over the past week have been based on a leaked internal Horizon Power email—third parties to the gas purchase. Unfortunately, the contents of this email have been published as fact, despite containing serious misinformation. The coverage in The Australian has been clearly and demonstrably incorrect, and I am asking The Australian to run a correction. PRISONER TRANSPORT SERVICES — REVIEW Statement by Minister for Corrective Services MS M.M. QUIRK (Girrawheen — Minister for Corrective Services) [3.30 pm]: Following the death in custody of Mr Ward when he was being transported from Laverton, I directed the Department of Corrective Services to undertake a review of prisoner transport services to provide me and the community with assurances that prisoner transport is being undertaken as safely and humanely as possible. The review looked into the process, practices and protocols associated with prisoner transport. It was not an inquiry into the death of Mr Ward. The review report refers to the Inspector of Custodial Services’ report 43, titled “Thematic Review of Custodial Transport Services in Western Australia” as well as examines contract administration and monitoring, vehicle maintenance and fleet replacement. Eighteen recommendations have arisen from the review. The key recommendations include — after a stringent review of operating procedures, which have duty of care implications, the implementation by 28 March 2008 of additional provisions including breaks in journeys of over two hours’ duration, physical checks and interaction with prisoners during journey breaks and new requirements for extreme climatic conditions; by 14 M arch 2008, the Department of Corrective Services is to have obtained advice from Western Australia Police to ensure that all persons leaving its custody are fit to travel. Handover documentation will be amended to include a fitness to travel clearance; and, by 31 May 2008, all vehicles in the fleet are to have comprehensive checks for roadworthiness and functional effectiveness by reputable accredited agents; remote temperature monitoring from the offender compartments to the staff cabin; and, fail-safe duress buttons. I have directed that all options for expediting the full replacement of the fleet be considered and progressed. There is an incredibly high demand for prisoner transport services under the court security and custodial services contract. For example, in the 2006-07 financial year 26 309 prisoners were transported to and from court. While that number has decreased in recent years, there is still a pressing need to make greater use of audiovisual technology and to reduce non-essential transport. Earlier this month the Chief Justice proposed the establishment of a working group to develop protocols aimed at ensuring that the transport of persons in custody is undertaken only when all other practicable options have been exhausted. I welcome that initiative. What the review has revealed is that we can do more to improve prisoner transport. It is highly regrettable and, indeed, tragic that this review has been prompted by a death in custody. However, I am determined that we will make the necessary improvements to the system to reduce to the greatest extent possible the likelihood of a similar incident in the future. I table the review of prisoner transport services. [See paper 3641.] Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call the members for Roe, Capel and Hillarys to order. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE EDUCATION, HEALTH, AND LAW AND ORDER — GOVERNMENT ACTION 1. Mr T. BUSWELL to the Premier: (1) Does the Premier accept that despite an economic boom delivering record surpluses, Western Australian families are faced with an education system in crisis, with teachers threatening to strike; a health system in crisis, with massive overcrowding of emergency departments; and a breakdown in law and order, to the extent that Western Australian police are routinely bashed while going about their business? (2) Does the Premier accept that after two years as Premier, and after the Labor Party’s seven years in government, the Labor Party’s failure to plan for the future is hurting the lives of families right across Western Australia? (3) Will the Premier explain why, instead of addressing these problems, he chose to waste almost half a billion dollars on a failed computer system for the Office of Shared Services?

286 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(3) I should not say that some things never change because, quite clearly, they do. There has been another change, because the member for Vasse is now the Leader of the Opposition. Indeed, he is the third opposition leader with whom I have had to deal during my short time as Premier. I have previously said that the Liberal Party was reaching a low ebb. Surely it cannot get much lower—the nadir of the Western Australian Liberal Party. No is the brief answer to the preposterous suggestions put by the inexperienced and immature opposition leader, who has little grasp of the issues that confront Western Australia. I will start with education, an area with which I have some familiarity. I became the education minister in 2001 when the retention to year 12 was less than 60 per cent and declining, when there was between 27 per cent and 30 per cent youth unemployment and when 50 per cent of our boys were exiting school into an unemployment market because there were no jobs for them. Indeed, there was no strategy or training system. Last year, after a year of having raised the school leaving age to 16, we achieved a 97 per cent engagement of the state’s 16-year-olds in employment, education and training. This year we have raised the school leaving — Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER: I call the Leader of the Opposition to order for the first time. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The Leader of the Opposition has a complete lack of maturity. This year the government raised the school leaving age to 17 so that, by compulsion, our young people will be engaged in education, training and/or employment until the end of their seventeenth year. It is now against the law to exit education and training and do nothing. The education system and the performance of the education system is light years ahead of where it was just six years ago. Mr T. Buswell: Tell that to the parents! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I am a parent of four children who are in or who have recently been in the education system. I understand it because I have had personal experience. I turn to health. Do I recall the state of the health system when we came to government? Yes, I do. There was an unending parade of tragedies. People were waiting months and months and months to get treated. We have dramatically reduced surgery waiting lists in our hospitals. We have employed — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The opposition asked the question but it does not like the answer, because the comparison provides us with a record that we can hold up against the previous government any day of the week. There is no comparison with the reform measures that we put in place to effectively rebuild and restructure our health system compared with the ramshackle, directionless system that we inherited in which a succession of failed health ministers paraded through the Parliament, some of them occasionally breaking into tears such was the stress. Yes, there are challenges in education and training and in law and order. However, the state of Western Australia is now a vastly better place than the one we inherited when we came to government. INFRASTRUCTURE — GOVERNMENT COMMITMENTS 2. Mr P. PAPALIA to the Premier: Can the Premier outline the government’s latest infrastructure commitments for Western Australia? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: Contrary to the opposition, we have a broad and expansive vision for the future that encompasses the entire economic, social and cultural landscape of this great state of ours. It goes way beyond the next couple of years. We have been extremely busy outlining that vision during the parliamentary recess. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER: I call the Leader of the Opposition to order for the second time. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Another area we can talk about is water security. That area was completely abandoned by the previous government. We are leading the nation in water security. Our infrastructure program is nothing short of astounding and breathtaking and is unparalleled around the nation. Indeed, I think it is unparalleled in the history of the state. We have committed $25 billion over the next four years. When we came to government, the infrastructure program was 18 per cent of the state’s budget, and the state’s economy was in decline. One of the big criticisms I had of the Howard government was that it invested nothing in the productive infrastructure of the nation. It is interesting that now that it is no longer in government, the Business Council of Australia has joined in that chorus of criticism. That is a very different line from that which it ran a year or two ago. Now it is

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 287 criticising the Howard government for failing to invest in the productive infrastructure of the nation; that is, physical infrastructure for education and training and improved capacity. The Howard government did nothing. That is what we are doing in Western Australia. That has been the big difference between our budget strategy and the budget strategy adopted by John Howard. We have invested our surplus budgets in massive infrastructure development and in improving economic capacity in this state. The former federal government failed completely. It threw the money away, it pork-barrelled it, to buy itself back into government time and again. At last, the business leaders of Australia have taken off the cloak of political expediency and identified that very problem. Somebody mentioned the regions. In the regions, we are building new hospitals on a scale that no-one else has ever contemplated. We are building new schools, police stations, transport links – Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Dawesville and Roe. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: We are transforming our regional cities. I have never seen anything like the transformation that has happened in Geraldton. Do members remember the state that Geraldton was in when we came to government? The town was on its knees begging for help. We had our first cabinet meeting in the new airport building in Geraldton and we were begged for help. Now the city is confident. It aspires to a great future. It has transformed dramatically because of our investment. Since I was a child in my home town of Albany, I have heard about the need for an entertainment centre there. Guess what? It is getting one. Dr K.D. Hames: Wow! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member might dismiss it as not being particularly significant, but the people of Albany do not. The member for Dawesville might not understand the importance of it, but the people of Albany do. There is huge investment going on in Albany. There is investment underway in Bunbury and Busselton. Do members remember the local member’s opposition last year to the redevelopment of Busselton? That person was prepared to sacrifice the development of his own electorate to score a few political points in this place. The list goes on. A vast sum of money—as I have said, $25 billion—is being invested in Carnarvon, Exmouth, Port Hedland, Mandurah and the Kimberley and in the metropolitan area. How long has it been since anybody on the opposition benches has driven down to and looked at the Australian Marine Complex? Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The member for Capel asked where it is. I invite people to look at the development at the Australian Marine Complex in Henderson. It is a massive, world-scale development that is completely under the radar. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Yes, it was. I now refer to the infrastructure developments in the metropolitan area. The new Northbridge theatre will be a magnificent addition to our social and cultural infrastructure, as well as an economic boost to the creative industries in this state. Perth Arena will be the heart of our cultural entertainment capacity to engage performances on a scale the state has never seen before. Over the summer break I considered the big decisions in infrastructure that were before us—the museum, the sports stadium and the Perth waterfront. We made the decisions. An amount of $500 million will be spent on building a new, world-class museum on the East Perth waterfront. The museum will showcase Western Australia to ourselves and to the rest of the world. There will be a 60 000-seat sports stadium in Kitchener Park, Subiaco. That is a once-in-a-century project. The waterfront development will transform Perth. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Members opposite are pathetically immature; they are the bottom of the barrel. The Perth waterfront development will transform the city of Perth. That is what we are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In a phrase, we are building Western Australia. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is background noise to the main game of politics. The main game of politics is to improve the quality of life of the people of this state. That is background noise, and the general population will

288 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] respond to it at that level. It is irrelevant background noise. The main game is what is happening with infrastructure and investment in health, education and community safety, and we are delivering. ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS — RESPONSIBILITY FOR FAILURES 3. Dr K.D. HAMES to the Premier: I refer to Coroner Hope’s report into Aboriginal deaths in the Kimberley in which he was scathing of the government’s performance, and of the Department of Indigenous Affairs’ performance in particular, and in which he describes the level of education among Aboriginal students in the Kimberley as pathetically low. (1) Does the Premier recall, as Minister for Education and Training, his failed Aboriginal employment and career action plan that he launched in 2002? (2) Does he also recall, as Minister for Indigenous Affairs, his first action of emasculating his department by closing local offices in the Kimberley, particularly in Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek? (3) Will he now, as Premier and a member of this government for the past seven years, accept full and personal responsibility for the devastating failures outlined in the coroner’s report? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for the opportunity. (1)-(3) The retention of Indigenous year 11 students over the four-year period in Western Australia to the end of 2006 was 75 per cent, which was up from 54 per cent over the previous four-year period. There has been a 300 per cent increase in the number of Indigenous people in apprenticeships and traineeships; in fact, there were 1 800 in 2007. The number of Aboriginal teachers has nearly doubled since 2001 to 150 this year. A further 28 are expected to be employed from the Aboriginal and islander education office Bachelor of Education conversion course by the end of the year. Dr K.D. Hames: Are you saying that Coroner Hope got it wrong? Mr A.J. CARPENTER: What I am prepared to say is that the member has not stood in Parliament and admitted that he was a failure as an Indigenous affairs minister. Dr K.D. Hames: I have. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: And so he should have. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: What he did was sanctify Robert Bropho. Dr K.D. Hames: What a load of rubbish! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Yes, he did. He created a safe haven for a paedophile. Withdrawal of Remark Mr C.J. BARNETT: It is clearly unparliamentary to suggest that a member of Parliament provided a safe haven for a paedophile. Paedophilia is a criminal and heinous crime. That was an offensive comment by the Premier. The SPEAKER: I do not know whether the Premier identified a person in that allegation. If the Premier directed it at an individual, it is unparliamentary and he should withdraw it. If not, it is a debating point. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: To the extent that it was directed at the member individually, I withdraw it. It was directed at the government that he was a member of. That is exactly what he did. Questions without Notice Resumed Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In relation to the coroner’s inquiry — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: These are voices from the failed past. In relation to the coroner’s inquiry, yes, we have huge issues, not just in the Kimberley but all over Western Australia. We have huge issues in closing the gap of disadvantage and alienation suffered by Aboriginal communities, families and individuals in this state. We have huge challenges. We have to rise every day to meet those challenges. Some days we have more success than other days. Some efforts do not work as well as we would like. Sometimes things have to be rejected because they have not worked. What is old is new again sometimes. It appears to me that we are now considering banning Aboriginal people from drinking alcohol. Is

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 289 anyone in this Parliament going to stand up and demand, broadly, a complete ban on the sale of all takeaway alcohol in every centre in Western Australia? Are we going to advocate the banning of takeaway liquor in every single centre in Western Australia where Aboriginal people might be affected by liquor? The matter is complex and difficult, and we need to find a way forward through all that complexity and difficulty, and we are endeavouring to do that. We have put in place alcohol restrictions at Fitzroy Crossing. I agree entirely with the State Coroner about the need for leadership. It was for that reason, members opposite may recall, that last year I announced that we would not scrap the Department of Indigenous Affairs but try to give it a more central and powerful role in government under the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, the member for Midland. That is why yesterday — Dr K.D. Hames interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I have given Mr Sanderson a specific task. Yesterday I made a slight variation in the portfolio arrangements by transferring the employment protection portfolio to Hon Jon Ford in the upper house so that the Minister for Indigenous Affairs and for Housing and Works would have more capacity to focus on what is a huge issue for this state. I have optimism; I do not share the pessimism. In fact, I contest the pessimistic attitude. To those with a pessimistic attitude, I say that they are doing no-one any good. I have an optimistic attitude. I have faith in the capacity of Aboriginal people to meet the challenges they are facing, with, now, thankfully, the cooperative partnership between the state government and the federal government. Following the coroner’s findings, my office was today in contact with the office of the federal minister, Jenny Macklin. There is great opportunity now for the federal and state governments to work cooperatively with Indigenous people in all their different locations in Western Australia, and with all their different, manifest issues to find what solutions work in those communities and how we can best go about improving the quality of life of those communities. The State Coroner has performed a valuable service for us. From that body of work I hope we can find a way forward. We were moving forward anyway. I completely reject the doomsday scenario that people have trotted out. I engaged John Sanderson to try to find localised solutions for localised problems. At the end of the employment summit last year I gave him the task of following up on the opportunities that were presented at the summit so that we could see improved employment levels in Aboriginal communities, Aboriginal families and Aboriginal individuals. That is his task. It is the minister’s task—as it should be—to coordinate the state government’s effort on Indigenous issues in cooperation with the federal minister and the communities affected. PUBLIC HOUSING — ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES 4. Mr B.J. GRYLLS to the Minister for Housing and Works: Given Coroner Alastair Hope’s damning report on Aboriginal living conditions in the Kimberley and the fact that not enough is being done to address overcrowding in Aboriginal housing — (1) What is the current waiting list for public housing at Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing? (2) How many new rental houses have been built in each of those communities in the past two years? (3) How many of those houses have been rented to Aboriginal families? (4) Why have the atrocious conditions under which the Deegan family is living at Lot 164 Mardiwah Loop, Halls Creek not been addressed? (5) Can the minister explain how up to 15 toddlers and adults can continue to be crammed like sardines into a tin shed and in a broken-down donga alongside the main house at the Deegan’s block? I have pictures to show the minister of those conditions. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS replied: I thank the Leader of the National Party for some notice of this question. (1) At Halls Creek there are 87 applicants and at Fitzroy Crossing there are 29 applicants on the current waiting list. I hasten to add that because I do not believe those waiting lists are in any shape or form comprehensive, many more people than that would require to be housed. Quite apart from the waiting list for public housing, there is the issue of overcrowding in remote and town-based communities. Some of those town-based communities are around Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing, and there are issues there. That is why I have announced that an audit is being done of all housing needs across the Kimberley. It will not be just public housing but also town-based and remote housing. Dr K.D. Hames: It’s about time. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: It is already underway, member for Dawesville.

290 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

Dr K.D. Hames: It’s a multi-issue. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: I do not want to be nasty about this, but the member for Dawesville might like to look at his record as minister of both housing and Indigenous affairs and reflect on the fact that in the last five years he was in government he did not build one extra house in Fitzroy Crossing—not one. However, I will not be diverted by that nonsense from the question the member has asked me. The audit we are undertaking is pivotal to working out the exact housing needs across the Kimberley. Members opposite well know that there has been a shared responsibility between the federal government, the state government and Indigenous communities. Indeed, in many of the communities—town-based communities such as Mardiwah Loop and those around Halls Creek—people’s houses were built through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and the community was given money directly. These are not what is traditional public housing. The land is not owned by the state nor do we have a contract for the maintenance of that housing. (2) With respect to new rental housing in Fitzroy Crossing—this includes housing in those town-based communities—since 2004-05 more than 40 new houses have been constructed in Fitzroy Crossing and an additional 20 are under construction for use as Indigenous community housing. I note also that more than 40 houses are being refurbished at a cost of $5 million. As I have mentioned in the house before, in 2006 we committed to 16 new dwellings in Halls Creek at a cost of $5.6 million for public housing; 10 dwellings at a cost of $3.5 million for government regional officers’ housing; and 10 houses at a cost of $3.5 million for town-based communities. Also, 20 dwellings have been refurbished at a cost of $2.4 million. The following year, 2007, we increased the number of homes being built to a total of 23 GROH houses, 23 public houses and 10 town-based houses. We promised 36 houses, including the GROH houses in 2006, and we have increased that now by an additional 20 to a total of 56 houses. (3) Houses that have been completed in Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing, not including GROH houses, all have Aboriginal tenants. (4)-(5) Concerning the family at Mardiwah Loop, it would be instructive for the member and the house to understand the nature of the town-based communities. In Halls Creek, there are three town-based communities. One of the strategies that the Department of Housing and Works is employing is the improvement of housing management so that those houses that are built are properly maintained, rents are paid and so forth. We want these communities to be included in the town planning scheme. In 1990, the Aboriginal Lands Trust issued a management order for Mardiwah Loop to the Thalngarr Ngarriny Aboriginal Corporation. Some members of that corporation are reluctant to accept external housing management, even though many of the people there recognise that the basic fundamentals of competent housing management are not in place. DHW has advised the community that we are not prepared to put new houses into Mardiwah Loop while there is no certainty of proper housing management and assurance of asset protection. I notice that that attitude is reflected in Coroner Hope’s report. That is exactly the point he has made about a housing management plan and a plan for the maintenance of houses. We cannot blithely, as occurred under ATSIC and previous regimes, just build houses and see them become nonexistent within seven or eight years. There must be agreement about their management. On 13 February this year, at a meeting attended by Department of Housing and Works officials and people from those town-based communities, a proposed management model and a capital works program were offered subject to the corporation agreeing to external housing management. They were advised of the audit survey and so forth. That is the nub of the issue and that is the reason that there is overcrowding, with no current commitment for new houses to be built in Mardiwah Loop. We have said that times have changed and we have to be tougher to deliver long-term results for Aboriginal communities. We cannot just build the houses and walk away from them. People have to pay rent and people need to spend money on their houses to maintain them and put in place programs, such as the home support programs that have been put in place. Management of the houses and all these issues are echoed directly in Coroner Hope’s report. That is the reason we have taken the approach we have with the community of Mardiwah Loop.

PUBLIC HOUSING — ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES 5. Mr B.J. GRYLLS to the Minister for Indigenous Affairs: I have a supplementary question. Does the minister agree with the Premier that with a $25 billion capital works infrastructure program that the Deegan family have never had it so good? The SPEAKER: That is not a supplementary question.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 291

MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE — NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ON REPORT 6. Ms J.A. RADISICH to the Treasurer: Can the Treasurer refute the assertions in an article printed in a local newspaper last month headlined “Cost blowouts put WA’s credit rating at risk”? Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: Even a yobbo like the Leader of the Opposition would know that Western Australia’s economy is in terrific shape. We now export more than New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia combined. Someone at The West Australian thinks that this state is in economic and financial crisis, judging by the headline in response to a Moody’s Investors Service report. It was rather different from Moody’s headline, “Stellar Financial Performance Reflects Economic Growth and Prudent Management”. Moody’s noted that - The government’s commitment to successfully contain growing expenditure pressures for services and infrastructure expansion is important . . . Moody’s further noted that - Officials are cognizant that expenditure controls will be of key importance once the robust economic growth eases, and have made important attempts to . . . rationalize costs. Several members interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: An inexperienced Leader of the Opposition does not know what is going on, but Moody’s, an international ratings agency, does. It said that Western Australia’s credit quality reflects the state’s outstanding financial performance. It also referred to the state’s prudent fiscal management. That is what we are doing: we are managing this period of extraordinary growth to keep it going for as long as possible and we are investing the proceeds in the future of this state. That is the reason we have a debt-free new MetroRail project that will serve the state for 50 years into the future; that is the reason we have been able to put $1.1 billion from the last surplus in the Fiona Stanley Hospital account. On the other side of the house we have an inexperienced and immature opposition that cannot get its act together. The shadow Treasurer tells us that government workers would get nothing under a Liberal government, while the education spokesperson says that teachers should get a 20 per cent salary increase. Who is right—the shadow Treasurer or the shadow education minister? Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition is too inexperienced to get those two shadow ministers to get their act together. We know, and the Western Australian community knows, that Western Australia’s economy is doing very well. Access Economics, for example, says that prospective investment projects are worth $164.7 billion; that is, about 30 per cent of the nation’s total. We have an unemployment rate of 3.3 per cent compared with 4.1 per cent nationally. We have issues in managing this economic growth. It takes concerted government effort to resolve the issues that need to be resolved to keep the growth going. However, the growth is being kept going, courtesy of the hard work and enterprise of Western Australians and the government’s management of this period of economic prosperity. Not only are we managing these times — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call the Leader of the Opposition to order for the third time and the member for Roe for the third time. Mr E.S. RIPPER: It is an immature Leader of the Opposition that gets three calls to order in one short question time. He should begin to recognise the status of the position he now occupies. Not only are we managing this period of record economic growth to keep it going for as long as possible, but also we are investing the proceeds, every last dollar of the surplus, in the future of Western Australians. JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON DELEGATED LEGISLATION Membership Change THE SPEAKER (Mr F. Riebeling): I have a number of procedural matters that will probably take the best part of the next 20 minutes. The first is the membership of the Joint Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation. I advise members that I have received a letter from the member for Roe dated 13 February 2008 indicating that he was resigning from the Joint Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation from that date.

ROYAL PERTH HOSPITAL — CLOSURE AND NAME PRESERVATION Petition DR K.D. HAMES (Dawesville — Deputy Leader of the Opposition) [4.05 pm]: I present a petition as follows —

292 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We the undersigned call upon the Legislative Assembly to strongly oppose the closure of Royal Perth Hospital and to ensure the name Royal Perth Hospital is maintained. There are another 1 662 signatures on this petition, which brings to over 31 000 the total number of signatures presented. I certify that this petition conforms to the standing orders of the house. [See petition 274.]

DESALINATION PLANT AT BINNINGUP — OPPOSITION Petition MR M.J. COWPER (Murray) [4.06 pm]: I present the following petition — To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We the undersigned residents of Western Australia are opposed to the location of a de-salination plant at Binningup because we believe: • That de-salination is an industrial process and should be located in an appropriately zoned industrial area • The processes of rational land use and appropriate planning processes have been circumvented as the land is zoned as “General Agriculture” and the existing waste water treatment plant zoned as “Public Utility”. A draft structure plan indicates that the area to be “Future Urban” • The Community and the Local Authority have not been consulted on the issue prior to the decision being announced. • The Community has grave concerns about the effect on the amenity of the area, the potential damage to the local coastal and marine environment and the potential for beneficial land use and rational development in the locality. Your petitioners therefore respectfully request the Legislative Assembly to recommend that the Binningup de-salination plant be moved to a properly zoned industrial area. The petition contains 972 signatures and they conform to the rules of the house. [See petition 275.]

WESTERN POWER EASTERN TERMINAL SUBSTATION Petition MR J.H.D. DAY (Darling Range) [4.08 pm]: I present the following petition — To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We, the undersigned residents of Western Australia, say that Western Power’s proposal to site the Eastern Terminal sub-station in Priority 1 or Priority 2 water catchment areas east of Kalamunda and the consequent necessity of clearing vast tracts of state forest for both the site and transmission towers; • exposes the Middle Helena Catchment to unnecessary risk; • violates the Department of Environment’s policy on protecting Public Drinking Water Source Areas; and • will have a deleterious effect on the local tourist industry. Now we ask the Legislative Assembly to demand of Western Power that they reconsider alternative options to site the sub-station outside the Priority 1 and Priority 2 water catchment areas. This petition contains 110 signatures and it is in order. [See petition 276.]

OLD VASSE ROAD Petition MR P.D. OMODEI (Warren-Blackwood) [4.09 pm]: I present the following petition bearing 150 signatures —

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 293

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We, the undersigned people, are very concerned at the condition of Old Vasse Road west of Pemberton. Old Vasse Road is a popular thoroughfare linking many natural tourism attractions, major commercial and tourism operations and constitutes part of the Karri Forest Explorer drive. It supports heavy haulage vehicles for agricultural and horticultural endeavours, local resident traffic and is the designated school bus route. The pre bitumen surface of Old Vasse Road combined with its increasing traffic volume renders many parts of Old Vasse Road with dangerous loose gravel, deep corrugation and high dust generation making road conditions an increased risk to public safety. Currently, Old Vasse Road’s status as unsealed denies access to visitors with lease and high vehicles, diminishing access to high value tourism experiences from the Pemberton region and holding back vitally important development in the area. Now we ask that the Legislative Assembly direct the Treasurer, Minister for Planning and Infrastructure and Minister for Tourism to ensure that Old Vasse Road, between the Vasse Highway and Pemberton - Northcliffe Road becomes bitumen sealed immediately. [See petition 277.] MANJIMUP POLICE STATION Petition MR P.D. OMODEI (Warren-Blackwood) [4.10 pm]: I present a petition signed by 70 people as follows — To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We, the undersigned people, are very concerned at the current state of the Manjimup Police Station. It is over eighteen months since a petition was presented to the Parliament of Western Australia about the state of the Manjimup Police Station. In this time the only repair having been completed at the Police station has been the replacement of a main roof beam. Restumping is to take place, but tenders still have not been called. Given that the building has no disabled access, covered walk way entry, no waiting area within the station, no general interview room other than criminal interview, no safety facility for Officers, no overnight holding cells, no video monitoring, and the building has outgrown the numbers of Officers based at the station it is strongly believed that a new modern facility be constructed immediately. The proposed budget for any repairs should be committed to rebuilding the entire complex. If the Government will not fully fund a new facility, then the Government should allow a public/private partnership so that this important infrastructure will become a reality for Manjimup and the Lower Southwest Region. Now we ask that the Legislative Assembly direct the Treasurer and Minister for Police to act immediately to ensure that a new Police Station complex is delivered in Manjimup through a private public partnership [See petition 278.] LORDS SPORTS CLUB Petition MS S.E. WALKER (Nedlands) [4.12 pm]: I have received about 7 500 signatures on this matter. This petition today contains 576 signatures — To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We, the undersigned residents of Subiaco in the Nedlands electorate and other Western Australian city electorates say we are devastated by the winding down and possible loss of the sports and health facilities at Lords in Hay Street Subiaco made unviable, according to its Manager, by the subsequent rezoning of the land by the Subiaco Redevelopment Authority and consequent rent hikes. Residents say this facility is the heart and soul of Subiaco and surrounding communities and used by the many following groups and schools: I wonder if you let me read, just this once, the number of schools that use this facility, and then I can shorten it for next time.

294 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr P.B. Watson): The member cannot make statements when reading out a petition. Ms S.E. WALKER: I am not. It is the petition. I am asking for your indulgence, Mr Acting Speaker. The ACTING SPEAKER: The member is allowed only to read out the petition itself. Ms S.E. WALKER: Thank you, Mr Acting Speaker. I will just carry on. The community groups and schools are —

• Seniors • Associated & Catholic • Peter Moyes Anglican Colleges Community School • Disabled • Associated & Catholic • Lake Joondalup Baptist Colleges (Special College Ed/Students with Disabilities) • Mothers with • JSR Anglican Community • Bunbury Cathedral Grammar children under 2 years of age School School • 18-30 year olds battling • Subiaco Primary School • Methodist Ladies College obesity • Social groups - over • Nedlands Primary School • Perth Modern School 400 indoor sports teams • Tennis and squash groups • Aquinas College • St Hilda’s Anglican Girls School • Corporate groups • Aranmore Catholic College • Sacred Heart Primary School • State sporting organizations • Balcatta SHS • Scotch College • Albany SHS • Churchlands SHS • Hale • Bunbury Catholic College • Christ Church Grammar • St Stephen’s Duncraig School • Newman College • St Stephen’s Carramar • Ursula Frayne College • CBC Fremantle • Servite College • Mandurah Baptist College • Greenwood SHS • Lynwood SHS • Mount Lawley SHS • John Paul College • Penrhos College • Newton More SHS • Public Schools Association • Rossmoyne SHS • North Albany SHS • Kalamunda SHS • Santa Maria College • Winthrop Baptist College • St Norbert College • Wesley College • Trinity College • Clontarf • School Sport WA • John XXIII College

There are no other sports and health facilities of a similar kind catering for so many communities in the area with a visitation list of 14,000 per week. Now we ask the Legislative Assembly to ensure that Subiaco Council, who now has control of the land and lease, maintain and operate these facilities for the health and recreational benefits of the many communities affected on a similar basis as the following State or Local Government run facilities in other communities: • Challenge Stadium • Arena Joondalup • Loftus Recreation Centre

• Leeming Recreation Centre • Craigie Leisure Centre • Morley Sport and Recreation Centre • Terry Tyzack Aquatic • Park Recreation Centre Centre

And that the State Government liaise with the Subiaco City Council to ensure that the Council ensures they prioritize the health, psychological benefits and wellbeing to the Subiaco ratepayers and surrounding communities over any financial benefit to the Council and that the Carpenter and Rudd Labor Governments offer all possible financial and other support to the City to maintain the $10 million infrastructure.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 295

Thank you for your indulgence, Mr Acting Speaker. [See petition 279.] PAPERS TABLED Papers were tabled and ordered to lie upon the table of the house. EDUCATION AND HEALTH STANDING COMMITTEE Twelfth Report — Statement by Acting Speaker THE ACTING SPEAKER (Mr P.B. Watson): On behalf of the Speaker, I advise members that at an appropriate time after the dinner break, he will call the Chairman and members of the Education and Health Standing Committee to speak to its report 12, which was deemed tabled by forwarding it to the Clerk on 4 February 2008. DISABILITY SERVICES COMMISSION — ANNUAL REPORT 2006-07 Correction to Tabled Report — Statement by Acting Speaker THE ACTING SPEAKER (Mr P.B. Watson): The Speaker received a letter dated 3 December 2007 from the Minister for Disability Services requesting that corrections be made to the Disability Services Commission 2006- 07 annual report tabled on 27 September 2007. The minister requested approval to replace page 7 of the original report with an amended page to correct a factual error. The last sentence in paragraph 2 on page 7 was removed on the basis that it implied that the board of the commission is represented on the Carers Advisory Council, which is not the case. Under the provisions of standing order 156, I advise the Assembly that the Speaker has authorised that the necessary corrections be made to the tabled paper. ACTS AMENDMENT (ASSAULTS ON POLICE OFFICERS) BILL 2008 Notice of Motion to Introduce Notice of motion given by Mr R.F. Johnson. RIGHTS IN WATER AND IRRIGATION AMENDMENT REGULATIONS (NO. 3) 2007 — DISALLOWANCE Notice of Motion Mr P.D. Omodei gave notice that at the next sitting of the house he would move - That the Rights in Water and Irrigation Amendment Regulations (No. 3) 2007, gazetted on 28 December 2007, be disallowed. MEMBER FOR MURDOCH Business on the Notice Paper — Statement by Acting Speaker THE ACTING SPEAKER (Mr P.B. Watson): On behalf of the Speaker, I advise members that questions on notice from the former member for Murdoch that were unanswered as at the last sitting day were answered prior to the publication of today’s notice paper and those answers will appear in Hansard. The notice of motion that stood in his name has been removed from the notice paper. Private members’ business orders of the day 10 and 15—the Professional Combat Sports Amendment Bill 2007 and the Criminal Code Amendment (Sale of Spray Paint Cans) Bill 2007—were in the name of the former member, and debate on those orders of the day has been adjourned following the second reading speeches. As orders of the day, they are in the possession of the house and the name of the former member will remain on the notice paper as the member who moved them. Should these orders of the day come on for debate, the Speaker will be prepared to accept advice from the opposition at that time about who has carriage of the order of the day and allow that member to reply. SELECT COMMITTEE ON MILK AND BEEF PRICES IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA Removal of Notice — Statement by Acting Speaker THE ACTING SPEAKER (Mr P.B. Watson): On behalf of the Speaker, I advise members that private members’ business notice of motion 6, notice of which was given on 14 August 2007, will be removed from the next notice paper unless written notification is provided to the Clerk requiring that the notice be continued. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS (STANDING COMMITTEE) AMENDMENT BILL 2006 Removal of Notice — Statement by Acting Speaker THE ACTING SPEAKER (Mr P.B. Watson): On behalf of the Speaker, I advise members, in accordance with standing order 144A, that the Director of Public Prosecutions (Standing Committee) Amendment Bill 2006, which appeared on the last notice paper as private members’ business order of the day 3, has not been debated

296 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] for more than 12 calendar months and has been removed from the notice paper. For members’ information, I advise that a bill removed under this standing order may be restored by motion to the point it reached prior to its removal.

PREMIER’S STATEMENT — PRECEDENCE Statement by Acting Speaker THE ACTING SPEAKER (Mr P.B. Watson): On behalf of the Speaker, I advise that standing order 8A provides that no other business that is not of a formal or procedural nature will have priority until three sitting days, including the remainder of the first sitting day, have been dedicated exclusively to the debate noting the Premier’s Statement. On previous occasions the house has dealt with the first reading of a bill as a formal matter during the period in which the Premier’s Statement has precedence. Even though, technically, debate can occur on the motion for the first reading, that does not happen in practice. Consequently, the Speaker is prepared to allow only the first reading of bills to occur during this time.

BILLS Assent Messages from the Governor received and read notifying assent to the following bills - 1. Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition (Western Australia) Bill 2005. 2. Criminal Code Amendment (Drink and Food Spiking) Bill 2007. 3. Electricity Industry Amendment Bill 2007. 4. Judges’ Salaries and Pensions Amendment Bill 2007. 5. Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Amendment (Smoke Alarms) Bill 2007. 6. Petroleum Amendment Bill 2007. 7. Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Bill 2007. 8. Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Levy Bill 2007. 9. Water Resources Legislation Amendment Bill 2006. 10. Road Traffic Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2007.

WATER RESOURCES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2006 Council’s Message Message from the Council received and read notifying that it did not insist on its amendment 31 to which the Assembly had disagreed and had agreed to the substitute amendment proposed by the Assembly. BILLS Returned 1. Fines Legislation Amendment Bill 2006. 2. Police Amendment Bill 2006. 3. Public Trustee and Trustee Companies Legislation Amendment Bill 2006. 4. Criminal Law and Evidence Amendment Bill 2006. Bills returned from the Council with amendments. 5. Petroleum Amendment Bill 2007. 6. Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Bill 2007. 7. Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Levy Bill 2007. 8. Electricity Industry Amendment Bill 2007. 9. Judges’ Salaries and Pensions Amendment Bill 2007. 10. Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Amendment (Smoke Alarms) Bill 2007. 11. Criminal Code Amendment (Drink and Food Spiking) Bill 2007. 12. Terrorism (Preventative Detention) Amendment Bill 2007. Bills returned from the Council without amendment.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 297

ROAD TRAFFIC AMENDMENT BILL (NO. 2) 2007 Council’s Message Message from the Council received and read notifying that it had agreed to the amendments made by the Assembly to the Council’s amendment. CASINO (BURSWOOD ISLAND) AGREEMENT AMENDMENT BILL 2007 Receipt and First Reading Bill received from the Council; and, on motion by Mr J.C. Kobelke (Leader of the House), read a first time. Explanatory memorandum presented by the Leader of the House. PREMIER’S STATEMENT Presentation MR A.J. CARPENTER (Willagee — Premier) [4.35 pm]: I rise today to present the government agenda for 2008. Before I begin, I wish you, Mr Acting Speaker, the Speaker and everybody else all the best for the year, 2008. It promises to be yet another momentous year in Western Australia. Parliament should be a place in which not only are laws made, but also examples are set for the rest of the community. In the nineteenth century the Western Australian Parliament became the second Parliament in the nation, after South Australia, to extend the franchise to women; that is, in 1899 women were granted the right to vote in Western Australian state parliamentary elections. The exception to that were Aboriginal women, who, like their menfolk, had to wait until 1962 for the privilege to vote. Two decades into the twentieth century, in 1920, women were allowed to stand as candidates for Parliament, and in 1921 Edith Cowan won a seat in the Western Australian Parliament. She became the first woman elected to an Australian Parliament. In 1990 Dr Carmen Lawrence became Western Australia’s, and Australia’s, first female Premier, and in 2001 Hon Carol Martin, member for Kimberley, became the first female Indigenous member of any Australian Parliament. Mr Acting Speaker, that is a good record. It is unacceptable that in the first decade of the twenty-first century the treatment of some women in this Parliament—members and staff—leaves them feeling that there is no place here for them. There is something dramatically wrong that this should be allowed to happen here in the Parliament of Western Australia. We should seek to lead the nation in respecting the dignity and the rights of every citizen—of all women. Here, in the Parliament, we should lead the nation. This Parliament should not be cast as a boys’ club where the behaviour of sexist yobbos is not just tolerated but is rewarded. It is completely and utterly unacceptable. Point of Order Mr C.J. BARNETT: Mr Acting Speaker, the Premier’s Statement is an opportunity for the Premier and the government of Western Australia to outline a legislative program and to comment on major policy issues. Never in the history of this Parliament has it been used for a political attack. What the Premier is about to do, what he has started to do, is quite inappropriate. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: Mr Acting Speaker, there is no basis for the point of order whatsoever. The Premier is making statements about the year ahead and if he sees issues as important, whether specific to legislation or not, he is simply commenting on those. I do not think it appropriate that the member should take a point of order to disrupt the Premier when he is making his statement. The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr P.B. Watson): There is no point of order and the opposition will have a chance to reply to the Premier’s Statement. Debate Resumed Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I would think that this is a very serious policy issue! Mr Acting Speaker, I referred to the fact that Indigenous Western Australians were not granted the vote in state elections until 1962. That is yet another detail in a mosaic of disadvantage that represents the historical relationship of Indigenous Western Australians in the broader community. There is still much to be done here; much to put right. One of those things, one which should have been among the easiest, was done by our new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, just two weeks ago on Wednesday, 13 February. Kevin Rudd’s speech to the federal Parliament, in which he apologised to the stolen generations, was, I believe, one of the great speeches by a political leader in our nation’s history; it was certainly one of the best that I have ever heard. It was a statement long overdue and, for those who were in the federal Parliament or who were perhaps where groups of Indigenous Australians had gathered to hear the Prime Minister’s words, I am sure it was a moment in time they will never forget. In 1997 my predecessor, Geoffrey Gallop, and his predecessor, Richard Court, jointly sponsored a motion in this Parliament to apologise to the stolen generations in our state. Eleven years later, at the beginning of the

298 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] post-Howard era, the federal Parliament delivered its own bipartisan apology. It truly saddens me that John Howard could not do it and that he could not attend when the apology was delivered. That is now a matter for him as a private citizen. We look forward with a sense of optimism to a new and constructive relationship with the federal government in which we can together, and in partnership with Indigenous people, more successfully tackle the difficult and often complex issues in Indigenous communities. It is not short-term work. Not much of the work of any government that is serious about reform and development could be categorised as short-term work. Ours is a government of reform and development. Ours is an agenda that stretches way beyond this year and the next. Indeed, it stretches for decades to come. We are building Western Australia. Our task in government is to build Western Australia. We are developing our brilliant West on a scale that has never been seen before. We are making decisions for the next generation, not for the next election. We have broken out of the political cycle. We are pitching for the next generation. We are building the economic, social and cultural infrastructure of our state. It is an investment in our people, in education and training, in our health system and in protecting the community. We are making Western Australia the envy of the nation. Western Australia is brimming with optimism, confidence and unlimited potential. We are the envy of the nation. Our economy has never been stronger. This year it is expected to grow by seven per cent. We can compare that with an economy that was contracting when we won office. Unemployment has never been lower. At 3.3 per cent it is the lowest in the country, compared with 6.4 per cent when we came to office. Under this government an additional 200 000 people have jobs. In a state with a population of two million, that is phenomenal. Real business investment has never been higher, surging by almost 200 per cent in the past six years. Just recently the management of the state’s finances was given a ringing endorsement by the international agency Moody’s Investors Service. In reaffirming our AAA credit rating, Moody’s recognised what it termed the state government’s prudent fiscal management. Moody’s also noted that the government’s informative and comprehensive annual financial statements, as well as periodic interim statements, offer a high degree of transparency. It is not just our economy that is generating confidence in Western Australia’s future. The change of government in Canberra has also inspired a new sense of optimism. At last we have a federal government that is prepared to work with us, not against us. At last we will have a real chance to end what the Prime Minister has labelled the blame game in health and education and to progress real reform and achieve better results. I am confident that under Kevin Rudd’s leadership that can and will be done. Our agenda is built on a strong record of achievement. I have mentioned our state’s economic success story. We have invested heavily in what we and the community see as our priorities. We have hired more than 1 800 nurses and cut waiting lists for elective surgery by more than a third. We have upgraded 22 hospitals and we are currently upgrading a further 27 hospitals and health centres. Just last week the Minister for Health opened a new hospital at Fitzroy Crossing, where, incidentally, a new $34 million school is under construction. We have exceeded all apprenticeship and training targets, an area we sought to rectify when we came to government. We have exceeded all our targets. More than 35 000 people are in training positions, which is an increase of 90 per cent. There are now 1 300 extra teachers in the school system. We have built 50 new schools, 11 of which are opening this year. We have raised the school leaving age from 15 years to 17 years to ensure that all kids are either in school, in training or at work. Doing nothing is no longer an option. In the area of community safety we have recruited 420 extra police—and there will be more. The results are there for all to see. The home burglary rate has been cut by 35 per cent and the car theft rate has fallen to 28 per cent. We are building Western Australia for the generations to come. We were the first state to take the effect of climate change on our water supply seriously and we now lead the nation in water security. Australia’s biggest desalination plant is now providing 17 per cent of the integrated water supply and planning for a second is well underway. It will be built. The Perth-Mandurah railway is up and running and providing a world-class service to the residents of the rapidly growing southern corridor. It is entirely debt free. The result of that activity is real and positively impacts on the lives of Western Australians. We have that record, but there is still much to be done. Our core priorities are and always will be health, education and community safety. We will strengthen standards in literacy and numeracy. We support national literacy and numeracy testing and ensuring that the results are provided to both parents and schools in a meaningful way. We will pursue new measures to improve student behaviour, building on our existing behaviour management and discipline strategies. We are piloting three secondary behaviour centres to withdraw disruptive students from the classroom. We understand the challenges in recruiting and retaining teachers and we are implementing new measures to achieve that. Our health reform program is delivering new hospitals and improved health services in the communities in which they are needed. We are pursing a multi-pronged approach to better service the community and to help

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 299 hospitals better cope with increasing pressure. It is all about appropriate care in appropriate settings. It is a reformation of our health system on a massive scale. For example, our expansion of the Hospital in the Home and Rehabilitation in the Home programs is allowing an extra 220 patients on a daily basis to receive treatment at home instead of at a hospital. Our new general practitioner clinics established near emergency departments are assisting in relieving the pressure on emergency departments. Other strategies have also been introduced to increase bed numbers and to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Western Australia Police is also receiving the resources, technology and support that it needs to keep our communities safe. Our legislative agenda will empower the police with the laws they need to do the job more effectively. Western Australia is changing for the better. There is no greater or more visible demonstration of that change than our infrastructure agenda. People can see what is happening with their own eyes. We are building vital state infrastructure to service our community, drive our economy and make WA a better place to live. There has been massive change in the areas of health, education and community safety. Our infrastructure program is huge. When we came to government, our spending on capital works represented about 18 per cent of the state budget. This year it is 32 per cent. Over the next 10 years we will be investing $4.6 billion in new health infrastructure around the state. We are rebuilding Rockingham-Kwinana District Hospital. We will begin upgrading Joondalup Health Campus this year. Within the next few years we will begin the upgrade of Osborne Park Hospital and the construction of the new Midland health campus. We will also spend $40 million on redeveloping and expanding existing emergency departments, including at Royal Perth Hospital, Peel Health Campus and Armadale- Kelmscott Memorial Hospital. As everybody knows, detailed planning continues on our flagship hospital, Fiona Stanley Hospital at Murdoch. In education we have built, planned and announced 65 new schools since coming to government, and we will spend $1.4 billion on education infrastructure in this term alone. We will also add to the 20 police stations that we have opened since 2001. Our massive investment will also continue in key economic infrastructure. In this financial year alone, we will spend $890 million on improving the safety and reliability of our electricity network. We inherited a ramshackle mess. We are rebuilding. More than $700 million is being spent on our road program, including the new Perth-Bunbury highway. Similar levels of investment are being committed to improving water, waste water and drainage infrastructure. Our regional centres are undergoing transformation. We have already built and opened the Albany police and court complex and have completed stage 1 of the Albany ring-road. We are funding the brilliant new waterfront development, including what will be an iconic entertainment centre. It is long-awaited and we will deliver it. In the south west we have seen massive investment in our schools and education facilities with five new schools already opened, and there is more to come. Three new schools are under construction at Dalyellup and outer Bunbury, as well as additional improvements to Newton Moore and Bunbury Senior High Schools. As in Albany, we are also investing in the transformation of Bunbury’s waterfront harbour, turning a former derelict site into a bustling mix of retail, tourism and residential developments. In Geraldton we have opened the new health campus, completed the port enhancement project and the first stage of the southern transport corridor. We are transforming the Geraldton waterfront, effectively turning the city around to face the ocean. At last we will bring the City of Geraldton to the ocean. We are committed to building Indian Ocean Drive, which will help unlock the region’s tourism potential. In the Pilbara we are investing in key economic infrastructure, including $105 million on the Utah berth project at Port Hedland, as well as the continued construction of stage 2 of the Karratha to Tom Price road at a cost of more than $125 million. In the Kimberley every hospital has been, or is in the process of being, rebuilt or upgraded as part of a $100 million commitment. The latest development is the new $15.7 million Fitzroy Crossing Hospital, which, as I have said, was opened last week by the Minister for Health. This is not a full list; it is a sample of an enormous program to deliver infrastructure to our regions. It reveals real progress in our regional communities that they have not seen the like of for a very long time, if ever. We are focused on getting the foundations right, but we have to go beyond that to build major projects that will serve future generations and are modern and world-class. Perth is transforming. It is becoming an international city. Work is already underway on the $300 million Perth Arena, which will become our state’s premier indoor concert and entertainment complex. Similarly, the Northbridge theatre is under construction. It will be a focal point for the renewal of the arts precinct and a major shot in the arm to the arts community in Western Australia. There are three more major additions. We will build a new multipurpose stadium at Kitchener Park, Subiaco. This will be, I anticipate, an iconic stadium to serve the Western Australian community for decades to come. The same can be said of our decision to build a new state museum at East Perth. It will become a destination in its own right and will be a significant contributor to the cultural life of the state. Finally, we have the most significant project to transform our city–the Perth waterfront project. The project will give Western Australians a true waterfront precinct that embraces our greatest natural asset, the Swan River. Planning will start this year. We expect that the major physical works for stage 1 will commence during 2011-12. Completion is scheduled

300 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] for 2015. This will transform the City of Perth in a way that has scarcely been imagined possible before. We need to be very clear that these new infrastructure commitments will not come at the expense of the government’s priority areas. They will be done, and done properly. All of them are once-in-a-century projects. The stadium, the museum and the waterfront development are the sorts of projects that governments embark upon about once every 100 years, and we are doing them at the same time. Like no other government before, we are building Western Australia. I firmly believe that we have the right infrastructure program to meet the future needs of the state. Many big challenges will remain, such as meeting the growing impact of climate change, improving housing affordability, reducing the skills shortage, and addressing disadvantage in Indigenous communities. The government has the appetite, ability, policy and drive to do the work to meet those challenges. As Professor Ross Garnaut’s interim report warned last week, climate change is a problem that must be addressed now. Federal and state agencies are developing a national emissions trading scheme. The final shape of that scheme is still being determined, but in the meantime we are investing more than $100 million in a comprehensive plan to reduce carbon emissions in Western Australia and to encourage renewable energy. We want innovation to drive solutions. I believe that this is where the answer is– technological innovation. Step change in technology is the way forward in addressing climate change. That is why we established the low emissions energy development fund to support new technologies that cut greenhouse gas emissions. The answer lies in technological change. We are seeing a similar kind of innovation in the way we are tackling housing affordability. Our First Start shared equity scheme for first home buyers has now been recognised nationally for its innovation. As members will know, First Start provides up to 30 per cent equity for singles and couples and up to 40 per cent for families on homes valued at up to $365 000. The scheme has been very, very well received by the community and is helping low and middle income earners own their first home. Of course, this is not the only measure. The decision to abolish stamp duty for all first home buyers of houses under $500 000 has also had a positive impact. The First Start program demonstrates that thinking outside the box, doing things differently and looking for new solutions can deliver excellent results. We are also meeting the skills shortage. I recall the debate about the need to skill our population more and to change policy and the way we do things. We have trumped every target set for apprenticeships and traineeships. That is hard to beat; we set a target and exceeded that target. We are still working hard with industry to look at new ways of improving the supply of labour; for example, we have dramatically reformed the apprenticeship system, slashing the time needed to complete apprenticeships in more than 30 trade areas, such as key building and construction areas. We are now working with the new immigration minister, Senator Chris Evans, to see how the commonwealth can assist the specific needs of our state in relation to the visa program. We have needs for additional labour that the other states do not have. We need a discrete policy approach to address those needs. The new federal government understands our position. As I have said, the Prime Minister’s apology to the stolen generations earlier this month was a watershed moment for Indigenous Australians and, indeed, for all Australians. It marked the beginning of a new era in Indigenous affairs. We are already working with the Prime Minister to address disadvantage in Indigenous communities. The Council of Australian Governments has committed to closing the life expectancy gap within a generation; halving the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five years within a decade; and halving the gap in reading, writing and numeracy achievements within a decade. It will be a partnership between all levels of government and Indigenous communities that will deliver these outcomes. I have previously said that the key to addressing disadvantage in Indigenous communities is, ultimately, the creation of employment and economic opportunities. Last year the Western Australian government hosted a major Indigenous jobs forum that was attended by 180 employers, Indigenous employment and training organisations and government representatives. We are now working with all these employers to get more Indigenous people into work in our state. The safety of our community is paramount and our legislative program reflects this. Today I announced a new initiative to ban repeat offenders from our public transport system. They will be banned from our trains and train stations, from our buses and from our ferries; they will be banned. We want people using public transport to feel safe. The initial bans will be established by regulation and will apply to people convicted of two or more offences of violence, antisocial behaviour, vandalism or graffiti. However, we also intend to introduce the public transport authority amendment bill to enshrine the ability of the chief executive officer of the Public Transport Authority to issue banning notices. The government is making a very clear statement that antisocial behaviour on our public transport system is unacceptable. We have developed a magnificent public transport system. It is, and I have used this phrase before, the envy of the nation. We want to make sure that the people who we are encouraging to use our public transport system can do so safely. Under our legislation, when banning orders are breached the courts will be able to impose penalties ranging from community-based orders to intensive supervision orders and, in the most serious cases, imprisonment.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 301

Reckless behaviour is just as unacceptable on our roads as it is on our public transport system. Last year’s horror road toll was completely unacceptable to all of us, yet some people in our community continue to put the lives of others at risk through their dangerous behaviour on our roads. Although the majority of drivers abide by the law, those who do not can now expect to face even tougher penalties, and we make no apology for it. We were the first government in Australia to introduce legislation specifically targeting hoons. These laws have shown to be a success. Since 2004, more than 1 900 drivers have had their cars impounded. It is clear that some are still not getting the message, so now the penalties will get tougher. New legislation will be introduced into the Parliament that will provide an even greater deterrent. Under proposed changes to our hoon laws, police will be given the power to automatically impound vehicles involved in hooning offences for seven days at the first offence. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I know that members are excited about the news, but the Premier has more news, I am sure, that he wishes to impart and I ask members to allow him to continue his contribution. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Thank you, Mr Speaker. This will be a very substantial increase from the current 48- hour period. For a second or subsequent offence, this penalty will increase to 28 days. The new amendments will also increase penalties for reckless driving on our roads, which includes speeding by more than 45 kilometres per hour beyond the limit. The new laws will extend the definition of “road rage circumstances” to include incidents taking place in car parks and on private property. Previously, such acts have not been included by the definition of a “road” in the Road Traffic Act. Repeat drink drivers will also be targeted. Under the repeat drink-drivers legislation, repeat offenders will be required to participate in an alcohol ignition interlock scheme in order to regain their licence. Like the hoon laws, these laws will also enable police to impound or confiscate cars of repeat drink-driving offenders and those who drive without a valid licence. Illegal graffiti is a blot on our community. It costs residents and local and state governments time, resources and money. Last year we launched a new state graffiti vandalism strategy, including a telephone hotline, to allow for rapid removal, as well as new programs for local governments and community groups to implement anti-graffiti programs in their own areas. As well, we have purchased 12 closed circuit television cameras to target offenders in graffiti hotspots. As we know, graffiti vandals hate nothing more than having their dirty work removed quickly. Rapid removal is recognised as world’s best practice and the new legislation will help achieve this. The new local government amendment bill, to be introduced this year, will enable councils to enter private property to remove graffiti where it can be seen from a public place. The government will give the minister the power to ban the unacceptable practice of cage fighting by amending our professional combat sports legislation. The minister will have that discretion. The government will also be moving to overhaul our homicide laws. The changes we will introduce follow an extensive review of our homicide laws by the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia, and we are grateful for its work. The new bill will implement the recommendations from this review. Most significantly, the new laws consolidate the charges of wilful murder and murder into one charge. No longer will there be a distinction between murder and wilful murder. The government believes this will lead to tougher penalties for murderers and reflects community sentiment that the punishment should match the crime. As a result of this change the never to be released sentence will be available for all murders, rather than applying only to those perpetrators convicted of wilful murder. This means sentences carry a presumptive penalty of life imprisonment with a minimum 10-year non-parole period. It is anticipated that by simplifying homicide charges we will see more offenders pleading guilty, thereby fewer cases going to trial. Ultimately, this should save victims’ families from the experience of a long trial. A second major feature of the new laws will be dealing with so-called one-punch homicide cases. This happens too frequently. Sadly, too often we have seen cases where the accused has walked free despite being responsible for the death of a victim through a criminal assault. Under this scenario, an accused has been acquitted of manslaughter and the jury has not been presented with alternative verdicts. We will be introducing legislation that will enable juries to consider alternative verdicts that will ensure that perpetrators do not walk free. The legislation will also create an appropriate offence dealing with one-punch killings. The new laws relating to self-defence will also be expanded to ensure that people who kill as a genuine means of self-protection, or to protect others, are not viewed as criminals. As the Attorney General has previously detailed, these changes will enable people to properly protect themselves without fear of criminal penalties. Another reform will result in the establishment of an offence of dangerous navigation causing death to cover boating, similar to dangerous driving on our roads. As well as new legislation, the government expects the Parliament to deal with those bills already before it. The Duties Bill will reform an outdated Stamp Act and will help streamline stamp duty legislation in this state. We

302 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] are committed to the introduction of mandatory reporting by doctors, nurses, police and teachers of any evidence of child sexual abuse. That bill is currently in this house. As I have stated publicly, there is a mountain of bills before the upper house that we expect to be passed. We expect an improvement in its productivity. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I note the Legislative Council has increased its productivity in its first few days of sitting, and I hope this trend continues, because if it does not, we will provide it the opportunity to sit more weeks. We expect the Council to do its job and not be used as a political instrument to frustrate the government’s legislation. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: We expect the Council to consider our legislation and deal with it in an appropriate time frame. Proposed government legislation, such as the Cross-Border Justice Bill 2007, the Security and Related Activities (Control) Amendment Bill 2007 and the Parental Support and Responsibility Bill 2005 should have been dealt with and need to be dealt with. Beyond this community safety agenda, other bills need to be addressed. We want the Nuclear Facilities Prohibition Bill 2007 passed. The legislation, as members know, will ban the construction or operation of a nuclear power plant in Western Australia. Clearly, part of the reason behind the new laws was the commonwealth government’s increasing push for nuclear power. Although John Howard and that threat may have now gone, there is another potential threat right here in this Parliament—the Western Australian opposition. Just this week we saw the shadow Minister for Energy, John Day, calling for nuclear power to be part of a long- term solution for climate change here. I cannot agree with him. Mr J.H.D. Day: Any sensible observer would make that observation. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: No sensible observer of the Western Australian economy would make such a suggestion. The federal election saw voters overwhelmingly reject the WorkChoices legislation. Instead of giving greater security and protection to the most vulnerable workers in our community, WorkChoices took their rights away. The state government’s Industrial and Related Legislation Amendment Bill amends a range of laws, with a key aim to increase protection for these workers. These laws, which again are waiting in the upper house, will give greater protection to injured workers and children. For example, the new laws limit unpaid trial work for young people to just one day a year and reinstate child protections previously lost. The new laws, importantly, will also improve occupational and safety protection in the workplace and give workers better access to the common law. Similarly, the Employment Dispute Resolution Bill aims to improve industrial relations in Western Australia. These bills are also before the Council and waiting to be passed. Mr Speaker, I have presented to you and the Parliament a massive agenda for the state that goes well beyond the next year or two. It is an agenda to provide benefits for Western Australians for decades and generations to come. The agenda is long term. Great societies build their infrastructure, educate their community, support the sciences and support the arts. That is what we are doing, making ours a great society. That is our agenda. We are planning for the generations that will come after us. We have a sweeping infrastructure program that is transforming this state. We are meeting the key challenges that we face as a community. Our agenda, as I have shown today, is backed by a strong legislative program. We are building Western Australia. We are changing Western Australia for the better out in the community and in this place. Consideration The SPEAKER: The question is — That the Premier’s Statement be noted. MR R.F. JOHNSON (Hillarys) [5.16 pm]: This is a very opportune time to comment on the Premier’s Statement, particularly on some of the latter comments he made in his speech. Let us start with law and order, because that is very close to my heart. He and the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure announced today in the city that they would get tough on people who misbehave on trains. What he did not tell you, Mr Speaker, is that Transperth is supposed to have 280 security officers, but my information is that Transperth is 100 officers short at the moment and it is having to make the numbers up with some of the Chubb subsidiary security officers to do the job that Transperth security officers are supposed to be doing. The government is short of not only security officers on the trains, but also police officers on the streets. There are 100 police officers, comprising 50 in the city and 50 in the Peel area, to deal with the Mandurah train line. Those officers should be out on front- line duties fighting crime. They have been taken away from that and put on the trains because the government

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 303 has created a problem on the trains by doing nothing for such a long time. The government is short of coppers, prison officers, security officers on the Transperth system, teachers, nurses and everybody. What has the government done? Absolutely nothing! The trouble is that the Premier talks tough, as though he really means he will get tough on crime and antisocial behaviour, but his actions are a long way from his comments. What we heard today was a lot of spin and fluff and it was of no substance at all. It sounds good in an election year for the Premier to say that the government will get tough on criminals. What did the Premier say? He said that people who misbehave on a train will get a letter from the chief executive officer of Transperth telling them that they are very naughty girls or boys and they will not be allowed to travel on a train any more. If they do travel on a train, they will get a further letter from the CEO saying that they did not take any notice of what he said and that if they are caught on a train again, they will be taken to court and will get either a community-based order, which very few people ever do—many people do not start them let alone finish them— or jail term. Can anybody see this government sending people to jail for misbehaving or causing graffiti on a train? This government will not even send to jail perpetrators who violently assault our police officers. I will come to that in a moment. Dr S.C. Thomas: Didn’t they cut out short jail terms? Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Exactly. The Attorney General abolished prison sentences of six months and less. What will people get for causing graffiti on a train? Will it be 12 years’ imprisonment? I am not belittling the problem, because it is a serious problem and it needs tough action. I will support the government all the way if its actions meet the Premier’s rhetoric, but I do not think they will. Unless some minimum mandatory sentences are in place, the courts will not impose a prison sentence on somebody who has caused graffiti and disobeyed the orders of the CEO of Transperth. What a lot of absolute rubbish we have heard today! We have heard nothing serious. I turn now to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, because the government has said today that the government will get tough on driving hoons. The government has said that it will not be impounding vehicles for 48 hours any more. When I moved an amendment in this house last year to increase impounding periods from 48 hours to seven days, the Minister for Police said that it could not be done. He said that the government was not allowed to do it and that it must be done through the court system because it is a court sentence. I said to the Attorney General that this Parliament is the highest court in the state. However, each and every government member voted against the amendment. Now it is an election year. They do not want us to talk to people in marginal seats and tell them that their members voted against my amendment, which was to increase impounding periods from 48 hours to seven days. Mr J.H.D. Day: Caught out again! Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Absolutely, caught out all the time. What we also have under this government is 60 000 suspended drivers. The number of unpaid fines has risen from approximately $130 million to nearly $200 million. Government members try to tell us that it is tough on crime and tough on criminals. They are the weakest bunch of people I have ever met in my life. They can smile because they know it is a bit of a joke as far as they are concerned. They know that whatever they say today or in this election year, their actions will not fulfil the commitments and the promises that they will make to the people of Western Australia. They will be like the promises they made in 2001. The Treasurer knows which one I am talking about—no new taxes and charges and all the rest of it. Almost the first week the Labor Party was in government, the premium property tax was introduced. People do not believe what the government says any more. The Premier is saying that he wants to send people to prison if they do not behave themselves on our trains. I do not have a problem with that. The Premier would have a job finding someone tougher on criminals than me. I would send a lot of people to jail if they committed any violent or serious crimes but the Premier would not do that. I want to put out a challenge to the Premier. Today I gave notice of a bill that I will introduce tomorrow relating to assaults on police officers and public officers. It provides that minimum mandatory sentences be given to anybody who commits a serious assault against one of our police officers or public officers. I wonder if the Premier will support that legislation. I am telling the Premier right now that police officers and the police union support the private member’s bill that I am introducing on behalf of the Liberal Party, which will impose minimum mandatory sentences for those people who commit violent assaults against our hardworking police officers. I want to see what the Minister for Police and Emergency Services does. I want to see what his commitment is. Next time I go to a graduation ceremony with him, I want to see what look he has on his face when he has to explain to those new graduates at the graduation ceremony that he has not supported a piece of legislation that would ensure that those people who kick, punch and physically and violently assault our police officers will go to jail. He might say that they do go to jail under the present legislation. All he has done is increase the maximum penalty from 10 years to 14 years. It is nothing but a joke. I ask the minister to tell me of one person who was ever been sent to prison for 10 years for a serious assault on a police officer. He will not be able to tell

304 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] me about one because there have not been any. I have carried out research that has shown that nobody has been sent to jail for 10 years, even though that was the maximum penalty that could be imposed by the courts. The minister knows what I feel about the courts. I would get rid of one or two judges and a few magistrates because I do not think they are carrying out the wishes of the people of Western Australia. They have their own soft agenda for those people who commit violent crimes. I want to give the minister one example. He might think this is a flash in the pan and that I have only just come up with this. In March 2006, when I was calling for mandatory sentences for people who assault police officers, it fell on deaf ears with the minister and his Premier and his colleagues. First Constable Michelle Ball was seriously assaulted by a great big fellow in a Derby park. He king-hit this policewoman. He was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment in the Broome Magistrates Court. His sentence was suspended for 18 months. We have a bloke who seriously, viciously and violently assaulted one of our police officers—in this case a female police officer—but did not serve one day in jail. Mr M.J. Cowper interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Exactly. The bill that I will introduce and that will be read a first time tomorrow will ensure that there are minimum mandatory sentences for anybody who seriously assaults our police officers. I challenge the minister and the Premier, who talks tough but whose actions are very, very soft, to support that legislation. If they want to bring in some other legislation that is tougher than mine, that is great. If they can bring in something tougher, I will support them. Police officers and the police union support the legislation that I will introduce tomorrow. The Premier referred to the people who commit these crimes while travelling on the Transperth system. After they have received their two letters from the CEO and have been to court, they are given community-based supervision orders. I want to ask the Premier and the Minister for Corrective Services—I would ask her if she was here but she is not—where the officers from the Department of Corrective Services will find people to supervise them. At the moment 1 600 offenders are roaming our streets, either on parole or under supervision orders, who are not being supervised. Some dangerous criminals have been let out on parole without any parole officers to monitor what they are doing. As the law of statistics goes and as we have seen in the past, unfortunately some of those people who have been let out on parole will recommit. If they do not have anybody to supervise them, they are bound to. This is the commitment that we get from this government. At the moment 1 600 offenders are walking our streets unsupervised. Mr M.J. Cowper interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Absolutely. The Premier might ask how I know all this and say that I am making wild statements. I have the figures from the Department of Corrective Services, and I have had meetings with the union and with workers—either parole officers or supervision officers within the Department of Corrective Services. They are absolutely at the end of their tether. This problem relates to both the juvenile system and the adult system. It occurs in virtually every district. I ask members to name a district, and I will tell the house the number of orders and the number of team people that district has. Mr M.J. Cowper: Peel. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I will look at Peel and the towns of Rockingham and Mandurah. There are not too many criminals in the area of the member for Mandurah. Mr D.A. Templeman: Because they are clean, decent people. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: No, there is the odd manslaughter down there. Mr D.A. Templeman: You picked the wrong one there, didn’t you? Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I was asked to by my colleague. The number of orders, cases and reports they have to do is so great that they simply cannot manage to do them. The Community and Public Sector Union has its own magazine, which says “properly fund the Department of Corrective Services so we can keep our community safe.” That is what it is asking the government to do. It has the money and access to the funds. There is a whole story about this issue in that magazine. Then it refers to a “department in crisis” and “workload pressures recognised”. It is saying what I have been saying—that the Department of Corrective Services and the justice department have been in crisis for some years now and the government has done nothing about it. It goes on and on. This brochure from the CPSU—it is sent out to a lot of people—contains some very interesting information. If members can get hold of it, they should do so. These problems occur in all areas. Some areas have more problems than others, but it is a serious problem that we need to address. The government needs to recognise that not only do we need more parole officers and supervision officers within the Department of Corrective Services, but also we need more prison officers because the prisons and juvenile detention centres are full to capacity. Banksia Hill Detention Centre and Rangeview Remand Centre are full. If there are any problems now, one has to empty one cell out to put another prisoner in. The government has not added one new prison cell in the nearly eight years that it has been in government, even though the population of WA has grown exponentially and the number of crimes that have been committed has increased. The reason that the number of crimes has increased is

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 305 that people are getting away with all sorts of crimes because they are not being sent to jail. These people should be sent to jail. The number of violent crimes committed by young people has increased by 20 per cent in the past year. That is a heck of an increase. I was asked today by the media why I thought that was the case, and I said I blame the government in the main. I also blame some of the judiciary. Mr J.C. Kobelke: Where did you get that figure of a 20 per cent increase from? Mr R.F. JOHNSON: The minister should ask the Commissioner of Police. He has commented on it as well. It is from the official figures, I assure the minister, of violent crimes by young people. The minister can find out for himself. The commissioner is the one who made the comment, and I was then asked to comment, and I was happy to do so. There has been a tremendous increase in the number of violent crimes committed by young people. I was asked why do I think that is the case. I said I think that is the case for two reasons: the abuse of drugs and the abuse of alcohol. It is due to the abuse of both those substances. I was told that the police commissioner agrees with my view. The minister is on the phone, trying to find out whether what I have said is correct! The minister is behind the eight ball at the moment. He is saying, “Johnson has just said there has been a 20 per cent increase in violent crimes by young people. Get me the information!” The abuse of drugs and the abuse of alcohol are the two main reasons for that increase. This government has a lax and easy-going attitude to drugs. That is particularly the case with cannabis. The government is saying to young people, “It is okay. You can still grow two cannabis plants if you want to. We don’t mind. You can still smoke as much cannabis as you want to. You can carry around a wad of cannabis if you want to, and you can smoke yourself to death if you want to with this vile, horrible, green, toxic substance, but if it is a really big wad and we think you might be selling it, we might punish you in some way.” That is one reason for the increase. [Member’s time extended.] Mr R.F. JOHNSON: The government has talked about alcohol abuse. However, this is the same government that is freeing up access to alcohol. The government wants to allow little bars to open up. The government wants to extend the trading hours for pubs and clubs. The government wants more alcohol to be sold. The government wants to allow bottle shops to sell alcohol every day of the week. What does the government think will happen as a result of that? Does the government think that will reduce the number of alcohol-related problems or increase the number of alcohol-related problems? What does the minister reckon will happen as a result of that? Mr J.C. Kobelke: I am listening with interest, because I usually find that the things you say are not true, so I will be checking that. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I am sure the minister will be checking, and I am sure he will find that what I have said is true. I have mentioned the two main reasons. Another reason that more young people are committing violent crimes is that they are getting away with crimes that are less serious. How many times must a young person commit a crime before he or she is sent to a juvenile detention centre? We have heard of young people who have committed 30, 40 and even 50 crimes, and even then they are not sent to a juvenile prison. We have heard of people as young as 12 who have committed this number of crimes. What has this government been doing about that? Absolutely zilch! This government is not taking its responsibilities seriously. If these young people had been dealt with in a firm but fair manner when they had first transgressed and committed these crimes, the majority of them would not have gone on to commit more serious violent crimes or sexual assaults against other people in the community. What is the government planning to do with these young people? Where is the government planning to put them? Banksia Hill is full. Rangeview is full. Every prison in this state is filled to capacity. There is no more room in the inn. If these young people were put in detention for a while, perhaps they would not commit any further offences. It is not good enough to give them just a community-based order or a supervision order. The Minister for Corrective Services knows that there are not enough parole officers to supervise the offenders on parole. Mr J.C. Kobelke: You have been saying we are soft on criminals. You are now saying all our jails are full! Mr R.F. JOHNSON: That is because this government has not built one extra prison cell in the past eight years. This government has spent absolutely nothing on building new prison cells because it does not think there are any votes in spending money on extra prison cells. However, the government would have to be absolutely dumb not to realise that the massive increase in crime, particularly in violent crime, over the past 10 years — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: The minister said “moronic”. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: It certainly sounded like “moronic” to me. The point is that there has been a massive increase in population over the past 10 years, and a massive increase in crime — Mr J.C. Kobelke: That is simply not true. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Yes, it is. The minister knows it is true.

306 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

Mr J.C. Kobelke: That is not true. You are just making it up as you go along. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: The minister knows it is true. The minister needs to come out of his state of denial. Mr J.C. Kobelke: You are just making it up as you go along. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: No, I am not. I am not making anything up. I am telling the truth. I am basing what I say on statistical information that I have received. I do not base what I say on a count-back of the number of crimes that were committed last year. The minister knows what I am talking about. The government comes out with figures as at the end of June and says the numbers have not increased by much from last year. A few months later, the government uses what it calls a count-back system and adds a few more numbers to that figure at the end of June so that the following year, at the end of June, the number is not as high. The government can fool some of the people some of the time, and it can fool all of the people some of the time, but it cannot fool all of the people all of the time. The truth is coming out about the minister and his government. The minister and his government are running a state of secrecy. They do not want anyone to know anything. The government wants to treat people like mushrooms. It does not want people to know the truth. What has the minister done about the nearly $200 million in unpaid fines? What has the minister done about the 60 000 drivers whose licences have been suspended? I suggest that as many as 70 000 people are driving without a licence, either because they do not have a licence, or because their licence has been suspended. What is the minister doing about that? The minister talks about road safety. People whose licences have been suspended because they have committed drink-driving or road traffic offences are continuing to drive, and even when they are caught again and their licence is suspended for an even longer time, they are still continuing to drive and commit offences. Tragically, one person whose licence had been suspended continued to drive and caused the death of an innocent young woman. What has the minister done about that? I know what the minister has done about the victim in that tragedy. However, the minister should have ensured that something was done prior to that, such as impounding the person’s vehicle, or putting wheel locks on his vehicle, so that he could not commit another offence on the roads. In many cases, the people whose licences have been suspended are the people who kill and injure many of the innocent victims on our roads in Western Australia. What has the minister done about that? Absolutely nothing. An election is coming up later this year. I suggest it will be in October or November. My money is actually on November, but it could be October. It will probably be soon after the Regional Parliament has been held in Bunbury, with all the fanfare. Bunbury is a significant area politically, so I think the Premier will call the election once the Regional Parliament has been held in Bunbury. Mr C.J. Barnett: I am quite keen on March! Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I reckon it will be November. It could be October. It will depend on how long a campaign the Premier wants to hold. Dr E. Constable: It might be December. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: It might be December, but my money is on late November. The Premier will certainly not go through until February. I want to go back to the number of serious assaults against our police officers. This is a matter that the minister should take very seriously. Mr J.C. Kobelke: I do. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: That is good. We have all read about the assault on Constable Butcher, and on other police officers. The minister knows that, on average, three or four police officers are assaulted every day of the year. The pictures that I am holding represent the most serious incidents and are nothing short of horrific. When the Minister for Police and Emergency Services hears about the sentences that the courts hand down as a result of his government’s legislation, he should hang his head in shame. The government will not support our legislation. The government will not introduce legislation to ensure — Mr J.C. Kobelke: Why didn’t you get your colleagues in the upper house to not delay it for 18 months? They delayed it for 18 months. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: When does the opposition in the upper house have the ability to bring on government legislation? Mr J.C. Kobelke: It has the ability to delay it, and it has, year after year. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: What a feeble and disgraceful excuse. Mr J.C. Kobelke: It’s the truth. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: The Minister for Police and Emergency Services would not know the truth if he fell over it. The minister knows that his government has the ability to bring on legislation in the upper house any time it

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 307 wants. The government left the Criminal Law and Evidence Amendment Bill languishing for the past year. It was not on the notice paper as a priority any day of the week in all of the Council’s sittings. When the government was criticised for sitting on its hands while our hardworking police officers were being bashed and critically injured, it decided to get the legislation moving. It also decided to blame somebody else for the delay. That was the government’s line of attack. The Minister for Police and Emergency Services knows—I think he is a reasonably honest man—that it is his fault that that legislation has not progressed in the upper house. Mr J.C. Kobelke: Not at all. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Why is that? Mr J.C. Kobelke: I will show you the figures of the backlog of legislation. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I am talking about that one particular piece of legislation. Mr J.C. Kobelke: It is all the legislation up there. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Tell us about the legislation that the Minister for Police and Emergency Services is interested in, the one about which the government was critical of the upper house. Mr J.C. Kobelke: It took 18 months to deal with it. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: My friend, legislation needs to be brought on before it can be dealt with. The Premier, the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, the Leader of the House in the upper house and the Attorney General needed to get off their backsides before it could be dealt with. If legislation is not put on the notice paper, it cannot be dealt with. The government controlled the upper house until very recently. Mr J.C. Kobelke: Again, you’re not telling the truth. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Yes, the government did. Mr J.C. Kobelke: We’ve never had the numbers in the other place—ever. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Yes, it has. With its Greens mates, the government has always had the numbers. In the last term of government, the government had the numbers with its Greens mates. The minister knows that and I know that. The Minister for Police and Emergency Services should tell the truth for a change. Mr J.C. Kobelke: You’re not telling the truth. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: The Minister for Police and Emergency Services should tell the truth, because he is not telling the truth now. Mr J.C. Kobelke: You just said something that was untruthful. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: What was that? Mr J.C. Kobelke: That we had the numbers in the upper house. We never have in 100-odd years. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: The government has the numbers with its Greens mates. Mr J.C. Kobelke: They are not members of the Labor Party. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: No, they are to the left of the Labor Party. I realise that. Mr J.C. Kobelke: And they vote with the Liberals as often as they vote with Labor. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: No, they do not! I hope the Minister for Police and Emergency Services is not misleading Parliament with that comment. The minister just said that the Greens — Mr J.C. Kobelke: Vote with the Liberals as well as with Labor. Several members interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: The minister said “as much as” they vote with Labor. Is that a truthful comment? Mr J.C. Kobelke: I am suggesting that they vote Liberal as well as Labor. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: No, the Minister for Police and Emergency Services said “as much as”. The Greens vote with the Liberals once in a blue moon. The minister has been caught out again. The minister is easily putting his size 20 foot into his mouth, and there is room to spare. The minister has spoken some untruths in this house. He has misled this house. Mr J.C. Kobelke: You said we have the numbers in the other house. That is not truthful or accurate. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: No, what I said, my friend, was that the government had the numbers together with the Greens. Mr J.C. Kobelke: Not the first time! Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Yes, I did.

308 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

Mr J.C. Kobelke: No, you didn’t. The member should check Hansard. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I will. The minister should also check Hansard. He will owe me an apology tomorrow. I am sure that the minister will stand and apologise in this house. The minister has been untruthful in this house. My time is coming to a conclusion. I have so much more to say and so little time to say it. Mr J.C. Kobelke: You will have another opportunity tonight, because we are going to deal with a message. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: That will be a good opportunity to show the many examples of the government’s incompetence and the minister’s uncaring attitude and lack of commitment to our frontline police officers. I will wait with anticipation to deal with that message as it will give me another opportunity to show to the world the incompetence of the minister and the government. DR G.G. JACOBS (Roe) [5.45 pm]: I thank the house for the opportunity to reply to the Premier’s Statement. Today’s condolence motion for our friend and colleague Trevor Sprigg was moving. Concern has been expressed about graffiti and the desecration of public infrastructure and public transport. Given that I am taking over from Trevor as opposition Whip, I am quite happy to take on his private members’ bills. One bill seeks to amend the Criminal Code to prevent the sale of spray cans to minors and to decrease young people’s temptation to desecrate public infrastructure. Trevor also introduced a private member’s bill that seeks to prevent and outlaw caged fighting. As a doctor, I think that that practice is abjectly brutal. I am happy to take that on in deference to Trevor. Earlier today the Minister for Corrective Services gave a ministerial statement about the concern over a death of an unfortunate gentleman who was being transferred from one site to another in a contracted police van. I will share with the house the incident of Andrew, a music teacher who is married with five children. Andrew lives at the back of my property in Esperance. Andrew gave a guitar to a customer on appro, but the customer failed to return the guitar. He let the matter go for a couple of weeks before deciding to take things into his own hands. In retrospect that was not the best choice of options. Andrew went to the customer’s residence and attempted to get the guitar back. A fracas ensued. To cut a long story short, Andrew was charged with assault and trespass. During the two years in which it has taken for that assault charge to go before court, as part of his bail condition Andrew has had to appear before the clerk of courts once a month. One Saturday morning I was called by Andrew’s general practitioner and wife. They told me that Andrew had been arrested and that he was being held in a cell at the police station. Andrew had been apprehended whilst taking his children home from basketball on the Friday night. The police had pulled Andrew over because he had a dicky tail-light on his vehicle. They did a computer search and found that, according to the computer, there was a warrant for his arrest. He was put into the back of a paddy wagon and taken into custody. Andrew’s children, whom he was escorting home from basketball, were put into a second paddy wagon and deposited on his front lawn. They were told to go into the house and tell their mum that the police had their dad down at the police station. He was taken into custody in the other paddy wagon. I was rung on Saturday morning by his distressed wife and his distressed general practitioner asking for my help. Andrew is a music teacher with a retail business who has lived in town for more than 10 years. He has five children. They are a lovely family. I went down to the police station and there was Andrew in the lockup because he had supposedly breached his monthly bail conditions by not being signed off by the clerk of courts. However, there was an administrative problem and the documentation did not go through to the Magistrates Court in Kalgoorlie. I broached the subject with the on-duty sergeant and said, “Sergeant, this man has not breached his bail. He did appear. He is a very reliable family man. He will say that he didn’t breach his bail. Can you check with the clerk of courts?” The policeman said, “No; it’s Saturday morning. I can’t talk to the clerk of courts.” I said, “Excuse me; you get one of your officers and get in that car with the light on it and go round to the clerk of courts and get him, because this man is in custody because of an administrative problem.” Later in the day the clerk of courts verbally acknowledged that Andrew had attended. However, there was no documentation to prove that and the sergeant basically said, “I have a warrant for his arrest; it’s not up to me to question that. This man will remain in custody.” I asked the sergeant who could revoke it and he said that only a judge could do that. I asked him whether he could find a judge on Saturday morning and he told me that he could not. We were at the Esperance Police Station. What ensued was even worse. Arrangements were made to transfer Andrew from Esperance to the Kalgoorlie lockup. I asked why. They said, “It’s the 24-hour rule”, which means that they did not have the resources to keep Andrew in the cell at the police station, so they had to transfer him to Kalgoorlie Regional Prison, where he would face the magistrate on Monday morning. I asked, “How do you propose to get this gentleman to Kalgoorlie?” The Minister for Corrective Services is not in the chamber to hear the crux of it. They said, “We’re going to put him in the back of the paddy wagon and drive him to Kalgoorlie.” Mr R.C. Kucera: Is it a bench warrant that you’re talking about? Dr G.G. JACOBS: He allegedly breached his bail, and the bail condition was that he had to attend every month and sign his presence in town. Dr E. Constable: He had done all that.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 309

Dr G.G. JACOBS: He had done all that. Dr E. Constable: He hadn’t breached anything. Dr G.G. JACOBS: He had not breached his bail, but no documentation was available on the weekend and so there was a knee-jerk reaction and this gentleman was put in the back of the paddy wagon and taken to Kalgoorlie. I stood there and watched them put him in the back of the paddy wagon and drive off. We often talk about the best use of police resources, but what happened in this case? Two policemen were taken from an already understaffed police station to drive this gentleman to Kalgoorlie. Normally, another paddy wagon from Kalgoorlie meets them at Norseman and there is a changeover, and the Esperance boys go back to Esperance and the Kalgoorlie boys take the prisoner. That is very sad. I believe that policemen have better things to do than provide this transfer service. It is totally ludicrous and, I suggest, dangerous. This man was put in the back of the paddy wagon and driven to Norseman. In the meantime, great efforts were made to try to find documentation to prove that he had not breached his bail. We got information from Kalgoorlie that it was possible that he had not breached his bail. When they got to Norseman, they received advice from Kalgoorlie that he had not breached his bail. While they were filling up the van to take him to Kalgoorlie, they said, “You haven’t breached your bail. Here are your shoes and wallet. Sit in the front with us and we’ll drive you back.” Ten minutes later the Norseman Police Station got another communication from Kalgoorlie indicating that he had breached his bail, there was no real documentation and they would have to continue to take him to Kalgoorlie. They said, “Give us your shoes and wallet and get back in the back of the van.” He spent all weekend in the Kalgoorlie prison and then he faced the magistrate on Monday morning for a total of 30 seconds. The magistrate said, “I am very sorry, Andrew. There has been an administrative problem. You have not breached your bail. You are free to go.” Mr J.E. McGrath: Did they take him back? Dr G.G. JACOBS: Member for South Perth, that is the other issue. He had to find his own way back to Esperance. I was not going to raise this issue during my speech today, but it struck a chord with me, minister — Ms M.M. Quirk: It strikes a chord with me and I am the responsible minister. Dr G.G. JACOBS: It was ludicrous to transfer this man when he could have been kept in Esperance while the matter was sorted out and it could have been cleared up by Monday. However, no, there is a 24-hour rule. The police did not have the resources to hold him in Esperance. They did not have video surveillance etc and were not geared up for that, so he had to go to Kalgoorlie. Dr E. Constable: How did he get back? Dr G.G. JACOBS: He happened to find a friend in Kalgoorlie to come back to Esperance with. He could have got on the bus, but of course the bus probably would have left on Monday morning. That highlights to me a major dysfunction within the system. Potentially, there are severe occupational health and safety and duty of care issues. When the minister said “duty of care”, it rung a bell with me. Where was the duty of care in putting Andrew in the back of the paddy wagon? What if they had had a collision? What if they had hit a kangaroo or rolled the van? He had no restraints in the back of the paddy wagon. Okay, supposedly they are prisoners, but they are human beings and they have rights. Mr McGill—he will not mind me saying his name—had not committed any offence and there was a potential that he could have been injured. He was certainly inconvenienced at great cost – Dr E. Constable: Anguish for his family. Dr G.G. JACOBS: Yes, and the anguish for his family. I believe there is a major dysfunction within the system if there is a knee-jerk reaction and this is what the police have to do. We need to address the problem because we have a duty of care. We might call them prisoners, but we have a duty of care to them. Whether they are black or white, we have a duty of care to them. It does not matter whether they are criminals or whether they have not committed an offence, as was the case with Andrew. What about the occupational health and safety issues of providing a safe and timely transfer service? That is not happening. That could be part of the reason for the recent unfortunate death. That is why I am speaking about this issue today. It is important that we make some changes because there could be other deaths, not just anguish, expense and the ill-use of police resources. I am opposition Whip and shadow spokesperson for the environment and climate change, which is almost the second-most poisoned chalice to the health portfolio. There is a fine line to walk in responsible environmental management without stifling industrial and economic development. Sitting suspended from 6.00 to 7.00 pm DR G.G. JACOBS: Before the break I was moving on to make some comments about my new portfolio of environment and climate change, although they were refuted by the previous shadow Minister for the Environment. I would like to thank the previous shadow minister very much for all his work over the past year and a half or two years, and for his hand-over briefing of this very important portfolio. I suppose some 10 or 20 years ago environment was a Cinderella portfolio that had warm, fuzzy connotations. However, in the twenty-

310 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] first century, environmental change has come to the forefront. In contemplating how I would approach this portfolio, it is important to say that any approach to environmental matters should be scientific, consistent and responsible. [Member’s time extended.] Dr G.G. JACOBS: It should also be particularly post-Esperance and the lead debacle. We should ask: does the environment watchdog look after people? It must look after people—not only the environment and environmental health, but also the public health of the community. I will give a couple of examples. As members will have gathered, salinity has been one of my very important concerns. Dryland salinity in Western Australia is a pending environmental disaster not only for the agricultural region, member for Moore, but also for we as Western Australians whether we live in the country or the city. In recent times, the resource from Wellington Dam, which is a major resource, has been slowly turning saline. This government has developed a project that creates a diversion of the east branch of the Collie River before the water runs into Wellington Dam. As we know, the saline drainage problem has increased over time. It has been said by members on the other side of this house that it is all a farmers’ problem because they have over-cleared the land, which has led to rising watertables and to the saline coming to the surface and draining into our waterways. However, we cannot look back; we must look forward. We need solutions. One of the government solutions to the problem of saline draining into Wellington Dam was to divert the eastern branch of the Collie River and drain it into a coal void— a big pit left by Griffin Coal Mining. That was done to take away some of the significant saline water that is draining into the dam and therefore reducing the salinity readings in Wellington Dam. There has been a very minor reduction in the saline levels in Wellington Dam. Mr J.C. Kobelke: I suggest it is actually quite substantial. Dr G.G. JACOBS: The levels that have been quoted in the press, and which I have followed up with other reputable sources, indicate that they have reduced to just less than 10 per cent. A report suggested that one of the reasons was that rather than 14 gigalitres from the eastern branch being diverted, it has been only six gigalitres over time. However, the environmental issue I want to talk about is that, according to Hansard, in October the minister conceded that the Collie Chicken Creek coal void was full and unless a desalination plant were developed quickly, the void would be full and overflowing. The environmental concern I raise in the house today is that that coal void is overflowing. We know that that water will be exposed to heavy metals cadmium, cobalt, copper and vanadium. If it is overflowing, it will be taking those heavy metals back into the Collie system and into Wellington Dam. Mr J.C. Kobelke: I really don’t believe that is true because I have not been informed of it. Dr G.G. JACOBS: This is why we need to be scientific. Mr J.C. Kobelke: We do. I have not been advised that it is overflowing. They did not divert more because they did not want it to overflow. Dr G.G. JACOBS: It is recorded in Hansard that in October last year the minister said that this void was overflowing. That is of considerable concern environmentally. Mr J.C. Kobelke: I have either said that incorrectly or misinterpreted it. I might have said that there was a danger it would overflow. Dr G.G. JACOBS: I quote from Hansard in answer to a question without notice as follows — Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: The problem now is that the mine void is filled and if we continue with that diversion in future years, we will need to find a way of using or getting rid of that water from the mine void. I suggest to the minister, as the scientists will tell us, that there is a significant potential for the leaching of significant heavy metals into a large water body in a post open-pit coal mine. If, as the minister says, that void is full, there is a potential environmental problem. Mr J.C. Kobelke: I support you in saying that we need to look at the proper science. I just want to clarify with you that I do not think there is evidence that it is overflowing, because the diverted water is actually pumped in, and knowing it is full, no more is pumped. Therefore, I do not think that in fact it has overflowed. Dr G.G. JACOBS: I am quoting what the minister said, as recorded in Hansard. Responsible environmental management means being consistent. There is a proposal before the Minister for the Environment about extending the size of the Superpit in Kalgoorlie. I have no issue with development and, in this new shadow environmental portfolio role, I am not about stifling development. However, there is, as we speak, before the Minister for the Environment a recommendation of the Environmental Protection Authority about extending and having more product taken from the Superpit in Kalgoorlie by Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines. There are some issues concerning the buffer zones between the edge of the pit and the residents of Kalgoorlie. For any

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 311 other operation, the buffer zone is 1 500 metres. There has been an amended licence provided to the company that allows it to decrease that buffer zone to 400 metres. There is now a proposal before the minister that that buffer zone should be 200 metres. There are already significant dust and noise concerns associated with the residents near the pit. I am not here to stifle development, but I am here to say that we should look at this scientifically, and we should be responsible and consistent. We must be consistent. If that buffer zone is to remain, in some fair and equitable way the residences that are close to the edge of the pit and within the buffer zone should be resumed. We must be responsible. In saying “responsible”, I reflect on the deep drainage solutions to salinity in some of the agricultural areas, member for Moore. There is a plan, which is near completion, for the construction of more than 50 kilometres of deep drainage to deal with rising watertables and salinity in an area of 10 000 hectares. This is a good project. However, there is one problem. Those drains have been constructed so that they discharge into a crown reserve. Most—in fact, all—of the arguments against deep drainage in dealing with dryland salinity in these areas are that we just shift the salt from one farm to another; we just shift it from one place and create a problem somewhere else. In Dumbleyung, there is a pending environmental disaster whereby we will wipe out the whole crown reserve. I have spoken to the minister about this issue. Those drains need to continue for another 20 kilometres into a natural sink called Lake Dumbleyung. Lake Dumbleyung is such a big water body that the discharge of 50 kilometres of deep drainage into that lake would change the salinity level by only four per cent. In closing, I say that my community has been through the worst environmental disaster in its history. I believe it was because the community thought it could rely on the environmental watchdog. The community said, “It will look after us. That’s what we pay taxes for.” There was a litany of problems in the process of exporting lead carbonate through the port of Esperance. I thank the member for Dawesville for heading up the inquiry, which went for more than five months. There have been some major issues that we and the state of Western Australia have learnt from. We now have issues with other bulk products, not only from Esperance, but also from all the other ports in Western Australia. How are we going to handle nickel? We understood and we understand—it came up in the inquiry but was not within the terms of reference directly—that we have been “nickelised” as well as being dusted with lead. Therefore, that brings us to consider the responsible management of these export products, and I thank the inquiry for that. However, we need to carry on. The Minister for the Environment has said that the government will not forget the people of Esperance until this problem is cleaned up and that it will not let them down. I suggest that many ceiling spaces in the houses around the port have high levels of lead. This government refuses to do a proper, comprehensive clean-up of those houses and their ceiling spaces. As the experts such as Brian Gulson, the expert from Sydney, say in their papers, if we do not deal with the lead in the ceilings, with time, as the houses age, the lead will come down from the ceilings into the living spaces and affect children, and particularly young children, because their brains and their bones are prone to leaching and having lead in them. I suggest that we need to be responsible and scientific, and protect people from any environmental consequences. Debate adjourned until a later stage of the sitting, on motion by Mr J.C. Kobelke (Leader of the House). [Continued on page 331.] EDUCATION AND HEALTH STANDING COMMITTEE Twelfth Report — “Initiatives in the Remote Indigenous Communities of the Torres Strait Region” THE ACTING SPEAKER (Mr M.J. Cowper): In view of the Speaker’s statement earlier today, I call on the Chairman of the Education and Health Standing Committee to speak to the committee’s report deemed to have been tabled on 4 February and entitled “Initiatives in the Remote Indigenous Communities of the Torres Strait Region”. Point of Order Mr C.J. BARNETT: I take a point of order and perhaps a point of clarification. I am conscious of what the Speaker said earlier. However, I refer to standing order 8A(3), under the heading “Premier’s Statement”, and to the final sentence under that standing order, which states quite clearly — No other business that is not of a formal or procedural nature will have priority until after 3 sitting days (including the remainder of the first sitting day) have been dedicated exclusively to debate on noting the Premier’s Statement. A debate about a committee report is neither formal nor procedural. I have no objection to the report being tabled, but if we are to abide by standing orders, any debate on that report should be deferred, or, if the government wishes, it can suspend standing orders to try to bring on a debate. However, a debate and addresses on a committee report are neither procedural nor formal. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The point of view put by the member for Cottesloe in his point of order is one that I thought was the case also. However, I accepted the advice of the Clerks that it was not and that it was

312 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] appropriate for this matter to be brought on. Therefore, I am simply acting on the Clerks’ advice in seeking to allow this time for this matter. Consequently, I think it is appropriate, Mr Acting Speaker, that you provide an answer on a point of order that needs to be answered properly. The ACTING SPEAKER: Yes. The understanding of the member for Cottesloe is an interesting one. Standing order 279 states that this is formal business. It is not a debate. Therefore, it does not prevent this matter from proceeding. That being the case, I give the call to the member for Central Kimberley-Pilbara. Debate Resumed MR T.G. STEPHENS (Central Kimberley-Pilbara) [7.20 pm]: I appreciate the context in which I am rising. Although this procedure is unusual, nonetheless it is provided for in the standing orders, as you, Mr Acting Speaker (Mr M.J. Cowper), ruled. It is unusual to have such an active committee as the Education and Health Standing Committee tabling reports at a great rate of knots, including when the house is not sitting. The committee took the opportunity to present report 12, titled “Initiatives in the Remote Indigenous Communities of the Torres Strait Region”, when the house was not sitting, a consequence of which is that it has now been brought on for formal noting by this house. The members of this committee have had an extraordinary experience. In the case of controversial issues, members have had the opportunity to step out of their own context, the context in which the controversy might be raging, and to move into a different location altogether to look at an issue provides fresh insights. That is what happened to the Education and Health Standing Committee, and it occurred a long time ago; that is, before the house referred to the committee the issues in Esperance that have just been referred to by the member for Roe. However, after the report on that matter was completed by other members of the committee—I stepped down for the Esperance inquiry—we were able to get back to tackling a report on some other work we did as a committee. Firstly, we travelled to Cape York, and the committee brought down report 11 on that work. Report 12 details some work we did in the Torres Strait region. This is the work of my colleagues, in particular the deputy chair, who is the current Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Dr Hames, and the previous members of the committee. The member for Wanneroo was involved in the work, but was not involved in the deliberations because she had stepped aside from the committee to do other work. The member for Wagin participated fully in the work we undertook in the Torres Strait region. A couple of my parliamentary colleagues—the member for Bassendean and the member for Peel—do not share any of the blame or responsibility for the reporting processes of the committee on this subject. They sat and listened to the committee’s deliberations and allowed the report to be noted by the house. Quite frankly, the member for Peel was new to the work of the committee and did not have the chance to do the Torres Strait region work and the member for Bassendean was pressed with other issues that prevented him from participating in that work. For me it was an extraordinary boys’ own adventure. We travelled to the Torres Strait, an area that I had not had the opportunity previously to visit. I guess it had been a lifetime ambition to go there to find out what were the lessons to be learnt. The lessons are multitudinous; there are a great number of lessons to be learnt from the Torres Strait. I will put it to the house in the terms that are used in the committee’s report. What we have in the Torres Strait is a region that is of enormous strategic significance to Australia. It is border territory between Australia and the relatively new nation of Papua New Guinea. The region comprises islands that are very close to Papua New Guinea and has an Indigenous population of approximately 10 000. What we found is left in the Torres Strait region are structures of representation for that region that deliver methods of governance—the design of policy, the design of programs and the delivery of programs to respond to the needs of the island communities and the Indigenous population of that area. They include regional structures that have survived the past 10 years of change in Indigenous affairs and left in place regional representative structures for feedback to the three spheres of government—local, state and federal. The Torres Strait area has a local government body known as the Torres Strait council. It is a structure that was established largely to represent the non-Indigenous interests historically. Circumstances have changed. There is an interplay of the three spheres of government in a regional response that is working and it is quite different from the landscape that exists across every other part of Australia. Not in any other part of Australia is there a representative Indigenous organisation providing formal feedback to government on the formulation of policy and the design and delivery of programs such as exists in the Torres Strait. The committee detailed those structures in its report. It detailed how they are working. The committee was able to visit not only Thursday Island, but also Badu Island, which is a functioning community, to watch and learn from Indigenous communities in the region that are benefiting from the interplay of representative structures and a focus on a government response. In my view and in the view of the committee, as is found in the recommendations attached to this report, there are lessons to be drawn from the Torres Strait. The principal recommendation is that consideration be given to the benefits that flow from such structures. In the rest of the country, representative structures have been

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 313 abolished. The abolition of those representative structures was widely applauded. It was applauded against the backdrop of the old Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission structure having largely failed. At the same time that I was involved in the deliberations for the preparation of this report, I was reading a book that had been released titled Beyond humbug and subtitled “Transforming government engagement with indigenous Australia”. The book was written by Michael Dillon and Neil Westbury. Neil Westbury, who was awarded a public service medal, has given 30 years of commonwealth and territory service. He and Dillon, a long-term practitioner in the field of Indigenous affairs, again in the commonwealth and the Northern Territory arenas, compiled and released this book. For me, the fusing of their thoughts with the work of the committee became an extraordinary opportunity to provide insight into what was going on in the Torres Strait and what was missing from the landscape across Indigenous Australia, including Western Australia. I encourage members to read the committee’s report, which I commend to all members. Members should take the opportunity to digest this report, think about it and consider how it has application in Western Australia and more widely. I know that in recent years governments, at both the national and state levels, have focused on trying to connect with practical and urgently required steps to tackle disadvantage and intervene in ways that are considered to be responses to a crisis. That has led people to dismiss the need to engage in talk with the Aboriginal community about those government responses and to gain their feedback on how to reshape the involvement of government. It is easy to intervene. What is on display in the Northern Territory is intervention in the form of a vast increase in the quantum response from the federal government. However, it is clear to me that that intervention is not sustainable, because it does not provide the necessary mechanisms that will secure sustainability as are on display in the Torres Strait region. Those mechanisms include feedback, opportunities for respectful dialogue and opportunities to empower people to shape and guide policy development, program design and program delivery. It is important to recognise that governments can too easily utilise mechanisms that are based on flawed policy, that deliver expensive program failure and that act as roadblocks to success and progress for Indigenous communities. What is on display in the Torres Strait region is an opportunity that includes the prospect of real economic engagement. Some of those opportunities are documented in the committee report. They include stores that are prospering and a plant nursery that is working extremely well. They also include an educational program at Badu Island State School. What is embedded in these programs is the feedback and involvement of the community. That has resulted in real success in engaging the Indigenous community of the Torres Strait region compared with what is happening in other Indigenous communities in Australia. Even though the history of the Torres Strait Islander people is, of course, different from the history of other Indigenous communities in Australia, the lessons are still worth dwelling upon. I believe, as I hope do other members, that the demographic trends within regional and remote Australia require us to accept that the success of the Indigenous populations is crucial to ensuring the success of the regions. I am referring to regions not only in the Torres Strait, but also in the Kimberley and the Pilbara, that are of enormous strategic and economic importance to our future and to the international companies that are operating in them. Whether those companies are Woodside, BHP or Rio Tinto, they do not want to see replicated here the failed structures of the failed states of the Pacific. They want to see governance structures that are functioning and that can deliver policy and program design that is respectful of the varying circumstances across the regions. The Torres Strait region can deliver those structures, and more, and that is worth dwelling upon by those people who are interested or involved in this area. My comments on this report are particularly relevant, because this is the week in which the State Coroner of Western Australia has brought down his report into the deaths and suicides connected with alcohol abuse and drug use in the Kimberley. Anyone who reads the report on the Torres Strait region that I have tabled against the backdrop of the coroner’s report into the Kimberley region cannot fail to pick up on the urgent need for appropriate responses to the challenges with which we are faced. The coroner’s report touches only lightly on the issue of governance. The coroner deliberately avoids making any specific findings about whether any particular governance structures should be used to respond to this set of circumstances. He says in his report that he has chosen to step back from making any comments about what regional governance structures are appropriate. He quotes John Sanderson, the former Governor of Western Australia and now special adviser to the Western Australian government, on these questions, and points to the observations that he has made in his report. The recommendations that were made by John Sanderson are legitimately criticised by those who can remember the failures of the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. Those are legitimate criticisms that the government of Western Australia has identified and articulated. I think our committee has been able to digest the criticisms of the Premier and others within government who say that they do not want to repeat the mistakes of ATSIC. No-one wants to repeat the mistakes of ATSIC. That is a given. In the Western Australian community and also in the wider Australian community there is a hunger and an appetite for processes that will work and that will avoid the mistakes of the past. As is observed in our committee report, the structures within ATSIC did not adequately connect the representatives with the communities that they were supposed to represent. That can

314 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] be compared with the structures that exist in the Torres Strait region, and the statute that has created those structures, which provide alternatives that deliver better outcomes and more appropriate representative models to deal with that dilemma. It is for that reason that I believe our committee has tackled the concerns of the Premier. We have agreed with the Premier in part, because we have said that we do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past. However, we want to embrace opportunities for doing things better in Australia. What is missing, and what is so critical if we are to move from the circumstances that we all can see to the goals that we all want to achieve, is the architecture that will enable that to be delivered. We have been lucky enough to observe the architecture of government working in the significant and strategically important Torres Strait region. On that basis alone, we believe it is worth digesting this report and exploring the opportunities for coming up with, in dialogue with the Indigenous communities in our region, a structure that will work here in Western Australia. That is not to say that we would dismiss the urgency of taking some practical steps in this area. That is something that can occur simultaneously with the urgent responses that are required of government. As I have said in the chairman’s foreword to this report, to dismiss ATSIC out of hand is to ignore the fact that some of the great features of the contemporary landscape in Western Australia that are succeeding are enterprises such as Ngarda and Wunan. Those enterprises, which are providing employment and training for Indigenous people, were given birth to by the ATSIC structure. Ngarda, and the Wunan organisation in the east Kimberley, exist only because of the programs and policies of ATSIC. Since the abolition of ATSIC, there has not been a similar landscape. Although there were some disasters, some of the great flowers of that experience no longer have the opportunity to emerge through government, because government has not had the feedback from the Indigenous communities such as is on display through the regional structures in the Torres Strait region, from which we can all benefit. I commend the report to the house. I thank all members of the committee for the hard work they have put into the report. The committee is deeply indebted to Dr Jeannine Purdy. Dr Jeannine Purdy and her colleagues in the committee office have served the house with distinction. Dr Jeannine Purdy has been taken from the committee by the Chief Justice, who has put her on his own staff. I commend the report to the house. DR K.D. HAMES (Dawesville — Deputy Leader of the Opposition) [7.39 pm]: I speak in support of the committee report as the deputy chair of the committee. I will start where the chairman of the committee left off, which is to recognise the prodigious writing skills of the chief research officer, Dr Jeannine Purdy, who has written, largely alone, the bulk of the reports that the committee has presented and in a way that needed almost no changes whatsoever when the committee has come to assess what is in the reports. She reflected well the views of committee members in what she put forward. This is not the last of the reports. We are still going. To some extent, that is thanks to our chairman, who has a similarly prodigious appetite for producing documents and work out of this committee. We were distracted from this inquiry to some extent by something that I regard as having been exceptionally important, which was the Esperance lead inquiry. I got a great deal of value out of undertaking and chairing that inquiry. Nevertheless, it put aside for the time being some of the things that we had done in investigating successful initiatives within Aboriginal communities. I refer to the trip that we went on. What did the member call it? Mr T.G. Stephens: A boy’s own adventure. Dr K.D. HAMES: A boy’s own adventure. I would like to remind the member that this is not a boys’ club, even though some have suggested that it is. The member for Wanneroo was with us on that trip to keep us on the straight and narrow, and we also had with us a female staff member. We had an extremely interesting time, particularly when we looked at what was occurring in the Torres Strait Islands. That was of great interest to us. When I first read this report in preparation for its presentation, I have to say that I thought the members on the other side were being somewhat courageous, in Yes Minister terms, because, in my view, the Premier had quite clearly expressed his opposition to the development of a regional model. While two members of the committee had to be present during our deliberations on the report, they were not involved in the trip or in the preparation of the material, so we can let them off the hook. However, when I went back and read what the Premier had said about regional representative bodies, it was not exactly what I thought he had said, so the move by the member for Central Kimberley-Pilbara to support the concept of regional representation was somewhat less courageous than I had first thought, because it was clear that the Premier was referring to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission model. All sides of Parliament have recognised that that was neither a good nor successful model. I will compare something in our report with something in a report prepared by Lieutenant General John Sanderson. Recommendation 1 of our report states — The Committee recommends that the State government, in consultation with Indigenous communities in Western Australia, give consideration to the ‘Torres Strait model’ for adaptation as a regional representative structure for Indigenous communities throughout Western Australia.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 315

That major recommendation of the committee clearly states that the government should look at reintroducing a regional representative model in remote communities, but particularly in the Kimberley. I turn now to the report of Lieutenant General John Sanderson, which was presented to the Premier. The report is dated 19 June 2007, which is just over six months ago. One key paragraph of the report states — Apart from the need to reaffirm the State’s commitment to Aboriginal people in order to rebuild trust, there is a clear need to engage with Indigenous issues on a more holistic basis. This can only occur effectively at the regional level for reasons I describe in the report. He describes those reasons at some length. The report continues — There is widespread support for this view. I have therefore recommended that the Government take advantage of the opportunity afforded by the changes to electoral boundaries to generate strong bipartisan support — Which it has — for this holistic approach by establishing a form of regional authority in the Pilbara and Kimberley regions. In responding to the tabling of this document the Premier dismissed the comments of John Sanderson by saying that he wanted action that he could take immediately. However, I think he misunderstood what John Sanderson was saying. Lieutenant General Sanderson was not saying that we should go back to the old ATSIC model; instead, he was recommending a new and innovative type of regional representation. He said that this was essential if we were to improve conditions in the Kimberley and Pilbara. The report released yesterday by the coroner, Mr Hope, which outlined the disastrous state of conditions for Aboriginal people, particularly in the Fitzroy Valley, highlights the urgent need for action to be taken by the government. I will not do so now, because I want to keep my statement apolitical, but in my response to the Premier’s Statement tomorrow I will talk about the recommendations in both the Hope report and the report of Lieutenant General John Sanderson and what I see is a way of putting those things together in a way that will greatly advantage Aboriginal people in the Kimberley. I do not have any faith in any member of this Parliament, other than members of the committee, wanting to go through this report. That is the nature of committee reports; members really have to be there or need a deep understanding of the issue to want to go through the level of detail that is in the reports. Perhaps only a few members of Parliament might want to do that. However, I hope that people like John Sanderson and those who support him will go through this model and will recognise that it fits the requirements that he has expressed; that is, it fits the requirements for a regional body that would represent Aboriginal people, particularly in the Kimberley region. This model has significant variations from the ATSIC model, which is why it is still in existence and is still working successfully. It is not hugely different from the ATSIC model, but it is different in key areas. Those key areas are what make the difference between the model that failed and a model that will potentially be extremely successful. This model will give Aboriginal people a regional body and an opportunity to have representation in a manner that cannot fail in the way that the ATSIC model failed. I will not go on because I know that members want to get back to the main agenda. The reason that we have had to speak on this matter today is that we tabled the report during the break and if we did not speak today, we would not have any further opportunity to do so. According to the advice we received, this was our last opportunity. I apologise to the house for taking up time that would otherwise have been used on the response to the Premier’s Statement. I once again commend Dr Jeannine Purdy, Nici Burgess and all committee members for the hard work that they have done in preparing this report. The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr M.J. Cowper): During the course of the last half-hour or so, a number of members have moved from one side of the chamber to the other. It might be timely to remind all members that when a person is on his or her feet speaking, members who are passing through the chamber should acknowledge the Chair and move in accordance with the standing orders. FINES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2006 CRIMINAL LAW AND EVIDENCE AMENDMENT BILL 2006 Standing Orders Suspension — Motion MR J.C. KOBELKE (Balcatta — Leader of the House) [7.49 pm]: I move — That so much of standing orders be suspended as is necessary to enable the consideration forthwith of Legislative Council messages for the Fines Legislation Amendment Bill 2006 and the Criminal Law and Evidence Amendment Bill 2006. One of these matters is considered urgent on both sides of the house because it contains, in part, increased penalties for assaults on police officers. The other matter has been sitting around since the end of last year and

316 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] we would like it to be enacted fairly quickly. The order in which we will deal with them is, on request from the opposition, the order in the motion. MR C.J. BARNETT (Cottesloe) [7.50 pm]: The opposition will agree to the suspension of standing orders to allow these Council messages to be dealt with forthwith. However, it would be remiss of me if I did not point out that this is a farce and a disgraceful performance by this government and this Minister for Police. I will take a moment to read to members a couple of brief passages from the Minister for Police’s second reading speech on the Criminal Law and Evidence Amendment Bill, which, among other things, increases penalties for assaults against public officers and, in particular, police officers. This is what the minister had to say — Assaults against public officers: Recent incidents of violence against police and other public officers in Western Australia have highlighted the need to consider the adequacy of the current offences and their penalties. In April this year, — I interrupt to say that “April this year” did not refer to April 2007 but April 2006. So, in April 2006 — I raised these concerns with the Director of Public Prosecutions and asked him to consult with the Commissioner of Police and review the current statutory provisions. I go on to another part of the second reading speech — These amendments will achieve a more severe penalty for the most serious assaults and a clear gradation according to the seriousness of the offence, and provide for more discernable outcomes in the future. These amendments will also bring the Western Australian offences relating to assaults on police and other public officers nearer to the structure of equivalent offences in other states. That is what the government’s police minister had to say in June 2006—more than 18 months ago. That was the priority the minister gave to what at that time was a number of serious offences against police officers. Mr J.C. Kobelke interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT: It was the Attorney General, I understand. I do not care whether it was the police minister or the Attorney General—okay, I am wrong; I admit I made a mistake. Mr J.A. McGinty: That’s not like you! Mr C.J. BARNETT: No, it is not like me, but I did. However, it was the Attorney General’s speech. That makes it even better from my point of view. Here is the person who controls the Labor Party in June 2006, when he thought legislation for offences against the police—presumably with the support of the police minister of the day and current police minister—was a serious, urgent matter. Both the police minister and the Attorney General have carried on in the past three weeks about the upper house delaying the legislation. That carry-on had nothing to do with the passage of legislation in the upper house. It was because Senior Constable Matthew Butcher suffered a very severe assault and it was prominent in the media. Suddenly, after 18 months of inaction by this government, the legislation became urgent. The Premier went out to the media and talked about the upper house delaying the legislation and said that the legislation must be brought on. The upper house, therefore, came back a week early and dealt with the legislation—good on it—and now the legislation is back in this place. I have no objection to that, but why did it take 18 months? The only reason this government acted was because of another serious criminal assault on a police officer. For 18 months that Attorney General and that police minister did nothing. They carry on about delays in the upper house and, yes, I agree the upper house is not known for its fast pace, but who controls the legislative program of the government there? It is no-one else other than Hon Kim Chance, the Leader of the Government in the upper house. If he chose to not put this legislation at the top of the notice paper or to not bring it on for debate, it is no-one’s fault other than his and the government’s. I wonder how many times the police minister, who has people in the police service reporting to him, raised in cabinet with the Attorney General or with Hon Kim Chance the fact that the bill had been languishing for 18 months on the notice paper and needed to be brought to the top of the notice paper and dealt with. I suggest that the police minister never raised the matter in cabinet. I suggest that for 18 months he did absolutely nothing. He did not even honour the words of his own second reading speech. Now suddenly it is urgent, because of a brutal, sad, vicious attack on a police officer and some deservedly adverse publicity for the police minister. The opposition will accommodate the suspension of standing orders to deal with the bill, but why are we dealing with it? This bill should have been dealt with 18 or perhaps 15 months ago and it should have been through this Parliament. The police minister talked about bringing us up to date with other jurisdictions. They have probably moved on in the past 18 months. Who would know? This is an inept performance. The Attorney General may well have handled the bill but it is the police minister’s responsibility to look after the welfare of police officers. They sit there and laugh. I hope the family of Matthew Butcher, if they read this record, realise that both the police minister and the Attorney General laugh in this chamber. A police officer has suffered severe damage, perhaps brain damage. This government laughs and sniggers because it did not have the sense of urgency in 18 months to deal with this bill.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 317

Mr J.C. Kobelke: You are just outrageous! Mr C.J. BARNETT: Now look at them; they are protesting. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT: Why did the member for Mandurah, the Minister for the Environment, not protest at any time in the past 18 months about the progress of this bill? Mr D.A. Templeman: Why don’t you start telling the truth? You don’t tell the truth. Mr C.J. BARNETT: Why did the member for Mandurah not protest? Mr D.A. Templeman: You will finish your time in this place as a stunt merchant; that is all you are. Mr C.J. BARNETT: I tell the member for Mandurah that I reckon the family of Matthew Butcher would not like to know that he thinks this is a stunt concerning an 18-month delay in dealing with this bill. Mr D.A. Templeman interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT: We have two sniggering ministers on the front bench and an environment minister who puts his head up. Did the environment minister raise this matter in cabinet? Did he raise the delay with this legislation? I would bet he did not. Did any member on the backbench raise a concern about the lack of progress of this bill? Did any member of the backbench raise it in the caucus? The member for Yokine is nodding his head. I congratulate the member for Yokine if he raised the issue of the welfare of police officers. However, I suggest that no minister and no other backbencher gave a toss. Mr J.C. Kobelke: That’s not true. Mr C.J. BARNETT: It was only when this serious issue occurred that suddenly it was a priority. What did this ingenious Premier do? Point of Order Mr R.F. JOHNSON: The member for Riverton has on three occasions now accused the member for Cottesloe of telling lies. That is unparliamentary and I ask that he be made to withdraw it. Mr A.D. McRAE: I said that the member for Cottesloe should stop telling lies. I did not say that he was telling lies or that he was a liar. I said that he should stop telling lies. The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr M.J. Cowper): If that comment was made directly to the member, it should be withdrawn. I did not hear the comment. I leave it to the member for Riverton’s judgement that if it was unparliamentary, he should withdraw; and if not, the member for Cottesloe may continue. I draw to the member for Cottesloe’s attention that he is talking to why standing orders should be suspended. Debate Resumed Mr C.J. BARNETT: That tells me and all members on both sides about something of the character of the member for Riverton. I do not give a toss whether or not he apologises to me, but it tells us more about his character than anything else. Mr T.G. Stephens interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT: Now we hear from the member who has been representing the Kimberley for more than 20 years. He has suddenly discovered the issue of Aboriginal welfare and deprivation. Good on him! After 20 years he finally appears and notices the people in his electorate—about time! The ACTING SPEAKER: I ask the member for Cottesloe to draw his attention to the reasons that standing orders should be suspended and not to comment on the member for Central Kimberley-Pilbara. Mr C.J. BARNETT: I take your point, Mr Acting Speaker. The opposition will agree to suspend standing orders, as this matter is urgent. The dreadful injuries from the assault on Senior Constable Matthew Butcher would be of themselves more than sufficient reason to suspend any matter before this house. However, he is not the only police officer who has been assaulted. What were the statistics—four a week or four a day? Mr R.F. Johnson: It is 1 800 a year. Mr C.J. BARNETT: It is an extraordinary number of assaults on police officers, a number of them being extremely serious. For 18 months this government did not want to suspend standing orders; it did not occur to the government to do so. By the government’s own admission, only one member opposite, a former assistant police commissioner, knew what this bill meant to the police and knew what it meant to the public; that is, police officers would receive the backing of members—their elected representatives in this house—to the extent that members were able to give their backing. However, the government did not care about the bill. The government suddenly got a pang of conscience and a newfound concern for police officers because it was getting bad publicity. Neither the Premier nor the Attorney General nor the police minister had the courage to stand and say,

318 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

“Look, we are at fault. We should have dealt with this. We should have brought it on. We will do that now.” They set about contriving to blame the upper house. I would probably be the last person in this house to defend the upper house, but it is not at fault. Hon Norman Moore and opposition members are not responsible for the government’s legislative program. Believe it or not, the government and the cabinet are responsible. We are happy to suspend standing orders 18 months late out of concern for an Attorney General and a police minister whose responsibility it is. Yes, I made an error. It is the Attorney General’s bill, but the subject matter comes under the police portfolio. This legislation is about respecting, caring for and providing protection to police officers and their families. The police minister has not considered this a priority for 18 months. We agree to suspend standing orders. I wonder why it took us 18 months to do this. MR R.F. JOHNSON (Hillarys) [8.01 pm]: I cannot let this moment go by without saying why I believe we should suspend standing orders. I am in total agreement with the member for Cottesloe, who put his argument very eloquently. I called for legislation to protect our police officers in April 2006, nearly two years ago. What annoys me more than anything is that the Premier has appeared on television blaming the Liberal Party members in the upper house for the delay in the passage of this legislation. The Minister for Police and Emergency Services, the Premier and the Attorney General know the truth: the delay in this legislation lies with them 100 per cent. It is up to the government to put on the notice paper in the other house what legislation it wants to deal with every week, the same as it is up to the government in this house to put on the notice paper what legislation it wants to deals with here. The opposition here cannot put anything on the Assembly’s notice paper other than private members’ motions and private members’ bills. The government has control of this house. It dictates what legislation it wants to deal with, and the government does the same in the other place. As my colleague said, the disastrous, tragic and vicious beating of Constable Butcher has suddenly pricked the conscience of 99 per cent of members opposite. I exclude the member for Yokine, who has been nodding to say that he has told the party room or caucus that this matter should be dealt with. Of course it should have been dealt with. The Labor Party of Western Australia has shown no commitment whatsoever to our hard-working police officers and our other public officers. I hope that the Premier will apologise to the people of Western Australia for totally misleading them by blaming the Liberal members in the upper house for the delay of this legislation. He knows the truth. He knows that he and his cabinet colleagues dictate exactly what legislation will be dealt with in the other place. That is the way things work, and that is the way things should work. Of course it is up to the government to deal with whatever legislation it sees as a priority. The Premier gave the clear impression publicly on all the TV stations, the radio stations and in the newspapers that it was the fault of the Liberal Party in the upper house. That is an absolute lie. We know that and those members know that. The Premier has an obligation to tell the truth. I have been talking to police officers and the police union. I talk to dozens of police officers in my role as the shadow Minister for Police. They have been waiting for legislation. We are very, very happy to support the suspension of standing orders, even though it does cut into the time our members can respond to the Premier’s Statement. We will do this because we genuinely want to play a part in putting something in place that will go some way towards protecting our police officers and increasing the penalties that those vicious, vile people who inflict such horrendous injuries on our police officers incur. We need to ensure they get proper sentences. The legislation does not go far enough. All it does is increase the maximum penalty. As I said before, that will do nothing. The judiciary will not take a great deal of notice of that; it will still hand down the sorts of sentences it believes are appropriate. Until we can put in place some minimum mandatory sentences, that will not appease our police officers. Having spoken with the union and police officers, I know that that is the only way they will be satisfied. As the member for Cottesloe said, we will agree to the suspension of standing orders. This matter has to be made known; it has to be made public. The Premier, the Minister for Police and the Attorney General must apologise to the police officers in Western Australia for conning them. They have said that it is the fault of the Liberal Party in the upper house when they know full well it is their fault. This legislation was way down their list of priorities. They were more interested in trying to get rid of Shelley Archer and pass the prostitution legislation and all the other crap that they bring into this house and the other house. This is a very important bit of legislation. It does not go far enough but it will go some way. It has had the total support of this side of the house and it has had the total support of my colleagues in the upper house. The Premier, the police minister and the Attorney General should tell the police officers and the people of Western Australia the truth—that they have been conning them by making the excuses they have given for the delay in the passage of this legislation. It is not our fault; it is 100 per cent the fault of the government. It should do the right thing and own up to it. MR M.J. COWPER (Murray) [8.06 pm]: On average, four police officers are assaulted every day. Since this bill was introduced in June 2006, I have roughly calculated that approximately 2 400 assaults on police officers have been committed in this state whilst this government has been procrastinating and dragging its feet on this matter. It appears to be typical of this government’s attitude to our police officers. A number of very serious

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 319 assaults have occurred on police officers. Now that there has been adverse publicity on this matter, the government has had a pang of conscience and sprung to life, wanting to be seen to be doing the right thing by the community of Western Australia and its police officers. It is almost as if this government is driven by public opinion and the spin doctors who sit in these factories that the government has established over the past seven years crunching out this diatribe that we are seeing almost on a daily basis. The real issue we are talking about is people, people who have wives, children, mothers and fathers, people who go to work with an expectation that they will be protected whilst they are doing their job. I introduced a private member’s bill on workers’ compensation. I had to fight for it to remain on the table last October. I gave a number of examples relating to workers’ compensation, which I would have thought would have been a key plank of a Labor Party, the so-called bastion of the workers. It appears that it has been repeatedly put off. Last November the minister spoke in the press about a post-service medical bill to be introduced this year. We are still waiting 18 months later. This bill went to the upper house and all of a sudden we are about to suspend standing orders because the government has had a rush of blood to its brain and wants to be seen to be doing the right thing. It is unbelievable. I will not delay this motion any further. The fact is that many police officers are disgruntled with this government. The government should be warned that there will be repercussions if our police officers are not properly protected. Question put and passed with an absolute majority. FINES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2006 Council’s Amendments Amendments made by the Council now considered. Consideration in Detail The amendments made by the Council were as follows — No 1 Clause 2, page 2, line 5 — To insert after “operation” — as follows: (a) sections 1 and 2 — on the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent; (b) section 12(3) — on the tenth working day (being a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday throughout the State) after that day; (c) the rest of the Act — No 2 Clause 12, page 9, line 17 — To insert after “repealed” — and the following subsection is inserted instead — “ (4) If, when the Fines Legislation Amendment Bill 2006 section 12(1) (the “amending provision”) comes into operation, a warrant of commitment is in force but the offender has not commenced to serve the period of imprisonment specified in it, the warrant has effect as if — (a) the amending provision; and (b) the regulations made for the purposes of subsection (3)(a) as enacted by the amending provision, had come into operation before the warrant was issued. ” No 3 Clause 12, page 9, lines 23 to 26 — To delete the lines. No 4 Clause 12, page 9, after line 29 — To insert — (8a) If, immediately before the Fines Legislation Amendment Bill 2006 section 12(3) (the “amending provision”) comes into operation, an offender who has served, is serving or has to serve a period of imprisonment under a warrant of commitment is in prison, the offender is entitled to be released from imprisonment on —

320 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

(a) the day on which the offender would have been entitled to be released if the amending provision had come into operation before the warrant of commitment was issued; or (b) the day on which the amending provision comes into operation, whichever is later. (8b) In the case of an offender who is serving or has to serve a parole term as defined in the Sentencing Act 1995 section 85(1), a reference in subsection (8a) to the offender being entitled to be released is a reference to the offender being eligible to be released on parole. No 5 Clause 12, page 10, line 1 — To delete “After section 53(8)” and insert instead — Before section 53(9) No 6 New clause 20, page 12, after line 28 — To insert the following new clause — 20. Section 87 amended Section 87(a) is amended by inserting after “reason” — “ (other than a warrant of commitment issued under the Fines, Penalties and Infringement Notices Enforcement Act 1994) ”. Mr J.A. McGINTY: There are six amendments from the upper house and the government intends to agree with each of them. I understand that it is the desire of the member for Hillarys to deal with each of the amendments separately. If he would like them to be taken together, I will be happy to move them as one motion. I move — That amendment 1 made by the Council be agreed to. I will give a little overview. The government’s focus is on the completion or expiation of court fines by enabling either enhanced payment options or the performance of community service orders rather than imprisonment. It is our view that long periods of imprisonment for fine default are recognised as an inappropriate means of satisfying outstanding fines, rather than the expanded sentencing options made available to the courts by reducing the minimum number of community service hours from 40 to 10, together with options to enable payment and the establishment of a case management team to focus on hard-end fine defaulters to ensure that the integrity of the system is maintained. The general thrust of the amendments made in the Legislative Council is to make imprisonment for offenders serving terms for warrants of commitment for fine default concurrent rather than cumulative. This amendment is to clause 2, which is the commencement provision. Proposed sections (1) and (2) will take effect on the day of royal assent. The commencement provision also specifically refers to proposed section 12(3), which will come into effect 10 working days after royal assent. This will allow for sentence recalculation processes to be conducted by the Department of Corrective Services for those prisoners currently in custody serving fine default periods. The remainder of the act will take effect on the day fixed by proclamation. Mr R.F. Johnson: I am happy for you to move the amendments together, but I would like an explanation for each one. Question put and passed; the Council’s amendment agreed to. Leave granted for amendments 2 to 6 to be considered together. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I move – That amendments 2 to 6 made by the Council be agreed to. I will quickly go through each of the amendments. Amendment 2 is to clause 12. This amendment inserts proposed subsection (4) into section 53 of the Fines, Penalties and Infringement Notices Act. The effect of the amendment is that when a warrant of commitment is in force but the offender has not commenced serving the period of imprisonment specified on the warrant, the time issued will be recalculated in accordance with the new legislation; that is, warrants of commitment for fine default that were issued prior to the proclamation of this bill, when the offender had not commenced serving any time of imprisonment, will be recalculated following the principles endorsed by this legislation. That covers the situation in which a warrant was issued prior to this bill coming into effect but had not been executed at that time.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 321

Amendment 3 is to clause 12. The amendment deletes proposed section 53(8)(a) as drafted in the bill. The amendment will allow imprisonment terms for fine defaulters to be concurrent in all instances, whether with other sentences or with fines warrants. That is the key provision in these amendments. Amendment 4 is also to clause 12. Mr R.F. Johnson: I had a bit of trouble hearing the Attorney General because there is a lot of conversation going on in the chamber. The ACTING SPEAKER (Mrs J. Hughes): Order, members! We are having difficulty hearing the Attorney General. This is quite important, so can members keep their voices down a little. Mr R.F. Johnson: Can you repeat that? If a warrant has been served and they are going to serve a prison term for non-payment of a fine — Mr J.A. McGINTY: Yes. Mr R.F. Johnson: There was a schedule worked out for how much of the fine would be calculated as a day. If they owed so much, a certain amount a day would be knocked off their fine. It was quite a huge amount for a day. Is that part of this amendment? Mr J.A. McGINTY: No, it is not part of this amendment. The amount that would be cut out each day has been increased by the legislation, but not by these amendments. That was the debate we had when the bill was before us. I will get the member the exact figure. This amendment simply makes it clear that whether a person simply has a fine or whether that person is serving a term for, say, burglary and also has fines, the imprisonment for fines will be served concurrently with any other term of imprisonment. Mr R.F. Johnson: I am not 100 per cent happy with that. If a person owes 20 grand in fines, he might commit a burglary, go to prison and get all his fines wiped off. I think there is an argument that the term could be served consecutively, so that a person does his prison term for burglary, which is a serious offence, and also does the extra days, bearing in mind the ratio for the amount of fine equating to each day that he might serve to pay off that fine. I am not 100 per cent happy with this, but if my colleagues in the upper house have agreed to this, obviously I will not dissent from that. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Historically, so I am told, the position that we are now reverting to by having imprisonment terms for fines served concurrently existed prior to a decade ago in 1996. For the past 12 years — Mr M.J. Cowper interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Yes. I thank the member for Murray. That was the rule that then applied. It was changed a decade ago so that the imprisonment terms for fines would be served cumulatively; in other words, one on top of the other. The effect of that has been that people are occupying expensive prison beds while they are cutting out their fines and it is costing the taxpayers of this state more to accommodate them than their fines are worth. What we wanted to do is not impact on, for instance, the sentence for burglary, but we could not see any benefit in keeping someone in prison for fine default as distinct from something that might have posed a threat to the community. Mr M.J. COWPER: Ten years ago there were provisions to have fines dealt with by way of warrants of execution against goods and chattels, and the bailiff would be assigned to extrapolate those outstanding fines. If the Attorney General has that information available, can he tell me why that section of the act has not been used? It may have been repealed. Why has that not been advanced more, and why have we allowed so many outstanding fines to accumulate? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The act allows for goods to be seized to satisfy the debt that is owed through the fine. If somebody has assets, they are seized. As the member would appreciate more so than many members in this place, many people who accumulate fairly massive debts with fines have no assets or nothing that can be usefully seized. If it were the member for Murray, we would come and seize his assets, or if it were the member for Hillarys, we would seize his assets. However, as members appreciate, many of these people—for instance, many Aboriginal people in remote communities—have nothing worth seizing. Mr M.J. Cowper: I acknowledge that situation. However, a vast number of those people who would fall into the category of the 17 000-odd who have outstanding fines would have assets; that is, those people we see hooning down the road without drivers’ licences because they have been suspended. Obviously, those cars are an asset. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The advice that I have received from the sheriff is that when there are assets that are capable of being seized, they are seized to satisfy the fine. The only people who go on from there are those from whom, for one reason or another, it has been impossible to seize any assets. It might well be that they have no assets; in other words, they are poverty stricken. It might well be that a person’s car is in his wife’s name so that it cannot be seized to satisfy the debt. It might be that other people are very good at hiding it. However, the process is that we seize the asset, if that is at all possible, and that is what the sheriff does.

322 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

Mr M.J. Cowper: Having been a bailiff myself, I am unaware of any instances in which that has occurred. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am aware of instances in which it has occurred, but I am not in a position to give the member — Mr M.J. Cowper: Would you have the figures available for that, which perhaps we could access? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I do not have the figures. Mr M.J. Cowper: I understand that. Are they available? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I do not know. I presume they would be. Mr M.J. Cowper: I will put a question on notice. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Yes, that would be the best way to handle that. To answer the member’s question, the process is such that it is possible to seize goods to satisfy the crime that is committed. It is only once we have been through that process that this issue would then arise. Mr M.J. Cowper: That is not my understanding of it, Attorney General, but I will take your word for it. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I will move on to amendment 4, which again is an amendment to clause 12. The amendment will insert a new section 53(8a) and (8b). This amendment will allow for the default period to be recalculated in circumstances in which a warrant of commitment was executed prior to the passage of this legislation but the sentence has not been completed and the offender is in custody at the time of the legislative change. In the same way that earlier we dealt with a situation in which a warrant had been issued but not executed, we are now talking about a situation in which one has been executed and someone is in jail. The calculation is to be in accordance with amendment 3, to which I just referred. Amendment 5 — Mr R.F. Johnson: Before you move on, in amendment 4, can you expand a little on proposed subsection (8b), which states — . . . in the Sentencing Act 1995 section 85(1), a reference in subsection (8a) to the offender being entitled to be released is a reference to the offender being eligible to be released on parole. Of what significance is that amendment to the original bill? Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is a technical amendment. Mr R.F. Johnson: That is probably why I don’t understand it. That is why I would like to know a bit more about it. Mr J.A. McGINTY: There is a reference to an entitlement to be released. At the end of a finite sentence, a person is entitled to be released, but to pick up somebody who is eligible to be released on parole but who has no entitlement to that—the reference in that provision to an offender being entitled to be released is a reference to the offender being eligible to be released on parole. Therefore, it covers a person who is reaching the end of a finite sentence as well as somebody who is released before the end of his finite sentence but is actually released on parole. Therefore, it is the eligibility to be released. Mr R.F. Johnson: Okay; I understand that now. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Amendment 5 is a technical amendment to fix the numbering as a result of the previous amendment to clause 12. Amendment 6 deals with taking a person’s time on remand, when he is not a sentenced prisoner, into account for the purpose of satisfying the time that is required to be spent to satisfy a fine, because at that stage the person is not a sentenced prisoner, and the general terminology that is used is a reference — Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I would be very happy for the Attorney General to finish his comments. Mr J.A. McGINTY: It is time spent in prison that is really the relevant thing, whether a person is a sentenced prisoner or a remand prisoner. Therefore, it simply enables a person to cut out his time as a remand prisoner, because, in substance, it is no different from being a sentenced prisoner; it is the same thing. I can understand the point that the member raised about amendment 3, which is the provision that makes all fine default time concurrent rather than cumulative. However, as has been pointed out, that was the general rule 12 years ago, and this will have the effect of removing people who are in prison for fine default from the prison system quicker than would otherwise be the case. A person will still go to prison ultimately in these circumstances, but he will not spend as long there. If we want to preserve prison for people who represent a threat to the community, this will have the effect of giving those people who owe fines a short, sharp shock. Hopefully, that will mean that they can then start their lives afresh, without having further fines to pay when they are released from prison on their substantive charge and things like that. I remember once in Albany meeting the parents of a young man who had just been released from jail. A week or two after his release, he was rearrested because of outstanding fines. He had done his time for the substantive crime, but then he had to go back inside. His parents asked, “Why couldn’t he cut out his time while he was in

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 323 jail for the substantive offence?” Of course, there are two ways to do that, which would be the member’s reply to me. The first of those is that he should stay on in prison after he completes his sentence for the substantive crime to cut out his fines. The other is that he has been in prison and he has been punished; therefore, it is better to allow him to cut them out concurrently rather than cumulatively. It is quite commonplace in sentencing for sentences to be made concurrent. This now requires that to be done for fines. Question put and passed; the Council’s amendments agreed to. The Council acquainted accordingly. CRIMINAL LAW AND EVIDENCE AMENDMENT BILL 2006 Council’s Amendments Amendments made by the Council now considered. Consideration in Detail The amendments made by the Council were as follows — No 1 Clause 2, page 2, lines 9 to 12 — To delete the lines. No 2 Clause 5, page 4, lines 12 and 13 — To delete the lines and insert instead — (d) the victim of the offence is — (i) an ambulance officer; or (ii) a member of a FESA Unit, SES Unit or VMRS Group (within the meaning given to those terms by the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia Act 1998); or (iii) a member or officer of a private fire brigade or volunteer fire brigade (within the meaning given to those terms by the Fire Brigades Act 1942), who is performing his or her duties as such; or (e) the victim of the offence is a person who — (i) is working in a hospital; or (ii) is in the course of providing a health service to the public; or (f) the victim of the offence is a contract worker (within the meaning given to that term by the Court Security and Custodial Services Act 1999) who is providing court security services or custodial services under that Act; or (g) the victim of the offence is a contract worker (within the meaning given to that term by section 15A of the Prisons Act 1981) who is performing functions under Part IIIA of that Act, No 3 Clause 9, page 5, lines 25 to 27 — To delete the lines and insert instead — or (h) assaults — (i) an ambulance officer; or (ii) a member of a FESA Unit, SES Unit or VMRS Group (within the meaning given to those terms by the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia Act 1998); or (iii) a member or officer of a private fire brigade or volunteer fire brigade (within the meaning given to those terms by the Fire Brigades Act 1942), who is performing his or her duties as such; or (i) assaults a person who — (i) is working in a hospital; or (ii) is in the course of providing a health service to the public;

324 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

or (j) assaults a contract worker (within the meaning given to that term by the Court Security and Custodial Services Act 1999) who is providing court security services or custodial services under that Act; or (k) assaults a contract worker (within the meaning given to that term by section 15A of the Prisons Act 1981) who is performing functions under Part IIIA of that Act, No 4 Clause 13, page 10, lines 1 to 10 — To delete the clause. No 5 Clause 17, page 11, lines 13 to 24 — To delete the clause. No 6 Clause 18, page 12, after line 1 — To insert — (1) Section 55(2) is amended by deleting “either a summons, a court hearing notice, or an approved notice, notifying the accused of the court date,” and inserting instead — “ a court hearing notice, or an approved notice, notifying the accused of that date and that the court may deal with the charge in the accused’s absence if the accused does not appear on that date, ”. (2) Section 55(3) is repealed. No 7 Clause 28, page 16, lines 19 to 22 — To delete the clause. No 8 Clause 41, page 21, line 20 — To insert after “matter” — , including any material change to the person’s circumstances, No 9 Clause 43, page 22, after line 27 — To insert — (3) If evidence described in subsection (2) is admitted in a trial by jury, this section does not affect any duty of the trial judge to warn the jury about any matter relating to the complainant’s evidence; but any such warning must be consistent with that evidence. No 10 Clause 74, page 37, lines 17 to 24 — To delete the clause. No 11 New clause 21, page 12, after line 26 — To insert the following new clause — 21. Section 75 amended (1) Section 75(4) is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph (b) by deleting “issue any document necessary;” and inserting instead — “ may issue a summons, court hearing notice or approved notice, as the case requires; ”; (b) in paragraph (c) by inserting after “document needed” — “ (including a document referred to in section 139 or 155) ”.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 325

(2) After section 75(9) the following subsection is inserted — “ (10) An approved notice issued to a person under this section must be served on the person in accordance with Schedule 2 clause 2, 3 or 4. ”. No 12 New clause 42, page 21, after line 28 — To insert — 42. Section 51 inserted After section 50 the following section is inserted — “ 51. Certain amendments to be reviewed (1) The Minister must carry out a review of the operation of the amendments made to this Act by the Criminal Law and Evidence Amendment Act 2006 Part 4 as soon as practicable after the expiration of 5 years from the commencement of the amendments. (2) The Minister must prepare a report based on the review and, as soon as practicable after the report is prepared, cause it to be laid before each House of Parliament. ”. Leave granted for the amendments to be considered together. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I move — That the amendments made by the Council be agreed to. Perhaps I will give a bit of background to this. Eight recommendations were made by the Legislative Council Standing Committee on Legislation when it reported on the Criminal Law and Evidence Amendment Bill on 30 August 2007. I can respond very briefly to one of the points that was made earlier by the member for Cottesloe. Unfortunately, this bill sat in a Legislative Council committee from 21 March 2007 to 30 August 2007, and that is one of the reasons for the inordinate delay, as I see it, in the progressing of this legislation. Amendment 1 is really a minor amendment of a drafting nature. Clause 13 of the bill was redundant and was deleted by amendment 4. This had the consequential effect that clause 2(3), which dealt with the commencement of section 13 only, was redundant, and it was also deleted by this amendment, so that is of no consequence, other than a tidying up of the bill. Amendment 2 amends section 297 of the Criminal Code and deals with the offence of grievous bodily harm. The increased penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment for the offence of doing grievous bodily harm to a public officer is extended by this proposed amendment to include a range of persons who will now be classified as public officers and who do not fit the usual description of public officers. They include ambulance officers, members of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority and various other emergency services, people in the volunteer fire brigade, persons working in a hospital—that includes a private hospital—a person who is in the course of providing a health service to the public, and two classes of contract workers under the Court Security and Custodial Services Act and under the Prisons Act. Therefore, it is a range of people who provide services analogous to the services that are provided by a public officer. Effectively, what this amendment does is to extend the definition of a public officer to include those people, which was recommended, again, by the Legislative Council committee. Amendment 3 amends section 318 of the Criminal Code and deals with serious assaults. It is proposed to amend clause 9 of the Criminal Law and Evidence Amendment Bill 2006 so that section 318(1) of the Criminal Code will be amended to include private sector health workers, such as nurses and doctors, court security officers, prison officers etc as public officers for the purposes of that section. This deals with circumstances in which the maximum penalty is 10 years for assaults on those private sector workers; that is, an assault on those people who are in the expanded definition of a public officer. Therefore, it is a very similar issue to amendment 2 that I just spoke about. Amendment 4 amends section 570 of the Criminal Code to remove a specific reference to the medium of audiovisual recording that is in both the code and the Criminal Investigation (Identifying People) Act, because the clause is no longer necessary. Therefore, again, it is a technical definition.

326 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

Amendment 5 amends the Criminal Procedure Act in a way that is no longer necessary because of the way in which the bill has been brought into effect. Amendment 6, again, is an amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act. Section 55 of the Criminal Procedure Act allows the court to deal with a charge in the absence of the accused and a written plea of guilty. The amendment to section 55(2) means that the accused is notified that in the event that he or she does not appear on the next court date, the court may deal with the charge in his or her absence. Again, it is a tidying up provision more than anything else. Amendment 7: clause 28 of the Criminal Law and Evidence Amendment Bill proposed to narrow the scope of defence counsel’s opening address, provided for in section 143 of the Criminal Procedure Act, by amending the provision so that an accused person is entitled to give an opening address to the court that outlines the accused’s defence rather than the accused’s case. This is proposed in order to better effect the original intention of the provision, which arose from a recommendation from the Law Reform Commission’s 1999 review of the criminal justice system. The Legislative Council’s Standing Committee on Legislation recommended that this change be opposed. The committee was of the view that there was insufficient reason to amend it and we accept that view; in other words, there is no change to the current arrangement in that area. I think I have just about run out of time. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I would like to hear more from the Attorney General. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Amendment 8: clause 41 amends section 41 of the Criminal Appeals Act, which governs sentencing or re-sentencing on appeal. The amendment expressly enables a Court of Appeal to take into account any materially changed circumstances in the offender’s situation that may have arisen since the original proceeding. This was, again, a recommendation from the Standing Committee on Legislation and I think it makes sense. Amendment 9: clause 43 is amended to ensure that trial judges give a warning to the jury in relation to admissible expert evidence. This amendment provides greater legislative clarity and ensures that the trial judge remains responsible for providing guidance and warnings to the jury. Amendment 10: clause 74 proposed to delete a superfluous “the” in the latest reprint of the Wildlife Conservation Act. However, the act was reprinted in October 2006 and section 27B was amended to delete the superfluous “the” because it was a grammatical error and the amendment was possible under the Reprints Act. Therefore, that particular amendment became redundant and has been deleted. The second to last amendment, amendment 11, inserts a new clause in the Criminal Law and Evidence Amendment Bill. New clause 21 complements the amendments made to the Criminal Procedure Act in clause 18 of the bill; the clauses deal with the courts powers on adjournment of a charge. Again, I am happy to go into that if the member for Hillarys requires me to, but it is of a fairly technical nature and I do not think much turns on it. Amendment 12: new clause 42 is to insert a review clause in relation to part 4 of the bill dealing with the state’s right of appeal against acquittals by a judge and jury. The amendment proposes a review in five years’ time. This deals with an element of double jeopardy. Historically, the prosecution had no ability to appeal against misdirection by a judge, for instance. Based on the principle of double jeopardy, that would expose the person to being tried twice on the one offence, if it was likely to undergo an appeal. I think that is nonsense; therefore, we are happy to give the prosecution a right of appeal if a judge, for instance, has misdirected the jury. There was concern raised because this is an incursion into the traditional area of double jeopardy; therefore, the Legislative Council proposed a review in five years’ time. I think it makes sense, if we make a reform to a principle that has been in place for hundreds of years, to make sure that it is working properly in five years’ time. Those are the amendments. I guess the public attention has focused primarily on the question of assaults on police officers. I can say, in the two minutes that remain available to me, there has been some commentary that this is about more severe penalties for people who assault police officers. That is certainly true, but it is more important that the offences of assaulting a public officer are being completely restructured here; for more serious assaults there are more significant penalties. Therefore, for an assault causing grievous bodily harm, the maximum penalty increases from 10 to 14 years. Of course, that is required to be dealt with by a superior court; it cannot be dealt with by a magistrate. We have an intermediate offence of assault on a public officer, and I suspect this will be a majority of cases in circumstances of aggravation; in other words, when the assault has occurred in company or with a weapon. Generally speaking, many of these assaults, particularly the ones we have seen in recent times, have occurred when there has been a mob outside a licensed establishment; that means they are in company. Anyone in those circumstances who assaults a police officer will not be able to be dealt with by a magistrate in future. There will be no option; that person will have to have his case taken to the District Court for a trial by judge and jury, and there will be significantly greater penalties available to be imposed upon a person found guilty in those circumstances. Therefore, to the extent that there has been concern, rightly expressed, that some magistrates are not recording convictions against some people who assault a public officer,

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 327 magistrates will not be able to deal with them in future, if they are cases in which a person was in company or used a weapon to assault a public officer. I think that is one of the most significant changes, but not a change that public debate has particularly focused on. I think that will have a very desirable effect, meaning that these people will be treated more seriously within the judicial system and, hopefully, dealt with more severely within the judicial system. The third category is, if I can call it that, a common assault on a police officer in which there was no grievous bodily harm, not in company and no weapon used; that will still be able to be dealt with by magistrates. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Basically, the Attorney General admits that the magistrates were letting police officers down. Mr J.A. McGinty: One of the problems we have is that in the past, essentially, we have had only one offence. Therefore, for everything from the case of police officer Butcher through to a minor technical assault we have not been able to really ascertain the outcome because we have not had this gradation of offences to know exactly what has been happening. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I disagree. We have common assault, serious assault, assault occasioning bodily harm, assault occasioning grievous bodily harm: we have those different grades of assault that have been in the Criminal Code for a long time. Therefore, the magistrates have had the power to deal with the seriousness of those assaults. If magistrates want to impose a sentence for longer than, I think, 12 months, they will need to send the case to a superior court. That is fine. They can do that. In the case of Constable Butcher, I am told off by lawyers whenever I say that in my opinion a person should be given a jail sentence of X number of years for a very serious crime, because the lawyers believe that no-one should be allowed to dictate to the judiciary, or even give an opinion to the judiciary, about the length of imprisonment. Those lawyers can get stuffed, quite frankly. They will not impede my right as a member of Parliament to speak up on behalf of my constituents. I want to tell the Attorney General, and the rest of the world, what my constituents and I believe is an appropriate sentence for people who commit serious crimes. My only concern about this legislation is that the case will go to a superior court, and that the trial will be before a judge and a jury. In some cases that have been heard before a judge and jury, I think both the Attorney and I have been aghast that people have been found not guilty when the rest of the world believes there has been clear evidence that they have committed the offence. That concerns me a bit. Mr J.A. McGinty: There is not much you can do if a judge or a jury finds a person not guilty; in other words, if the evidence is not there to prove that the person has committed the offence. It would be a bit much to ask a judge or a jury to find a person guilty if there is not enough evidence. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: That is the problem with a trial by jury. It depends upon the person who is before the jury. As the Attorney and I know, if it is a notorious bikie gang member, the jury is clearly intimidated. If one of those notorious bikie gang members has inflicted serious violence and injury on one of our police officers, one would hope that a magistrate would have the power to impose the maximum penalty possible. I do not have a problem with the matter going to a superior court. However, I do have a problem with jurors being intimidated. That is why I would like the Attorney General to look at the possibility of having three judges, instead of a judge and a jury, to judge a case. One would like to think that judges are far less likely to be intimidated than some jury members. I say that because I want to ensure that any person who violently attacks not only our police officers but any person is dealt with in the appropriate manner and serves the appropriate prison sentence. The Attorney General may like to look at that matter at some time. We have spoken about this matter before outside this chamber. It is not an entirely novel idea. We would not be the only jurisdiction in the world to do that. Plenty of other jurisdictions have chosen to have cases heard before a judge alone. In some circumstances that would probably be beneficial. Either the Attorney General or the Chief Justice could direct that a certain case be heard by a judge alone, or by a judge and a jury. I do not believe that the proposed increase in the maximum penalty from 10 to 14 years will be of any great benefit. I think the Attorney General has increased the maximum penalty for violent attacks on senior citizens from 14 or 15 years to 20 years. Mr J.A. McGinty: If it was in a circumstance of aggravation. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I do not know of any perpetrator of an assault against a senior citizen who been given even half that 20-year maximum penalty. I am concerned that the same thing will happen with this legislation. I will give the Attorney General a classic example if the Attorney will give me one more opportunity to speak. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A well-respected barrister, Judith Fordham, is currently conducting research into what goes on in the jury room. That is very unusual, because the legislative provisions about jurors are such that what happens in the jury room is sacrosanct. It is a significant offence to reveal what takes place in a jury room, or to probe was takes place in a jury room. It is asserted from time to time that jurors are intimidated. I am not sure

328 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] that that is right. Hopefully, this research, which is rare, will shed some light on that matter. I think most jurors take their duty seriously and make decisions without fear or favour. That is my perception. It may well be that the point of view the member is putting is correct, but we will certainly be informed by the research that is being undertaken by Judith Fordham. The second point I would make is in relation to trial by a judge alone or by three judges. We did change the law recently—I think about two years ago—to enhance the ability to hold a trial before a judge alone. There used to be effectively a power of veto; that is, it could be done only on the application of the defence. That is my recollection of it. There is now a far broader judicial discretion to enable that to occur. For instance, the Chief Justice is currently overseeing the sexual assault cases in the Kimberley, which is unusual, because the Supreme Court has taken responsibility for those matters. The Chief Justice has been saying to me that because of the inability in these remote towns in the Kimberly to assemble a large number of jurors who can properly adjudicate on these matters, he is encouraging people to consider a trial by judge alone. That option is now more readily available than it was prior to the recent legislative amendments that were made to enable that to occur. As a result, there might well be a greater use of trial by judge alone. Often, that is requested by people who feel that because they are regarded by the general public as odious individuals, they will get a fairer trial before a judge alone than before a judge and a jury. There is certainly room for opening up the scope for a greater number of trials before a judge without a jury. Of course, the greatest number of criminal cases is dealt with in the Magistrates Court, where there is no jury. It is only in the superior courts that trial by jury comes into effect. In saying that, I am comparing hundreds of cases in the Supreme Court a year, a couple of thousand cases in the District Court a year, and perhaps 100 000 cases in the Magistrates Court a year, of criminal charges that are dealt with in those different jurisdictions. That principle is already well established as part of our law, but it might well be something that can be worked through with the judiciary to open up the scope for even more trials by judge alone. The east Kimberley child sex assault cases are a very good example of where that would be highly appropriate. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I have heard the opposite of what the Attorney General has just said. Some very well- known people in the judiciary and in the legal profession have said to me that if a person is innocent, he should go before a judge, and if a person is guilty, he should go before a jury, because a person who is guilty has a far better chance of getting off if he goes before a jury than if he goes before a judge. I promise the Attorney that that has come from very high up in the legal fraternity. Mr J.A. McGinty: I have heard the same view put. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: We are obviously in agreement on that. Mr A.D. McRae: You are obviously mixing in the same circles! Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I will never be allowed to mix in the same esteemed circles as the Attorney General— never in a million years! I want to make one more comment before I sit down. It is about sentencing. I cannot let this opportunity go by, because I ran out of time in making my comments on the Premier’s Statement today, and I think I am justified in bringing up this matter during the debate on this bill. I cannot help thinking what a tough guy the Attorney General is for murderers and serious sex offenders. He is really tough on those people. The Attorney General is not really tough at all, actually. He is a bit of a sook. In saying that, I am comparing the penalty that was handed down to Mr Dixie in England, of 34 years’ imprisonment for the horrific murder and sexual assault of a young woman in England, with the sentence that was handed down in this state to the perpetrator of a serious sexual assault and murder in this state, which was life. A life sentence in this state is 20 years’ imprisonment, but the offender is required to serve a minimum of only 13 years. The Attorney General should adjust the laws of this state to bring them up to what is happening in other parts of the world. The general public will not stand any longer for those vile offenders, who have committed the most horrific crimes, to serve what in their eyes, and in my eyes, is a pittance compared with the sentence they should be serving. Of course, massively long sentences are handed out in America. At least they have the right idea in the United Kingdom—34 years. If the bloke who was recently convicted of murdering a young woman in the UK and who is the subject of investigation for murders and sexual assaults in Western Australia had been caught in this state, he would have got off quite lightly compared with the sentence he was given in England. Mr J.A. McGinty: You will have the opportunity to debate that issue in the next few months with the homicide bill, which the Premier foreshadowed today. You might well find that the changes on that very issue are ones that you will be fairly happy with. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: It is an election year, and that is why the Attorney General is doing that now. He has had nearly eight years to get tough with the filthy, vile criminals who commit the most horrific crimes, yet months out from an election—I say months — Mr J.A. McGinty: Fair go; we only got the Law Reform Commission report last October or November.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 329

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: The member has been the Attorney General for nearly eight years. Mr J.C. Kobelke: And he has put no legislation through the Parliament at all! Mr T. Buswell: There was the prostitution bill. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: He has done all the social stuff. The Attorney General has given priority to prostitution and all the other stuff that will not really affect people’s lives in a positive way and will not deal with the very vilest of criminals in this state. It looks as though the Attorney General is coming out of hibernation. Mr J.A. McGinty: I do not think that anyone could say that I have been in hibernation when it comes to legislation. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: He has been in hibernation when it has come to dealing with the most vile, vicious and horrendous criminals in this state. They get away lightly while the Attorney General is on watch, compared with other parts of the world where justice is more as justice should be. I thought I would take that opportunity. Mr T. BUSWELL: I want to make a couple of quick points. The Attorney General is fondling a plastic sleeve, which he will no doubt get to in due course this evening. I want to make a couple of points about — Mr J.A. McGinty: My sleeve? Mr T. BUSWELL: Not the Attorney General’s sleeve! I am referring to the amendments, which the opposition will support. More importantly, I refer to the passage of the Criminal Law and Evidence Amendment Bill through the upper house. The Attorney General made a comment about how this bill had been stuck in committee in the upper house for four or five months. Members can imagine my surprise when this matter first came up a couple of weeks ago, funnily enough just after the serious and awful assault on Constable Butcher. The Premier said that, in effect, the Liberal and National Parties could hold up the government’s legislation in the upper house. He then went on to say that if I was serious, I should call my troops together and say that we should get the legislation through the Parliament. I will not bore members with all the details, but it is well worth noting the passage of this bill through the upper house for the record. It is true that the bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Legislation on 21 March last year on a motion moved by Hon Giz Watson, which was supported, funnily enough, by the government. That committee took approximately five months to deal with the bill. The chairman of that committee is Hon Graham Giffard. The Attorney General may know him; I understand that he is a temporary resident of the other place. Hon Graham Giffard is moving to the unemployment queues, along with a couple more of the Attorney General’s colleagues from this place. Mr R.F. Johnson: He is not in the Attorney General’s faction. Mr T. BUSWELL: That is right. I can see it all happening. Hon Graham Giffard and the member for Bassendean will be fervently chatting together. Hon Graham Giffard is the chairman of that committee. Hon Sally Talbot also sits on that committee. There are only two members of the Liberal Party on that committee; indeed, we form a minority. That committee asked three times for an extension. The report was ultimately presented to the upper house on 30 August 2007. There were 26 sitting days from 30 August 2007 until the close of the parliamentary session last year. There were 26 sitting days on which the government could have chosen to bring forward that legislation for debate. On 20 of those 26 sitting days, that legislation was not even included on the government’s order of business in the upper house. The Premier has criticised us for that delay, and the Attorney General has tonight criticised the committee structure of which the government’s own, albeit temporary, member is chairman. There were 26 days last year on which that matter could have been brought to a conclusion in the upper house, but the bill managed to get on the government’s order of business on only six of those days. That is absolutely pathetic. A further example of the low priority the government afforded this piece of legislation was when Hon Kim Chance wrote to our leader in the upper house, Hon Norman Moore, on 23 January this year with a list of the bills, in order of priority, that were likely to be considered by the Legislative Council in the opening session in February this year. The Criminal Law and Evidence Amendment Bill was not even on that list. The day we raised that matter and presented this letter — The ACTING SPEAKER (Mrs J. Hughes): Leader of the Opposition, we are debating the amendments. Mr T. BUSWELL: Yes, which we support. The ACTING SPEAKER: I ask the member to keep to the point. Mr T. BUSWELL: Thank you, Madam Acting Speaker. We support those amendments wholeheartedly. Last week the bill was at long last debated in the upper house, as it could have been at any time from August last year. That is the point I am trying to make. When the government was exposed as a fraud in its dealings with this bill, all of a sudden the bill jumped back onto the priority list. We support the bill. We support the amendments. As the member for Hillarys pointed out, we do not feel that the bill goes nearly far enough in providing the support and protection that our police officers, in particular, require in Western Australia. Mr J.A. McGINTY: This matter requires some response. It is important to note that after the Legislative Council committee reported in August last year, the Criminal Law and Evidence Amendment Bill appeared on

330 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] the weekly bulletin for pretty much all of September and October as a government priority that was to be dealt with by the Legislative Council. It was not dealt with, and I think the Legislative Council deserves strong criticism for the way in which it did not proceed with this bill as a matter of priority. The good news is that it did become a priority and was dealt with last week by the Legislative Council. I appreciate the opportunity to suspend standing orders tonight to ensure that we do our bit to make sure that this legislation becomes law at the earliest available opportunity. Mr T. Buswell: As I understand it, there were 13 sitting days in September and October and the bill was on the priority list for only six of those days. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I remember having a quick look and seeing that it was on the list of legislation that should have been dealt with by the Legislative Council in that time. I have not looked at the matter beyond that. I am certainly aware that it was on the list during September and October. There is another thing that people have lost sight of in dealing with this legislation. I refer particularly to the view that has been expressed that the legislation does not go far enough. In about April 2006, very similar events occurred to those involving police officer Butcher this year. There were some vicious assaults on — Mr R.F. Johnson interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Was that the name? I am sorry, I did not recall it. Mr R.F. Johnson: That was one officer who was violently attacked by a male. The offender was given a 12- month sentence suspended for a year and a half, so he never spent one day in jail. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Whatever was the trigger at that time, it was a violent assault that was not adequately dealt with under the current law. That is why we responded. I discussed the matter with the Minister for Police and Emergency Services and asked the Director of Public Prosecutions to consult, particularly with the police, and to bring forward recommendations so that we could more adequately deal with the issues that are involved in assaults on public officers. I do not think that members opposite will find much difference between their side and ours when it comes to the issue of serious assaults on police officers. There were delays in dealing with the legislation in the Legislative Council. There have been no delays by this house either in dealing with the bill initially or now in accepting the amendments. The bill has been dealt with expeditiously by this house. The Legislative Council has let down the public of Western Australia, and in particular the police force. I will leave it at that for now. At that stage, we brought forward to the Parliament something that was agreed by the police as being an appropriate response to overcome the difficulties in the law. It was recommended by the DPP and there was fairly wide consultation. That is the basis upon which it was brought forward. I believe this legislation, if it is given a chance to be implemented, will go a long way to overcome some of the problems that have arisen. We all know about the most severe assaults, such as those that were recently experienced by police officer Butcher, and which unfortunately occur too often in Western Australia. However, there are assaults at the other end of the scale. I refer members to the definition of “assault” under the Criminal Code. An assault can be quite minor in nature. An assault is committed by — A person who strikes, touches, or moves, or otherwise applies force of any kind to the person of another, either directly or indirectly, without his consent, or with his consent if the consent is obtained by fraud . . . The code goes on to describe a range of other circumstances of what constitutes an assault. The term “applies force” is then defined as — . . . includes the case of applying heat, light, electrical force, gas, odour, or any other substance or thing whatever if applied in such a degree as to cause injury or personal discomfort. The use of force, of course, as personal discomfort is an assault. That is therefore the issue. From time to time charges are laid that I would regard as fairly minor in nature, such as a bit of hip and shoulder pushing, or even less than that, that would constitute an assault for the purposes of the Criminal Code. Mr R.F. Johnson: What about somebody spitting at a police officer? Mr J.A. McGINTY: That, particularly because of the substances that can be involved in spittle, I find to be a most serious assault. I do not regard that as at all light. Mr R.F. Johnson: Nor do I. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I believe that would need to be dealt with in a severe way. However, I do not agree with the penalty that some people suggest; that is, jail for people who commit those minor, technical assaults. There would be a few people around the place who would have a bit to answer for if that were the case. Question put and passed; the Council’s amendments agreed to. The Council acquainted accordingly.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 331

PREMIER’S STATEMENT Consideration Resumed from an earlier stage of the sitting. MR T.K. WALDRON (Wagin — Deputy Leader of the National Party) [9.03 pm]: To start with, I want to say a couple of things. I am going into my eighth year as a member of this place; many other members were elected at the same time. I must say that it has been a great experience and I have certainly learnt a lot. I thank my family, the staff in my office, my National Party supporters and the members of this place for their support. I also appreciate the local support I get in my electorate, and I am sure I speak on behalf of all members of this place for our appreciation of that support. Sometimes we get so busy that we forget about the local support we get. I particularly thank my family members for the sacrifices they make, which I am sure every member’s family makes. I have really enjoyed the past seven years and I am certainly looking forward to this year, which I think will be a very exciting year for us all. I am looking forward also to another four years in this place. This is a really crucial time in the state. The state is booming, but with booms come issues as well. Western Australia is probably a victim of its own success at the moment. Although we see all the benefits of the boom, which is fantastic, we also see the downside. I am talking particularly about housing pressures, the skills shortage etc. We have seen the Alastair Hope report on the situation of some Indigenous communities, about which I am sure all members are concerned. I believe the government, in this year as it heads towards an election, must focus very much on those issues. It must focus very much on using the state’s wealth wisely and on getting equities and priorities right. I listened to the Premier’s Statement today and was disappointed with the first part. I did not think this was the right time to use the statement for political grandstanding. I was disappointed with that. I believe the people of Western Australia will see through that sort of stuff when we should be focusing on going forward, which the Premier then moved on and talked about. I certainly support that way of going but certainly not the negative way. I want to talk a little about using the state’s wealth wisely and getting equities and priorities right. One reason I became involved in politics was in regard to equity for all areas of the state. There are some major needs in the community, such as labour and skilled labour. The Premier talked a lot about apprenticeships and traineeships. I acknowledge that a lot of good work is being done but there are still lots of issues in the community. The Premier talked about the rise in the school leaving age. The National Party supported that rise but we also said that the government must supply resources and teachers, and also assist people in business with traineeships, apprenticeships and money. People in regional areas are facing many of those issues. I want to talk quite a bit about country infrastructure, about the new directions in health and about looking after the very young and the very old. Childcare and aged care issues affect everyone. I believe at times families are too easily passed over. There are some major issues with childcare and aged care in my electorate at the moment. As someone whose father is now in aged care, I have seen the issues more closely, and I think we can do better in that area. I want to talk about my electorate of Wagin because I feel privileged to represent Wagin; it is a great region. Wagin had a wonderful season last year. We have heard about reports of droughts etc and I feel very sorry for people in the northern and eastern areas who have experienced a drought, some of them a second drought in a row. My electorate was fortunate to have a good season with good prices, although not a wet season. People there are brimming with confidence; things are happening and that is great to see. People say that the government should do this and the government should do that, but they need to help themselves as well; the government is there to support that. I am really proud of what people in my electorate do. I never cease to be amazed at what people achieve just by doing something for their local community. I want to mention a few achievements, because they are important to the spirit that keeps the state, the regions and the metropolitan areas going well; that is, when people get off their behinds, pitch in and do things for themselves. In saying that, I encourage the government to ensure its support for those people who are doing those things, because they are the people who will utilise government funding properly and who will benefit the state. There are local men’s sheds being established throughout my electorate; I think there are about four now. Just last week I opened one in Narrogin. The idea of men’s sheds is to provide an opportunity for those gentlemen who are getting on in years, are probably retired and are in need of something to do. They are probably very skilful people in their own right, and good with their hands in particular. These men’s sheds give them a place to go to, to continue to utilise and practise their skills and, more importantly, to share those skills with their contemporaries and other men in the same position and pass onto other people and the next generation those skills that have often been learnt over a lifetime. At the same time as we talk about mental health and mental illness and all those types of things, these types of community activities are driven in most cases by the

332 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] communities themselves. In this case this facility is driven by money raised locally, by Lions clubs and other community clubs that support them with donations to do all the work themselves to provide this wonderful facility. We also have an initiative called the Wheatbelt Organisation for Children’s Services of which our leader, the member for Merredin, is patron and who was responsible for getting it off the ground. WOCS is a group of concerned mums that came together a few years ago because they were concerned about child care. They have now formed this group that has become a very strong and very responsible lobbying group that gives people somewhere to turn to for information and advice on childcare issues. The members of the group do a fantastic job and I am really proud to be involved with them. They help me do my job better to try to get better childcare facilities. In fact, they are helping me with a situation in Katanning right at the moment. I also want to refer to road safety groups. I congratulate all those members who have run road safety forums; they are a great initiative. In the forum that I ran there is now a local road safety group that is working very much with the wheatbelt RoadWise committees. The RoadWise committee has come up with a program to work with the police next weekend. In our region of the wheatbelt over the long weekend, the police will pull over people who are driving well and obeying the rules and give them a certificate. That will qualify them to win some prizes. The member for Merredin and I are supporting that. That is a wonderful local innovation that is receiving positive feedback. Hopefully, it will have a positive effect on road safety, which a lot of people, myself included, tend to get very negative about. Our sports clubs, book clubs, church and youth groups, rural and farming groups do a great job in our communities. I especially want to mention the Narrogin RevHeads, a group that started a revheads weekend to try to accommodate young guys who like doing wheelies and doing burnouts etc. They get an opportunity to let off a bit of steam in a controlled situation under supervision. It is a huge weekend that has grown and grown. Unfortunately, sometimes there are some issues with drugs and other things with the clientele who turn up, but it is generally great. This group has put so much money back into Narrogin and other areas in the region. Last year they bought a car to take older people to Perth to visit specialists. They are the good things that keep communities going that we often forget about. I have spoken about the confidence of our area. Great land developments are happening in our region. Next week I am launching a big development in the town of Williams, the Munthoola estate. Up to 180 blocks, about 60 housing blocks and blocks of varying sizes will be released. It is wonderful to see the confidence of the community. The estate has been developed by private enterprise, which has worked very closely with the local shire, which in turn has done a tremendous job. I wish to complement the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure. We tried to push a couple of things along and she responded well. It just shows what can happen in our area. I have been very fortunate with the boundary changes in my electorate. Whoever may be the member for Wagin in the future will benefit. The new areas add the shires of Boddington, Wandering, Cuballing, Wickepin— Wandering, Cuballing and Wickepin were in the Wagin electorate until the last change but they come back in— Pingelly, Brookton, Kondinin, Kulin, Lake Grace, Jerramungup, Gnowangerup and Kent. It makes a lot of sense. It is a huge area. We know that the electorates will be big but at least this area encompasses similar areas of interest. The areas fit in well. It is an agricultural-based region and I think it will be a great region to be the local member for. It is sad to see Boyup Brook going out of that area. However, Bridgetown going back into the south west and not being split is a good decision. The member for Warren-Blackwood and I have shared Bridgetown. It creates problems when a country shire like that is shared. I do not think it works. I think the right decision has been made. I look forward to getting re-elected—I will be working hard to do that—so I can serve that area for another four years. Mr J.E. McGrath: Are you running for the Nats or the Libs? Mr T.K. WALDRON: I think the member knows the answer. It was a nice comment. At the end of the day, whatever party country politicians belong to, they have a huge responsibility after the next election. There are huge challenges ahead. Country politicians will have to work more closely together to achieve outcomes for those regions. With 48 seats in this house being in the metropolitan area and the coastal strip and 11 outside those areas, we will have to be very strategic and very strong to achieve what is needed for that area. I want to talk about the RREAC council, now called the RRETAC council—the Rural and Remote Education and Training Advisory Council—of which I am the deputy chair. Hon Matt Benson-Lidholm, the Labor upper house member for the south west, is the chairman. That council was appointed by the Minister for Education and Training. It is made up of stakeholders throughout WA, groups such as the Western Australian Farmers Federation, the State School Teachers’ Union of Western Australia, the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia, the Country Women’s Association of Western Australia and others that get together to discuss and bring forward issues in country education. It is working very well. We have been able to provide

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 333 good and strong advice to the minister. The minister has taken up some of that advice while the other is pending. At the end of the day, it is the minister’s decision. Sometimes councils can form and not do what they are meant to be doing. I am really happy as a deputy chair of that council to be providing some strategic advice to the minister that I hope will benefit country education. The teacher shortage and the teacher ratios have been a real priority for us as well as acting positions in teaching. There are far too many of those. That system needs to be changed. As long as I am a member of that committee, I will certainly be pushing for that. The other thing that we are pushing in education is resource sharing. We need to do this more and more. I am even talking about teachers sharing in some of our country areas. I think we can utilise the teachers in those areas better. We can also structure our district high schools better. I will talk about that more during the year. Maintenance of schools in my area is always an issue. There are probably four or five administration areas in schools in my electorate that need urgent attention. Some of these have been on the priority list for the past four years. I find it hard to understand how they can be on a priority list for four years but nothing ever happens. I will be pressing the minister to take action on those. In some instances the principal and the staff have to share toilets with the disabled children at the school. In this day and age, that should be put right. I will also be taking up the issue of Irlen syndrome this year, a condition that affects some children’s eyes and causes great problems with their reading. I am no expert but I am trying to learn more about it. The more I learn about it, the more I find that it could be having an effect. I may be wrong but I want to ensure that the Minister for Health and the minister for education look at this issue more closely. Some of the problems that we have with children with bad behaviour may stem from this condition that causes children to get behind because they cannot see what we see on the page. I want to push that quite strongly. We have talked about the police a lot in the house today. I want to talk about the police in my region. I have some real concerns. Last year we saw the closure of some country police stations. I do not want to go over the arguments that have been raised today other than to say—the police minister is in the chamber—that police in my area were relocated to nearby stations. They have since moved on to other stations. I know the positions are still there but the police are not there. I am really concerned that we are seeing police under real stress in Wagin. About two weeks ago I put out a press release saying that I was concerned that something tragic would happen, not to the public but to a member of the police force. I was thinking that a police officer could be overworked and have a car accident because he is working long hours. I do not know whether this is related but one of the police in that area has since had a heart attack. We need to talk about this issue. I heard the Premier say today in his statement that there will be an extra 420 police officers. We will have to transfer some police to those places otherwise we will have some severe problems. I am saying that in a very sincere and concerned way. I want to talk about infrastructure because it is very important to country WA. The lack of major infrastructure is a real issue in inland country areas in particular. Our plank is to put away 25 per cent of the mining and petroleum royalties for the regions into a fund that can be utilised. It is greatly needed. Last week there was an article in the newspaper about the pipeline at Yealering. We talk about water all the time. The government says that we are way ahead on water strategies. We have a pipeline carrying our vital resources that has been lying there. Although it is just outside my area, I got involved because I happen to know the people. I feel guilty that we have not jumped on that earlier. One good rain and we could have a major catastrophe out there. To the Water Corporation’s credit, now that we have put pressure on it and it has been highlighted, it will take steps to put that right. Only 16 months ago we had a similar situation between Katanning and Kojonup where we had to press for something to be done. We should not have to press. That should be an ongoing role within the Water Corporation. That is basic infrastructure. We can understand how country people feel when they see the big projects in Perth. Country people want the Fiona Stanley Hospital. They would like the stadium. They want Perth to have good facilities. It is just about equity. [Member’s time extended.] Mr T.K. WALDRON: Tonight the new member for the Agricultural Region, Wendy Duncan, made her inaugural speech. I am sure that everyone who listened to that speech would have been impressed, and not because she is a National. She made some great points. I suggest that people read her speech. She quoted some of the comments of Lieutenant General John Sanderson and Fred Chaney about inland rural Western Australia becoming a different place. I cannot quite remember the words that Fred Chaney and Lieutenant General Sanderson used, but I plan to read her speech again tomorrow. It really hit home about the things we have been saying in this place for a long time. It is about equity. The Premier talked about country Western Australia this afternoon. He talked about Albany, Bunbury, Geraldton and Port Hedland. We want those towns to have good infrastructure. We support money being invested in those towns, but it is about time the government had a look inland. I have a list here, but I will not go through it all. People in Narrogin have been waiting seven years for work to commence on a small section of the Narrogin link road. It probably would have cost about $1.1 million when it was first planned, but it will probably cost about $1.6 million or $1.8 million now. Trucks need to be able to get out of the town safely. There are huge industries in the area. There are cattle and sheep feedlots and there is a big

334 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] hay processor, but we cannot get the roadworks done. Something is going to happen on that road; there is going to be a prang. I have spoken about the Narrogin agricultural college. It is a fine college. I think that about 34 per cent of its students are females, who have to live in dongas. We saw pictures of Fitzroy Crossing today. There are kids at this great educational institution, which the Premier has visited and which, hopefully, the Minister for Education and Training is going to look at. We need to bite the bullet and do some of these things, because it is important that we do so. Our regions are growing. I still read articles about country towns dying. Those days are gone. There might be some towns on the fringes that are still under severe pressure, but there is growth in my region. There is a bush change. That is why we are seeing developments not only in Williams, but also in many areas, such as Narrogin, Katanning, Darkan, Cuballing and Wandering. Land is being sold hand over fist at good prices. The move is on, and the government needs to get with it and realise that it is happening. We do not want the world; we just want some equity. I also want to make a point about the requirement for a computerised tomography scanner at Narrogin Regional Hospital. It is ridiculous that this hospital should not have one. It is a major regional hospital that services a huge area because other hospitals have been downgraded. That brings me to the issue of country health services. I am trying to get a meeting with the director of the WA Country Health Service, Kim Snowball, who I think is a good man. I am hopeful that he will get back to me tomorrow and that we will have that meeting. I see an opportunity to improve health services. We have a new Acting Director General of Health. Some comments have been made about new directions etc. Country health services need to go in a new direction. The National Party has some really good ideas. I think we can responsibly help the government deliver health services better to country Western Australia. The services in many areas are quite poor, mainly because hospitals have been downgraded and people must travel large distances. These services are crucial to people with young children and to older people. I am talking about Western Australian families. I know that the member for Avon also has some ideas about health matters. I would like an opportunity to meet the director and put those ideas to him. I hope that meeting will happen. If it does not, I will certainly raise the issue again in this house and ask why, as the National’s spokesperson on health, I cannot speak to the director to put some major points to him. We need to make the hospitals in Mt Barker, Katanning, Narrogin, Merredin and Moora proper regional hospitals. They need to do more. It would take pressure off the hospitals in Bunbury, Albany and Perth. We keep hearing about the patient assisted travel scheme and all the money that is spent on transport by the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia and ambulances when a lot of it could be done locally, which would benefit the local regions. We have great people in those regions who could provide those services. One such person is sitting right over there. There are people with great skills who can deliver — Several members interjected. Mr T.K. WALDRON: I saw the member in Esperance this year. I mean that, because at times we think that people in the regions cannot provide these services. Another point is that these areas will lose their doctors if the hospitals keep being downgraded. I have met with the doctors in Narrogin and Katanning. They want to keep their skills. They might want to move to the coast or back to Perth later on in life and let younger doctors come to the regions, but if they cannot maintain their skills because they cannot use them at the hospitals, they will leave the regions. One doctor who was recently to come to Narrogin from South Australia realised that he could not do this and that, and he has now gone to, I think, Bunbury or Mandurah. We need to address that issue. I want to touch briefly on a couple of pet subjects, one of which is road safety. I have worked with local road safety groups and SDERA—School Drug Education and Road Aware—which does a lot of work on road safety. There are some great programs in our schools. There is also a great program called Choose Respect operating in schools in Boddington, Boyup Brook and Wagin, and a couple of other schools are looking at it. It is run by Gary Butcher. Some members know about that program. It has had a huge effect in schools that I have been involved with. I am not saying that it is the panacea for everything, but I encourage members to look at the program. I encourage the Minister for Education and Training, whom I will talk to about it, to look at the program, because it gets the police, community leaders and shires involved with schools and schoolteachers. It is getting great results for kids. If it is working, let us give it more of a run. I acknowledge that speed kills. There is a new proposal to lower speed limits. I have spoken to people in my area about that proposal. I do not think it will be accepted in country WA. I have supported proposals to lower speed limits in certain areas. However, I am concerned that if the speed limit is lowered to 100 kilometres an hour across the board, we will have an adverse reaction. I think that people will say, “They don’t listen; they don’t care; they don’t understand. Bugger them.” Excuse my language; I retract that. We have maps that show where accidents have occurred. We should make those sections of roads a priority. Perhaps we need to lower the speed limit on some sections of road that stretch for 1.5 or two kilometres. However, we need to get serious about clearing the verges along those dangerous sections of road where fatal and bad accidents have occurred. We need

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 335 to look at installing barriers along those sections. The South Western Highway is terribly dangerous. There were more deaths near Kirup only a week ago. I have been to meetings in Boddington to discuss the issue of trucks from the mine that travel along the Boddington-Pinjarra road. I know that one of the officers of the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure is going to meet with the Shire of Boddington. Hopefully, some passing lanes or slow truck lanes will be constructed, because that is an extremely dangerous situation. I travel along the Wickepin-Kulin road, as do school buses and hay trucks. When people see a truck on that road, they have to slow down and move off it, otherwise they will get killed. Work is underway on the section of road east of Corrigin, which is fantastic. However, this section of road must be a priority. I also want to touch on the value of sport. I think of the late member for Murdoch when I talk about this issue. I say this every year, but every year the value of sport is rammed home to me even more. When we talk about sport, we talk about health, leadership, discipline and self-esteem and about communities working together. Sport is of huge value. I think we underestimate it. I welcome the new stadium to be built in Perth. I have spoken with Wayne Bradshaw and I welcome the fact that the minister is going to underwrite the amount of money that the West Australian Football Commission will receive. I was concerned that had that not happened, the great development programs for country football would have been the first things to suffer. Football, hockey and netball are getting together much more in our regions. I think it is the way to go. I was pleased that Peter Watson, the member for Albany, and his group came through our area and listened to the public. I was a little disappointed by the turnout in a couple of places, because it is really important that we continue to take sport forward. I turn now to the issue of swimming pools. A lot of swimming pools in the shires need to be upgraded. I think that there should be a separate community sporting and recreation facilities fund with strict guidelines for shires that have to upgrade pools that are probably 30-plus years old. It is a priority. Those shires need a hand. It might be on a one-third, one-third, one-third basis, because I fear that some shires will close their pools because they cannot manage them. Swimming teachers are also a big priority. On 11 April the Premier is going to Katanning—I am very grateful for that—to open the new grassed fairways. These are serviced by a water system using grey water. When the Premier was Minister for Sport and Recreation, the proposal was knocked back. I lobbied the Premier hard on that, and he overruled that decision. We now have a wonderful all-round golf course in Katanning, which serves a huge area. People from that whole area had to go to Collie or Albany to have a game of golf in the summer. I thank the Premier for going to Katanning. It will mean a lot to the people there that he is going to visit Katanning. I think the Premier made a great decision at the time. It showed some forward thinking. The utilisation of grey water in our country towns is critical. While the Minister for Water Resources is in the chamber, I will briefly raise the issue of deep sewerage. I will soon be going to the minister with a plan for Hyden. We have a plan and a cost from private enterprise, so we will go to see the minister about that. We will just have a couple more public meetings in Hyden. We are trying in a practical way to help the minister get deep sewerage in country WA. I will finish by saying that my area is a great one to represent. Some great things are happening in tourism in my area. Great advances are being made because shires are working together. I believe that is the way to go. However, I have two major concerns with Western Power and the Water Corporation. I believe that these two bodies have lost sight of what they are meant to be there for. I know that there has been disaggregation and that they are operating in a private way. However, people are being treated poorly by both those bodies. In the street in Perth in which I have a house, my neighbour is complaining because it will cost him $800 to put in the new underground power, and then he will have to pay for all the electrical stuff. In country WA, it would probably cost $20 000 to take the power across the road, and people have to pay $2 000 up-front. Mr J.C. Kobelke: Where is it $800? Normally it is $4 000 to $5 000. Mr T.K. WALDRON: I am just saying that that is what my neighbour has been telling me. He might be wrong; it might be more than that. However, in country WA the cost is huge, and I am going to raise the up-front payment again and take it further. I believe that the culture in those bodies needs to change. Western Australia is a great state, but people need water and power. We must make sure that people can get them fairly. I thank the house for the opportunity to speak tonight. I certainly look forward to continue doing my job in a great region of the state that does not ask for too much—just for fair recognition and equity. I am confident that it will again be another great year for our region, and I look forward to being part of it. MR G.M. CASTRILLI (Bunbury) [9.32 pm]: In planning my response to the Premier’s Statement for 2008, I glanced back at some of the comments I had made during the past few years to make sure that I had not forgotten any major issues that were faced by my electorate. However, I must say that a lot of those old issues that I brought to the attention of the Labor government and relevant ministers still remain unresolved. Therefore, instead of closing the gap on the huge disparity in services and infrastructure in regional WA, that gap continues to widen. I hear about and witness this every day in my office. Basically, Bunbury and the south west generally

336 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] are not getting due recognition and reward, despite the area being a powerhouse of the state economy that contributed $9 billion in gross regional product last year. There are too many needs in the region to go through them all, so I will concentrate on just a few. I will touch on Homeswest and public housing. Obviously, Bunbury is not unique in the fact that it is suffering a severe housing affordability crisis. I will focus on this issue on behalf of all Western Australians who are struggling to keep a roof over their heads. There are tens of thousands of them. With more than 15 000 people already on the Homeswest waiting list, waiting years to secure a home, the situation is dire. I do not think enough attention is being given to it, and it is not getting the commitment that it deserves. The Labor government promised 58 new Homeswest properties in Bunbury over the next four years. That number will not even scratch the surface. In Bunbury alone, last September 468 individuals, couples or families were on the waitlist, and in the south west the figure was 1 076. Since being elected, my office has dealt with — The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr A.P. O’Gorman): Can members have their conversations outside, please. We are trying to listen to the member who is on his feet. Mr G.M. CASTRILLI: Since being elected, my office has dealt with more than 90 people who have been suffering because of the extensive waiting time for people on the Homeswest waiting list. These people are desperate, and nothing is being done to help them put a roof over their heads. Instead of increasing the stock levels, the government has been reducing them. In September 2002, there were 1 194 Homeswest houses in Bunbury, yet last year there were just 1 128; that is, a reduction of 66. In announcing the Homeswest building program, it is underhanded of this government not to reveal how many houses are actually lying vacant or being sold off. It is a kick in the teeth for those who are hard up, such as pensioners, single mothers and people with disabilities, and who are waiting years on a waiting list, when 42 Homeswest houses are lying vacant in Bunbury, and 66 have disappeared from the list in the past five years. The properties lying vacant are also of deep concern to me, especially when we discover that many of them have been vacant for more than 21 months. I imagine that many of my colleagues in the chamber, like me, are frustrated with the appalling situation and, regrettably, having to inform constituents that there is really nothing that we can do to help them. It is really difficult. Sometimes I say to people, “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing much I can do for you.” To illustrate this, I will refer to just one sad case with which I have been dealing recently. After trying every avenue, I had to resign myself to the fact that there was nothing much more that I could do to help a genuine couple who were suffering through no fault of their own. This couple had worked all their lives until a few years ago when the husband was struck down with leukaemia. Unfortunately, the couple did not own their own home, so when the wife left work to care for her husband—who, by the way, is also an epileptic—the soaring rental costs created a financial burden that added to their immense emotional burden. The husband is now in remission, but has been weakened by his illness. He is now on Centrelink benefits and his wife is on a carer’s pension. They live in one of the cheapest rental properties in Bunbury, and that costs about $150 a week. However, even that is too much for them. The costs of medication, trips to Perth to visit specialists and dental work to replace the husband’s teeth because of the radiation therapy are high, and this couple cannot cope any more. Upon hearing that sad story, one would think that this couple would be eligible for priority housing. Even then, there is up to a six-month wait for priority housing. However, when that is compared with a four-year waiting list, it is the best option. However, after an appeal and a request for another one, the couple are now resigned to the fact that, similar to so many others in dire circumstances, this burden will not be shifted from them, and it will not be lifted in the foreseeable future. Despite the immense wealth generated in this state by the resources boom, this government is neglecting those who have not benefited from the boom. There is immense prosperity around the place. However, a lot of people are falling through the cracks like never before. As the member for Wagin said earlier, it is great to build new stadiums and foreshore developments in our city, but I feel that as a society and as a government, we must ensure that the people who are left behind by the boom are also given a helping hand. The Homeswest building program must be increased significantly. If we continue to fail to meet the soaring demand for public housing, it will be a blight on our society. We all know very well that interest rates are rising. The number of new home starts has been falling this year compared with last year. Last year I think there were about 25 000 new home starts, and this year there will be about 22 500 or something like that. There is increasing financial pressure on mortgage repayments, and if we are not careful, there will be a major problem in our midst, and it will only get worse. I will touch on health and disability services. This is another issue in which those who desperately need the services are finding that they are nonexistent. That is because the health and disability services that are provided across Western Australia are in disarray. In regional centres, those services are in crisis. Health services for children are critically deficient, and the disparity between city services and country services is widening. I want to point out a few of the disparities that I have come across in my electorate. Infant hearing tests are offered free of charge at all Perth major public hospitals. However, in regional Western Australia they are not offered to new mothers while in hospital. In Bunbury, hearing tests are available at the clinic, at a cost of $66. However, most

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 337 parents are not aware of that, because no-one is employed to visit the Bunbury Regional Hospital maternity ward for this purpose. In 2006, 868 babies were born at Bunbury Regional Hospital. The number of births has grown by 176 in just four years. That is a lot of infants who are not screened. We all know that hearing is a critical part of a child’s social, emotional and cognitive development. Even mild, or partial, hearing loss can affect a child’s ability to speak and understand language. It seems that the Labor government has recognised the importance of hearing tests for the development of children in Perth, but, sadly, children in the regions are not afforded the same basic right to access inexpensive hearing test technology. When these infants grow and it is suspected that they have hearing problems, the situation worsens. I have spoken to several mothers whose children had to wait six months for a basic hearing test. After that test had been done, they then had to face a further wait for procedures to be done, which might mean that the condition of their child would worsen, which would add to the developmental problems that might result. One mother told me that her young son had to repeat preschool due to this problem, only to be faced with another long wait for treatment. This mother also fears that this is causing developmental delays for her child. This situation is repeated when parents of children in the south west seek services such as occupational therapy and speech therapy. There are now almost 150 000 people in the south west. These services are not a luxury. They are a basic right. The free influenza vaccination program for children under five that was announced recently by the Department of Health is yet another example of this government’s city-centric focus. There are nearly 40 000 children under five in regional Western Australia. Those children have been ignored by this program. This program is funded by Telethon. The Department of Health has not recognised that much of the Telethon funds are generated in regional Western Australia. Those of us who live in regional areas know how much work is done by people who contribute to Telethon. The children who are the hardest hit by the lack of services in the south west are children with disabilities. Children with disabilities require these services more often, and in many cases they are forced to travel to Perth. I have spoken to one mother whose child had to wait three years for an autism assessment. In the end, the mother paid for her child to go into the private sector in Perth, and it was found that he was indeed autistic. I understand that improvements have recently been made in this area. I applaud the Labor government for that. However, there is still a long way to go. In pointing out these issues, I must stress the importance of early childhood intervention. Early childhood intervention and prevention programs are crucial in my mind—I do not think anyone has any doubt about this— in setting the foundations for a child’s learning behaviour and health outcomes in later life. If the human consequences of these failures have not convinced us that we need to take urgent action, it might be helpful to remember that every dollar spent on early intervention saves us about $7 in the future. I think those figures are right. That investment in early intervention and detection of problems is very important, because it saves a helluva lot of money in the long run. In order for these savings to occur, greater focus must be placed on the recruitment and retention of specialist medical staff in the south west. When the government develops these health programs and policies, it is high time that it started to include regional Western Australia in its planning. I want to touch on the problem of young people who have been placed in nursing homes. Some years ago, even before I entered Parliament, I became involved in trying to address the dire need for a facility in the south west for young people in nursing homes. Mr A.D. McRae: As an alternative to young people being in nursing homes? Mr G.M. CASTRILLI: Yes. At the moment, young people with an acquired brain injury or with a degenerative disease are placed in aged care facilities. Mr A.D. McRae: That is why I said as an alternative. Mr G.M. CASTRILLI: Yes. Sorry. I think we all know that the Council of Australian Governments’ agreement in 2004 finally addressed what I thought was the old problem of the state and federal governments blaming each other and expecting each other to do something about this problem, with the result that neither government accepted responsibility for this problem and nothing was done. Finally, the state and federal governments agreed to work together to address the appalling situation of people in their early twenties being forced to live in aged care facilities. We all know that aged care facilities are places in which patients are cared for and kept comfortable during the final years of their lives. Those facilities have strict regimes and routines. They are not able to provide any rehabilitation therapies, so they are not conducive to recovery, and neither should they be, because that is not their role. Until the COAG decision was made to address the problem of young people in nursing homes, young people with an acquired brain injury or with a degenerative disease were placed in those facilities. I began this journey when the 21-year-old daughter of a dear friend of mine suffered severe brain injury in a car accident. The daughter, Kylie, was placed in an aged care facility in Bunbury. She received no sensory therapy and no rehabilitation therapy in that facility, and she was given no opportunity to unlock her mind. For six years, she lived among the very old and all that goes along with that. At times she did not even have a room to herself. She died while she was still in that aged care home.

338 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

Dr G.G. Jacobs: That is very sad . Mr G.M. CASTRILLI: Yes, it is very sad. In March 2007, our state government signed a contract with the federal government to fund the relocation of young people already in aged care facilities and to prevent the need for other young people to go into aged care facilities. Early figures show that 484 people under the age of 65 are in aged care facilities. Fifty-nine of those people are under 50 years of age. This figure is growing. I readily acknowledge that Western Australia has a good track record in attempting to provide age and condition-appropriate facilities for those with high-care needs. However, I believe the funding for disabilities is appallingly inadequate. The young people in residential aged care program, known as YPRAC, provides funding for 73 people under the age of 50, over five years. Forty-three of these places will be for the relocation of young people from aged care. The remaining 30 places will be for the at-risk category to prevent young people from going into aged care. [Member’s time extended.] Mr G.M. CASTRILLI: In the August 2007 round, 34 young people were eligible under the YPRAC program, but only one person out of the 34 was funded. It is easy to talk about statistics, but what will the remaining 33 do? I have met a lot of those people and their families. We all know that family members work 24 hours a day, seven days a week in their role as carers. They cannot leave their homes. Carers have no life; they have given their lives to the care of their loved ones. That is what we would expect them to do, but giving care 24/7 takes the lives of entire families. Sadly, these families are collapsing. A number of young people in Bunbury are in urgent need of high-care funding. A number of young mothers and fathers have degenerative diseases and are at the point of not being able to be cared for at home. Even if they get this funding, which is a long shot, we have no facilities for them to go to. It is bad enough that they have already been dealt the shocking blow of developing a degenerative disease, but to know that there are no facilities close to their homes or close to their children for them to go to when they are forced into care is simply not fair. It is really sad. That is one of my number one priorities. I acknowledge that it is really not possible to have multiple sclerosis-specific, Huntington’s disease- specific or acquired brain injury-specific facilities in the region. However, we can and we must have a facility that can deal with all those conditions, not only through full-time care but also by providing respite care, which is sadly lacking. Specialist facilities in Perth have long waitlists, so we desperately need a facility in the south west to take the pressure off those facilities. More importantly, we need to allow young people to live out their remaining days in appropriate facilities close to their families. I have written to the minister, but she has dismissed the level of need in the south west. I invite the minister to meet with these families. She should come to Bunbury and the greater Bunbury region and determine for herself what the needs really are, rather than rely on the statistics that are given to her. There are a lot of people who really need some assistance. I am talking about people who have a wide range of degenerative diseases but who have no facilities to go to and for whom no respite is available. It is a really sad state. I implore the government and any future government, for that matter, to significantly increase funding to the disability sector in our community and to provide recurrent funding and facilities within the regions. These facilities should not just be in the metropolitan area. I implore the government to do that. There are a lot of people in regional Western Australia who are really hurting. All we are doing is relying on their good graces, I suppose—I do not quite know what the word is. They are 24/7 carers for their husbands, wives or children. We do not expect anything less, but they are at breaking point. I will also talk about the need for a third magistrate in Bunbury. This is another appalling issue that has been ignored for many, many years. There is a desperate need for a third full-time magistrate in Bunbury. All criminal trial dates for this year in the Bunbury Magistrates Court are booked out. Bookings are now being taken for 2009. The Attorney General revealed in answers to my questions on notice that the average wait for a full-day criminal trial in Bunbury is 54 weeks and that there is a 42-week wait for a half-day trial. In Perth, full-day criminal trials are delayed by only 20 weeks. The delays in Bunbury are nearly three times those of Perth. These extensive waitlists are not a new phenomenon. There have been a few bandaid measures. Apart from that, nothing has been addressed. One bandaid measure has been to slightly ease the pressure in Bunbury with a temporary magistrate. This magistrate comes to Bunbury on a monthly basis, I think for only one day—I am not quite sure. If that temporary magistrate was not there, the waitlist would be out to 60 or 70 weeks. The contract for the temporary magistrate finishes in June this year. If a permanent magistrate is not secured by then, I shudder to think how much worse this already dire situation could get. We really need a full-time magistrate. Victims of crime need closure. Having to wait more than 12 months for a case to be resolved is an extremely unjust element of our so-called justice system. The same heartache is being felt by those tangled up in the Bunbury Family Court, where there is an average wait of 22 weeks for a trial. What worries me is that these waitlists are having an impact on children who are already suffering. It has been recognised that Bunbury has the most overburdened courts in the state, with waiting lists longer than those for any other court. The south west community has had to put up with an under-resourced and therefore inefficient justice system for far too long. It is high time that a third magistrate was sent to Bunbury. That needs to be done quickly.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 339

I will touch on transport infrastructure. I have talked a lot about infrastructure in the past. I will move away from the deficiencies in the services to point out the need for a major investment boost in south west infrastructure. It was great to finally hear the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure openly acknowledge in January the need for a reliable and fast rail link to Perth. I thank the minister for that. I also thank her for taking the initiative to develop a feasibility study into this. I look forward to the outcome of that study. I hope that while that is being done, the Australind passenger rail service is maintained and upgraded as promised by the Labor government in 2001. Mr M.J. Cowper: The government tried to close it. Mr G.M. CASTRILLI: The government tried to close it and there was an enormous community backlash to that. Mr A.D. McRae: Rubbish. We did not try to close it. Mr G.M. CASTRILLI: I do not have time to go through that now, but when we do get time, I will tell the member how it would have been done. Mr A.D. McRae: Do you have a view about the route that it should take? Mr G.M. CASTRILLI: I will just finish what I am saying as I have only a few minutes left. I do not think that I will get through what I need to say. The Australind turns 21 this year. At best, it is unreliable. Between January and September last year, 26 services were cancelled or terminated because of mechanical problems. There have been cosmetic refurbishments within the train, yet there is a serious need for the new rolling stock. Track upgrades have gone begging. The train is used by not only recreational passengers, but also many people with disabilities, seniors, and cancer patients who travel to Perth for treatments and appointments. It is therefore vital that this service is maintained and upgraded until a faster link is established and the whole system is looked at. On top of our rail network needs, there is a critical need to bring the road networks up to sufficient levels to cope with the massive population and economic boom in our region. Over the past five years the south west has had an average growth in population rate of 1.8 per cent, with a growth of 12 264 people since 2001, and that is higher than both the state and the national rates. The gross regional product of the south west has soared from $5.2 billion in 2001-02 to more than $9 billion in 2006-07. Therefore, the boom has been a great thing for my electorate in many respects; however, infrastructure spending has not mirrored growth. Major problems are arising, especially on the roads. We desperately need a commitment to the second stage of the port access road, along with a commitment to all the stages of the outer ring-road. That will enable us to keep pace with the growth in our region and take the pressure off, especially the heavy haulage pressure. To my mind the government should be committed not only to completing all the stages but also to completing them within five years. I believe it is well overdue. As well as these two projects, the state government must live up to its broken promises and recommission the Greenbushes-Bunbury rail line. In 2004 my mind was put at rest when the Labor government made this promise, which was desperately needed to reduce the pressure on the region’s ageing roads. The promise contained no proviso that it had to be economically viable. The promise was made that it would be done, yet we have seen nothing. The rail line is vital if we want to reduce road deaths, encourage tourism and make the south west an attractive place to live. An extra 144 truck movements on the road daily is causing chaos on roads that are not equipped to handle that much traffic. We all know that the Eelup roundabout is a prime example. It is the state’s worst roundabout for crash frequencies, and must be part of the black spot program. I know that there are plans to improve it but I implore the government that it must be done early and completed within five years. MR A.J. SIMPSON (Serpentine-Jarrahdale) [10.02 pm]: I will not bother the chamber much longer but if I can get my speech in tonight, I would appreciate it. My reply to the Premier’s Statement is about the needs of the Serpentine-Jarrahdale and hills areas. Last year’s state budget shows that in total some $2 billion was spent on the Perth-Mandurah railway line. How much was spent on replacing the old, rundown police station in Mundijong? Nothing. In the budget for last year, $50 million was allocated to a performing arts centre in Northbridge. I am sure a performing arts centre is important, but so is an extension of Tonkin Highway past Byford and Mundijong, and nothing was spent on that. Last year the government spent $605 000 on a new skylight at Perth train station. I am sure the skylight was badly needed, but also needed was a plan for extra schools in the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale, and nothing was spent on that. The electorate I represent is an outer metropolitan, semi-rural district and the community there feels that it is largely missing out on the good times created by the mining boom. The people in the community feel that they are being ignored by this state government. The police station in Mundijong is one example of how this government is ignoring the community. I am sure that the Minister for Police and Emergency Services is sick of hearing about this station. I have mentioned it several times in the past few years. However, I cannot mention it enough, as it is a key issue for many people in my electorate. The police station services the entire Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale and extends into the Peel region. The station was built more than 50 years ago for two

340 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] police officers, and now houses seven police officers. A reasonable person would acknowledge that police officers working in a police station that was built to hold two officers and is now holding seven are working in conditions in which we certainly would not have to work. They do not have a defined lunchroom, a separate desk or a lockup station. The police station has basically outlived its life. I am sure the minister has heard me talk about this issue many times before, but an upgrade to this station for the area is very important. It is most important given that today we spoke about police and keeping them in the best conditions we possibly can. Another issue I want to touch on is the matter of power outages in the Roleystone region and the hills area throughout my electorate. Last year Roleystone suffered more power outages than any other locality in Western Australia. The numbers speak for themselves: 2 183 paying customers reported more than nine blackouts in 2005-06, with some of these outages lasting for several hours. I am sure that you, Mr Acting Speaker (Mr A.P. O’Gorman), agree that this is not a good outcome. Last week one of my staff members was told by a constituent from Roleystone that the power goes out so often in that area that the IGA supermarket in Roleystone is forced to maintain its own generator so that it can operate during the blackouts. I think the solution is clear: the powerlines in Roleystone and many other communities in the hills need to be upgraded so that the residences and businesses no longer suffer the ridiculous number of outages that they are currently exposed to. Where necessary the state government should increase the level of its effort directed towards underground powerlines, especially in the hills, as currently powerlines are being pulled down by trees. Another issue in the hills is the actual roads. Roleystone and the hills areas also need to become a focus of this government. I am sure that the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure knows that an RAC survey found a 10- kilometre stretch of Brookton Highway through Karragullen to be the second most dangerous stretch of road in Western Australia. This road carries a lot of heavy traffic as well as local traffic. Most of Brookton Highway is a single-lane highway, and there is certainly an argument that some parts could be dual-carriage sections, especially through the more populated areas of the hills. One of the other main issues is that there is not enough room at bus stops along Brookton Highway on the way down through the hills for two trucks to pass while buses are parked at the side of the road. This is basically an accident waiting to happen. The local roads throughout Roleystone, Karragullen, Bedfordale, Jarrahdale and many other parts of the hills also need a lot of work. I understand that is the responsibility of the local government authorities; however, many of these areas have a high volume of tourists from other parts of the state, other states and other countries. I believe it would be a good idea for the minister to consider assisting the local governments involved in making these roads more reliable and easy to use for visitors to the area. Brookton Highway is not the only road in my electorate that the RAC found to be dangerous. A 12-kilometre section of South Western Highway passing through the centre of Byford was found to be the seventh most dangerous road in Western Australia. As I said, the road passes through the centre of Byford. Children cross the road to go to school, and they ride along it in the morning and in the afternoon. Everyone in Byford, as well as in other towns such as Cardup, Mundijong and Serpentine, has to drive along it every day. My electorate office is located on this road in Byford, and every day we see trucks driving along the road, quite often speeding. Clearly an issue exists and the state government needs to act. One obvious solution to this problem is to extend Tonkin Highway from Thomas Road, past Byford to Mundijong. This would take many trucks travelling along the highway off the South Western Highway and onto the new section of Tonkin Highway. It is such a shame that this has not happened yet. In 2004 the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure made an in-principle promise to extend Tonkin Highway south of Byford to Mundijong by 2008. Not only has Tonkin Highway not been extended but also work has not even started and the government has not even allocated the money to do the work in the state budget or in the forward estimates. This is a sad reflection on the current state Labor government’s continued failure to deliver on its promises for much-needed infrastructure projects. I request, for what I believe is the seventh time in this chamber, that the state government seriously consider extending Tonkin Highway as promised. This would make a long and fairly busy section of this road much safer for the residents of the communities who live along it. Another way in which this state Labor government is neglecting communities is through the education system. I do not believe that any rational member on either side of this house could deny that there are serious problems with the education system. Some schools are old and no longer properly equipped to achieve the outcomes of a modern education system. A case in point is Byford Primary School. It was originally built some 86 years ago. Although most of the buildings are much younger than this, it is still getting on in years. As a result of its age, the school is far too small for the current number of students it houses. The number of students attending Byford Primary School increased by 40 this year. The other primary school, Marri Grove Primary School, grew by 30 to a total of 390 students in the school. I was informed two weeks ago that there were insufficient classrooms at Marri Grove Primary School, which my daughter attends. She had to take classes in an activities area because the transportable was two weeks late. In today’s society of having schools that are well equipped, this is a sad reflection on the government. This population growth is unsustainable. The state government should think seriously about building another school in the Byford area. As massive subdivisions are being developed in the area and a lot of new houses are being built, we should now be planning for the next school before the pressure

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 341 gets too much on the two current schools in town. In this day and age no child should go without a classroom and all children should be learning in the best possible environment. This problem is not restricted to one town. I have been informed by people in the northern end of the hills that there are similar problems at Chidlow Primary School, which has been at the top of the Swan district work list for over 10 years. This school desperately needs maintenance work to be done on its buildings, but it keeps getting bumped aside for other priorities. Learning should be a pleasure and as easy as possible for our children. I want my children to enjoy their schooling experience. We should all want this. We should make our public schools as good as they can be. The state government has a responsibility to ensure that our public schools are places where our children feel safe and comfortable to learn in. We need to ensure that we plan for the future. When we talk about education, we need to ensure that we have quality schools with the right number of classrooms in the right areas. When we talk about housing development, we should build where it makes sense. In my home town of Byford, for example, some of the developments being built are great but some are not. The rural nature of the area is being destroyed and thousands of new homes are being built, yet the infrastructure to cater for the new people moving in is not being established. There is little public transport for the town. As I mentioned earlier, the primary schools are already overcrowded. We must plan intelligently for better communities. Instead of building suburbs for which infrastructure does not exist, we should be establishing more urban infill for those people who want to live in high-density areas. I believe that the natural environment of our communities in the hills also needs to be protected. This not only includes the peaceful rural lifestyle that many residents of these communities have come to expect and enjoy, but also the native environment that has been allowed to co-exist with human habitation. The Darling Range is a great place and a beautiful place to live, right on the doorstep of Perth. It is worth protecting. This does not mean rejecting development 100 per cent, but it does mean limiting it and ensuring that it fits in with the rural environment of existing communities. The value of the hills would be destroyed if the area became just one more suburb of Perth. To sum up, there are some issues within my electorate that I am trying to push again with this government as we go into an election year, and certain issues are unfolding. Transport is a huge issue within my electorate. Schooling will always be an issue with the urban sprawl. As you probably understand, Madam Deputy Speaker (Mrs D.J. Guise), the area of Wanneroo had a similar influx of people with new suburbs popping up and the pressure that comes with that. One thing that is clear to developers is that they can build a subdivision in a place such as Byford that already has a small town infrastructure of a doctor, supermarket and chemist to tap into. At the same time, it puts pressure back on to start to deliver on things such as transport, schooling, higher education, the train line and so forth. We need to look at the bigger picture. The Minister for Planning and Infrastructure made a comment recently about the infill—urbanise or die. That is a pretty good statement. If we look at a map of Perth and the rural spread down the coast, we can see that my electorate is nearly 40 kilometres from Perth. Subdivisions are being developed where houses will be built on less than 500 square metre blocks. They are driven by value because Byford is a cheaper place to buy and build, but we have to wonder whether we are going to put people further out of the metropolitan area. It is great if people work close by. It takes me just over an hour to get into the city in the morning. We are isolating those people. Transport is not a great concern in today’s society as it is easy to do, but all these people will start to move out to these areas and demand to know when the train will go out that way. I understand that there has to be a population base before a train line can be built. I wanted to put those few things on the record. I thank members for staying back and letting me speak for a further 15 minutes. Debate adjourned, on motion by Mr J.C. Kobelke (Leader of the House). House adjourned at 10.14 pm ______

342 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

QUESTIONS ON NOTICE

Questions and answers are as supplied to Hansard.

GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS — CONTAMINATED SITES LIABILITY 2875. Dr S.C. Thomas to the Minister for the Environment (1) Are Government departments required or expected to report their contaminated sites liabilities in their annual reports? (2) If so, how many departments complied with those requirements, and how many failed to comply? (3) How many contaminated sites have now been reported? (4) How many contaminated sited have now been classified? (5) How many reported sites nominated for the register have not yet been assessed? (6) How many contaminated sites have been remediated? (7) How many current and previous landfill sites have been classified as contaminated sites? (8) How many current and previous landfill sites exist in Western Australia? Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN replied: (1) There is no requirement Under the Contaminated Sites Act 2003 for departments to disclose contaminated sites liabilities in their annual reports. However, the Department of Treasury and Finance has required that contaminated sites and suspected contaminated sites be disclosed in agencies' annual financial reports as contingent liabilities for the year ended 30 June 2007. (2) The Auditor General's Audit Results Report 2006-2007 tabled on 28 November 2007 reports that, based on DEC's electronic register of contaminated sites, a total of 23 agencies have reported sites. (3) Prior to commencement of the Contaminated Sites Act 2003 on 1 December 2006, there was no requirement to report known or suspected contaminated sites. Since the Act commenced, an estimated 1200 known or suspected contaminated sites have been reported at 20 February 2008. (4) As at 20 February 2008, a total of 595 sites have been classified under the Contaminated Sites Act 2003. (5) As at 20 February 2008, approximately 900 sites are still to be classified. (6) As at 20 February 2008, 32 sites have been classified 'remediated for restricted use', and nine sites have been classified 'decontaminated'. (7) As at 20 February 2008, two current or previous landfill sites have been classified 'contaminated - remediation required', two have been classified 'contaminated - restricted use' and three have been classified 'remediated for restricted use'. (8) As at 20 February 2008, there are 370 licensed or registered current landfill sites in Western Australia. In regard to previous landfill sites, the Government register of contaminated sites will provide a comprehensive record when the DEC has completed capturing the substantial number of reports made last year. RAILWAY LINE — GREENBUSHES TO BUNBURY INNER HARBOUR 2904. Dr S.C. Thomas to the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure With regards to the railway line between Greenbushes and Bunbury Inner Harbour, I ask: (a) when will work commence on the upgrade of the railway line between Greenbushes and Bunbury Inner Harbour; (b) when is the upgrade of the railway line between Greenbushes and the Bunbury Inner Harbour expected to be completed; (c) will the Internodal Unit planned for Greenbushes still be built according to the original plan; and (i) if not, why not; and (d) when can we expect to see logs and woodchips being carted on the Greenbushes to Bunbury Inner Harbour Railway line?

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 343

Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied: (a)-(b) Work to upgrade the Greenbushes to Bunbury railway line can commence when the timber industry and a rail freight operator establish a commercial agreement to cart logs or woodchips. Recent negotiations between WA Plantation Resources (WAPRES) and the Australian Railroad Group (ARG) have not resulted in a commercially viable rail proposal. Standing in the way of a commercial viable agreement is the security of log supply contracts. The Government has not given up on the timber industry and a rail freight operator establishing a commercial agreement and is now looking at other options that will make the railway commercially viable. These options include: Improving the efficiencies of rail operations; examining strategies to reduce the gap between road and rail costs; Providing a commercially viable environment by compelling a certain quantity of the product within the relevant catchment area to be transported by rail where it is viable. The new licence for heavy haulage trucks in the South West effective as of 1 January 2008 will assist the Government in securing the future of rail operations in the South West. (c) The design of the Greenbushes loading facility will depend on the timber logs or woodchips freight scenario specified in the agreement between the timber industry and a rail freight operator. (d) Please see response to parts (a-b) PREMIER'S AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT 2919. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Education and Training; South West I refer to applications by Government agencies and institutions for the most recent Premier’s Awards, and I ask: (a) did any Government department within the Minister’s portfolios apply for the awards; (b) if yes to (a), did any of the applications, successful or not, require external consulting advice for public relations, marketing or any other assistance in preparing submissions; and (c) if yes to (b), what were the costs associated with each of the submissions? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: Curriculum Council; Department of Education Services; South West Development Commission (a) No (b) Not applicable (c) Not applicable Department of Education and Training (a) Yes (b) Yes (c) Learning to Make a Difference - Maximising Opportunities for Workplace Learning in Disability Work (Central TAFE) $7 072.70 Austal Ships Partnership (Challenger TAFE) $3 146.00 Winjan - Strength Through Skills (Challenger TAFE) $1584.00 First Click and Second Click: Bridging the Digital Divide for Western Australians (Department of Education and Training) $7267.00 School Apprenticeship Link (Department of Education and Training) $5100.00 School Community and Industry Link (SCIL) Program (Joint Project) (Department of Education and Training - Swan Education District) All costs met by Landgate. DEPARTMENT FOR PLANNING AND INFRASTRUCTURE - MR NEIL WINZER 2926. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Public Sector Management (1) Is the Premier aware of a recommendation tabled in the Legislative Council in September 2007 by the Standing Committee on Environment and Public Affairs recommending that immediate steps be taken to resolve the issue of Mr Neil Winzer’s employment with the Department for Planning and Infrastructure (DPI)?

344 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

(2) Will the Premier advise whether he received a letter on 4 October 2007 from Mr Winzer noting that the Standing Committee on Environment and Public Affairs had documentation in relation to his public interest disclosure claim? (3) In what year did Mr Winzer cease employment with DPI and in what year was he offered a voluntary severance payment? (4) Will the Premier advise the number of formal and informal requests Mr Winzer has made to his office in relation to the reinstatement of his position with DPI and lost remuneration? (5) Will the Premier advise whether he is aware if Mr Winzer has made a claim of misconduct against the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure to Malcolm McCusker QC? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1) Yes. (2) Correspondence was received from Mr Winzer on 5 October 2007 drawing my attention to the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Environment and Public Affairs and noting that the Committee had access to information which outlined Mr Winzer's claims about the "issue of [his] employment". (3) I am advised that Mr Winzer remains an employee of the Department for Planning and Infrastructure (DPI) and all questions concerning his employment history should be addressed to that organisation through the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure. (4) Among the numerous pieces of correspondence received from Mr Winzer, as at 20 November 2007, five were regarding the "re-start" of his pay. None of Mr Winzer's requests have referred to the reinstatement of his position with DPI. I am not aware of any informal requests to myself or my office by Mr Winzer on these matters. (5) Yes, I received correspondence from Mr Winzer on 19 April 2007 indicating that he had made a claim of misconduct against the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure to the Parliamentary Inspector, Mr Malcolm McCusker QC. RAILWAY SERVICES - PERTH AND WHEATBELT TOWNS 2928. Mr M.W. Trenorden to the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure (1) I ask the Minister the Government’s intentions regarding the future development of the AvonLink Commuter Rail Service between Perth and wheatbelt towns, including Toodyay, Northam and Merredin, as a: (a) commuter service; and (b) tourist transport service? (2) I ask the Minister what was the actual amount of any subsidy required to be paid in the 2006–2007 financial year for each: (a) AvonLink passenger; (b) Prospector passenger; (c) Perth to Armadale passenger; (d) Australind passenger; and (e) Perth to Joondalup passenger? (3) I also ask what is the expected amount of any subsidy, per passenger, required to be paid in the first full year of operation of the Perth to Mandurah Rail Link? Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied: (1) (a)-(b) Future development of the AvonLink and MerredinLink train services is dependant on demand. The demand for both these services is very low and hence there is no justification for the provision of additional services at this time. The services are defined as "public transport services" which serve both the commuter and tourism markets. The provision of the "Spring in the Avon Valley" services over the last two years has been undertaken by Transwa as a means of promoting the AvonLink train service. (2) (a) The average subsidy provided for a AvonLink passenger in 2006/07 was $103.81 (based on total costs including capital charges) or alternatively $60.78 (based on operating costs only). (b) The average subsidy provided for a Prospector passenger in 2006/07 was $138.56 (based on total costs including capital charges) or alternatively $85.75 (based on operating costs only).

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 345

(c) The average subsidy provided for a urban rail passenger (ie - a rail passenger on the Perth metropolitan train system) cannot sensibly be broken down by individual train line. A large proportion of the costs are "global" in nature, and it would not be practical or genuine to try and apportion these costs on a line basis. The average subsidy per passenger on the Transperth urban rail passenger in 2006/07 was $7.94 (if total costs are included and measured against total revenue and total boardings), or alternatively a subsidy of $2.96 per passenger (if assessed only against operating costs measured against total revenue and total boardings). (d) The average subsidy provided for a Australind passenger in 2006/07 was $60.70 (based on total costs including capital charges) or alternatively $39.30 (based on operating costs only). (e) See response to part (c) (3) For the reasons provided in answer to questions 2c and 2e above, the costs associated with an individual train line on the metropolitan system cannot be provided, as many costs accrue on a system basis. When the Mandurah line opens, the level of subsidy for a urban rail passenger is not anticipated to move markedly from the figures provided in part 2c.

SYNERGY — ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN 2930. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Energy In regard to the advertisements recently run on commercial television by Synergy, can the Minister advise: (a) who paid for these advertisements to be: (i) made; and (ii) run; (b) how much did these advertisements cost to make; (c) if any outside contractors were used in the development of these advertisements: (i) who were they; (ii) what did they do; (iii) how were they chosen; (iv) if no tender was involved, why was this so; and (v) how much was each contractor paid; (d) how much was spent buying time to run these advertisements, and: (i) what period was the spending for; (ii) was this the entire period that the advertisements were run; and (iii) if not, what was the total period the advertisements were run; (e) was the Minister or the Minister’s office involved in the decision making to develop these advertisements or in the decision to run them? Mr F.M. LOGAN replied: Synergy has provided the Minister for Energy with the following response (a) (i)-(ii) Synergy (b) $160,592 (c) (i) Advertising agency 303 (ii) Produced the advert (iii) Agency Tender Process (iv) Not Applicable (v) Not Applicable (d) $328,500 (i) 21 October 2007 to 17 November 2007 (ii) Yes (iii) Not Applicable (e) No Synergy regularly informs the Minister and his office on significant business issues and activities. Consistent with this, Synergy informed the Minister's office of its intent to increase the marketing of its GreenPower products following adjustment to the prices and the introduction of its EasyGreen product.

346 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

PHASE-OUT OF USE OF HIGHLY WATER-SOLUBLE PHOSPHOROUS FERTILISERS 2936. Dr S.C. Thomas to the Minister for the Environment With respect to the Minister’s answer to Question on Notice No. 2704, given on 19 September 2007, can the Minister confirm: (a) has the Department of Environment and Conservation reported the results of the symposiums held to phase-out highly soluble phosphate fertilisers from environmentally sensitive areas to the Minister; and (i) if not, when does the Minister expect to receive the results; (b) when will a copy of the results be available to the Member for Capel; and (c) when does the Minister expect to make an announcement on the results and actions which are now required to phase-out the use of highly soluble phosphate fertilisers from environmentally sensitive areas by 2011? Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN replied: (a) Yes. (b) A final copy of the report will be made available to the Member for Capel and the public via the Department for Environment's website, once an announcement is made on the next phase of the Fertiliser Action Plan. (c) I intend to make an announcement on the next phase of actions in the next few months.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING — MEDIA MONITORING SERVICES CONTRACT 2938. Mr T.R. Sprigg to the Minister for Education and Training. (1) Can the Minister confirm that the Department of Education and Training recently awarded a contract worth $250,000 for media monitoring services? (2) Can the Minister explain how this money improves the education provided to our children, particularly those stuck in transportable classrooms? (3) Why can’t media monitoring services be provided by the 30-odd people working in the Government Media Office? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: 1. In November 2007 the Department of Education and Training awarded a tender for media monitoring services for one year, with four one-year options to extend the contract. The evaluation report for the tender process estimated the cost of media monitoring services at $175 000 over the five years. 2. The Department requires a media monitoring service to respond in a timely manner to issues raised in the community. 3. Consistent with long standing policy, the Government Media Office provides media monitoring services to the Premier, Cabinet Ministers and their direct staff not departments or agencies.

CLONTARF FOOTBALL ACADEMY — YEAR 12 STUDENTS 2940. Mr T.R. Sprigg to the Minister for Education and Training (1) How many students attending the various Clontarf Football Academies in Western Australia graduated from year 12 this year (2007)? (2) What percentage was this of the total number of students attending year 12 classes? (3) What is the percentage of year 12 classes attended by these students? (4) What is the statewide percentage of Aboriginal students who graduate from year 12 after having commenced it? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: 1. A total of 43 Indigenous males completed their year 12 course in seven Clontarf Academy programs in 2007 with 25 students graduating with a WACE. 2. The number of students attending Year 12 in senior high schools whilst participating in the Football Academies operated by the Clontarf Foundation comprised 5.4% of total Indigenous Year 12 students in the state.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 347

There are approximately 21 000 registered year 12’s of whom approximately 10 000 are males. The percentage of the total number of male students attending Year 12 classes engaged in the Clontarf Football Academy who graduated with WACE in 2007 was approximately 0.002%. 3. The average attendance rate across all Clontarf programs for 2007 is estimated to have been 85%. 4. The information on statewide graduation figures for 2007 is not available at this time. In 2006, 38% of the male Indigenous students who commenced year 12 graduated while 47% of all Indigenous students who commenced year 12 graduated. TEACHERS — SHORTAGE AT START OF 2008 SCHOOL YEAR 2945. Mr G. Snook to the Minister for Education and Training Further to Question Without Notice No. 708, asked on 20 November 2007, regarding the anticipated teacher shortage for the start of the 2008 school year, I ask: (a) has the Minister received advice as to the anticipated teacher shortage number for the start of the school year 2008; and (i) if not, why not; (b) if yes to (a), what is the anticipated shortage in teacher placements for the commencement of the 2008 school year; and (c) will the anticipated shortage result in an increase in student numbers for any classes in any schools? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (a)-(c) Please refer to the Minister's Media Statement of February 4, 2008.. STANDING COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS — NEIL WINZER 2946. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Public Sector Management With regard to the September 2007 recommendation tabled in the Legislative Council by the Standing Committee on Environment and Public Affairs and to advice of 6 November 2007 from the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure in relation to Neil Winzer’s eligibility for a voluntary severance payment, I ask: (a) is the Premier aware of information received by former Premier, the Hon. Dr Geoff Gallop, in May 2002 that Mr Winzer had been advised that he was eligible for a voluntary severance payment by a senior Department for Planning and Infrastructure (DPI) officer against whom Mr Winzer had made claims of criminal activity to the Western Australian Police Service; (b) is the Premier aware that the Western Australian Police Service in July 2002 recommended an investigation of official corruption within the DPI; (c) is the Premier aware of a request made on 8 January 2003 for the former Premier, the Hon. Dr Geoff Gallop, to urge the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure to agree to meet Mr Winzer to discuss developments with the public interest claim and the termination of his employment; (d) is the Premier aware of information received by former Premier, the Hon. Dr Geoff Gallop, in March 2003 as to Mr Winzer’s request of the then Director General of DPI for a meeting to discuss his severance from the public service; (e) is the Premier aware of information received by former Premier, the Hon Dr. Geoff Gallop, in April 2003 as to the postponement of the meeting between Mr Winzer and the then Director General of DPI at which Mr Winzer’s redundancy was to be discussed; and (f) is the Premier aware that the specific documents Mr Winzer requested be tabled at the meeting scheduled between him and the then Director General of DPI are the same documents that are the subject of the investigation recommended in the Parliamentary Inspector’s report of 29 December 2006 to the Corruption and Crime Commission? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (a) I am advised by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet that the former Premier, the Hon. Dr Geoff Gallop received correspondence from Mr Winzer on 22 May 2002, stating that Mr Winzer's former supervisor at the Department of Transport, Ms Helen Langley, had identified him as a suitable candidate for voluntary severance. (b) No, however, I am advised by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet that correspondence was received from Mr Winzer, dated 16 July 2002, stating that a Western Australian Police Service report recommended an investigation of Mr Winzer's claims.

348 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008]

(c) I am advised by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet that on 8 January 2003, the Hon. Cheryl Edwards MLA wrote to the former Premier, the Hon. Dr Geoff Gallop requesting that he urge the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure to meet with Mr Winzer. (d) I am advised by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet that on 17 March 2003, Mr Winzer provided the Department with a copy of correspondence to Mr Greg Martin, then Director General of the Department for Planning and Infrastructure, in which Mr Winzer requested a meeting to discuss his severance from the public service. (e) I am advised by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet that correspondence was received from Mr Winzer on 11 April 2003 in which he requested the above meeting be postponed if Mr Martin would not provide certain documentation at the meeting. (f) Following Mr Winzer forwarding correspondence to the Department I am aware that the Parliamentary Inspector has recommended that the question to be addressed is whether "Mr Winzer is correct in alleging that no officer of the Department for Planning and Infrastructure ever addressed any aspect of his public interest claim". SPILLAGE-DISCHARGE OF HYPERSALINE SOLUTION ONTO OPTIMUM RESOURCES TENEMENT — PROSECUTION OF OFFENDER 2957. Mr M.J. Birney to the Minister for the Environment With reference to Question on Notice No. 2176, asked on 5 April 2007, I ask: (a) can the Minister state who authorised the spillage/discharge of hypersaline solution containing cyanide onto Optimum Resources tenement; and (i) if no to (a), why not; (b) will the Department of Environment and Conservation prosecute the alleged offender for breaching the Environmental Protection Act 1986 for causing pollution, and under the Environmental Protection (Unauthorised Discharges) Regulations Act 2004; and (i) if no to (b), why not? Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN replied: (a) No. The incident in question is currently under investigation by the Department of Environment and Conservation. As such I cannot make comment at this time. (b) See the answer to (a). KALGOORLIE CONSOLIDATED GOLD MINES — REPORT ON ESTIMATION OF GROUNDWATER LEVEL 2958. Mr M.J. Birney to the Minister for the Environment With reference to Question on Notice No. 1727, asked on 12 December 2006, I ask: (a) can the Minister state what are the estimated historic groundwater levels in metres below the surface on P26/3126 prior to the construction and operation of the Fimiston 1 tailings dam; and (i) if no to (a), why not? Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN replied: The Department of Environment and Conservation has advised that Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) engaged Peter Clifton and Associates to prepare a report titled "Estimation of Groundwater Level Distribution Prior to the Commencement of the Fimiston Tailings Disposal Operations by KCGM" (May 2007). Public comments received on this report are still being considered by KCGM. In the interim, the report is being used as a guide only for historical groundwater levels. I will seek leave to table a copy of the report, which provides the information requested by the Member, when KCGM provides the final report to the Department of Environment and Conservation. DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION — KALTAILS TAILINGS DAM 2959. Mr M.J. Birney to the Minister for the Environment With reference to the Kaltails tailings dam and Question on Notice No. 1726, answered on 27 February 2007, I ask: (a) can the Minister explain why the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) is not able to confirm that a permeability rate of 10-9 metres per second equates in a scientific sense

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 349

to a water seepage rate of about three centimetres per year which the DEC regards as being impervious for their purpose; and (i) if no to (a), why not; (b) can the Minister explain more precisely what effectively restricts seepage means in terms of the distance that seepage will travel with a permeability of 10-9 metres per second; and (i) if no to (b), why not; and (c) does the Minister support the DEC with its use of resources permitting the operator of the tailings dam to stress and kill vegetation causing pollution in the period from 1989 through to 1999 without taking strong enforcement action or prosecution action; and: (i) if no to (c), then why not; and (ii) if yes to (c), why? Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN replied: (a) The Department of Environment and Conservation has advised me that seepage rates from tailings storage facilities are variable and dependent on the total area of the facility, location and area of supernatant (liquid on top of the facility), permeability of the underlying material and recovery systems underneath and adjacent to the facility. While a permeability of 10-9 metres per second is considered impervious and is used to inform the design criteria, the actual permeability may vary after construction of the facility due to variation in the site characteristics. (b) A permeability value of 10-9 metres per second for a tailings storage facility is considered to be an extremely low and would restrict seepage. There are other factors however, as outlined in the answer to (a), which will affect seepage rates and volumes. (c) Further to the answer to Question on Notice 1726 on 27 February 2007 by the then Minister for the Environment, I also do not support the use of Department of Environment and Conservation resources to locate and retrieve the files relating to that period of time. The period in question is over eight years ago (1989-1999), and there is no evidence to suggest that vegetation is currently under stress or dying as a result of this facility. TAXIS — INSTALLATION OF WHEELCHAIR HOISTS 2960. Mr M.J. Birney to the Minister representing the Minister Assisting the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure With reference to Question on Notice No. 2479, answered on 14 August 2007, and a newspaper article which appeared on page 5 in the Kalgoorlie Miner newspaper on Saturday, 21 July 2007 titled ‘Country Cabbies Set to Share Lift Subsidy’, I ask: (a) will the Minister introduce legislation to ensure that all taxi operators in the country areas, including Kalgoorlie, are entitled to a capital grant of up to $15,000 for the installation of wheelchair hoists the same as Perth metropolitan taxi operators; and (i) if no to (a), why not; and (c) will the Minister change Government policy or introduce legislation to ensure that all taxi operators in country regional areas, including Kalgoorlie, have the $5–10 lifting fee subsidy so that regional country residents who require wheelchair lifts are not disadvantaged; and (i) if no to (b), why not? Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied: (a)-(b) On 23 January 2008 the Minister Assisting the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure announced the introduction of an interim scheme, effective from 1 February 2008, that will entitle all country taxi operators, including those in Kalgoorlie, to the same subsidies currently provided to Metropolitan taxi operators. In the longer term, the proposed Country Taxi Act will include a provision for a Regional Taxi Industry Development Account to fund these types of initiatives. DAYLIGHT SAVING — STUDENTS ATTENDING SCHOOLS IN THE WHEATBELT 2962. Mr M.W. Trenorden to the Minister for Education and Training Given that Western Australia is one of the two hottest states in Australia; that Perth already has, on average, more sunlit hours than any other capital city in Australia; that rural, regional and remote Western Australia has

350 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] mean summer temperatures up to 10 degrees Celsius above those in Perth; and that this State is already suffering from advanced adverse effects of global warming which are dangerous to human health, I ask the Minister: (a) why are young Wheatbelt children released from school during the ultimate period of heat on a summer’s day, in many instances with an hours’ travelling time on a school bus; (b) what additional educational programs and remedial processes are in place to protect young rural children in the Minister’s care and custody from the potential side-effects of daylight saving in 2008; (c) what is the number and percentage of Wheatbelt schools with all classrooms air-conditioned; (d) what is the number and percentage of Wheatbelt schools with enough veranda space and other appropriate shade areas to accommodate and protect all students; (e) what is the number and percentage of Wheatbelt schools with properly facilitated ‘quiet time’ areas for pre-primary school children; (f) what is the number and percentage of Wheatbelt schools that provide to students: (i) free chilled drinking water; (ii) free sunscreen creams; or (iii) any other form of sun protection facilitation; (g) what is the number and percentage of Wheatbelt school buses that are air-conditioned; (h) what monitoring processes are in place, or will be put in place, investigating any adverse effects of daylight saving on: (i) students’ classroom attitudes, performance and demeanour; and (ii) playground attitudes, performance and demeanour; and (i) what is the number and percentage of Wheatbelt school students who will be attending Department of Education and Training initiated swimming lessons between the hours of 1.30 p.m. and 3.30 p.m. Western Daylight Saving Time between 1 December 2007 to 1 March 2008? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (a) Temperature peaks show considerable variation from day to day across any season; accordingly it would not be possible to schedule school leaving time to ensure the peak is always avoided. With specific reference to summer temperatures during daylight saving meteorological records indicate that any rise during the hour in question is not usually significant. (b) The Department's Student Health Care policy requires the Principal to consult with the school community to develop procedures for promoting effective sun protection including: the use of protective clothing and hats; limiting the amount of time spent in the sun between 10.00 am and 3.00 pm where practicable; and addressing relevant knowledge, attitudes and skills in the teaching and learning program. The designated times of 10.00 am to 3. 00 pm for limiting sun exposure take into account daylight saving. (c) All schools located with the Department of Education and Training's air-cooling zone, as outlined on the attached map (Map 1), have been provided with air-cooling. [See paper 3640.] Wheatbelt schools located outside the air-cooling zone may have been wholly or partially air- cooled by using alternative fund sources such as school-based funding or funds from the "Investing in Our Schools" program. Accordingly, the number and percentage of Wheatbelt schools with all classrooms air-cooled is not readily available. (d) Most Wheatbelt schools have appropriate verandas and shade trees. The larger schools will have also been provided with a covered assembly area. The number and percentage of Wheatbelt schools with enough veranda space and other appropriate shade areas to accommodate and protect all students is not readily available. (e) This information is not readily available. (f) (i) It is understood that all Wheatbelt schools are equipped with cold water drinking units.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 26 February 2008] 351

(ii) Schools may provide sunscreen for their students through their School Grant or through their Parents & Citizens Association. No data is collected centrally on the provision of sunscreen. (iii) It is understood that all Wheatbelt schools have adopted a policy of "no hat, no play". This will be determined at the local level. Data is not collected centrally. (g) The Public Transport Authority (PTA) has responsibility for managing contractors that transport students in country areas. In the case of Wheatbelt schools that operate in Zone B and where records are available, 200 of 246 or 81% of buses that undertake this task are air- conditioned. Advice from PTA is that as older buses are retired, replacement buses will be air- conditioned. In addition, there are 31 buses that operate in Zone C that are also air-conditioned. (Map 2) (h) (i) Schools regularly monitor behaviour in the classroom and playground and are required to report incidents and suspensions. This data is entered and collated electronically. (ii) See (h)(i) above (i) The Department will be operating two programs that overlap 1 December 2007 to 1 March 2008: VacSwim: Approximately 5% (159 applicants) of the total pre- enrolment in Wheatbelt towns will have lessons between 1.30pm and 3.30pm. Interm Swimming Program: Approximately 22% (1300 students) will attend lessons between 1.30pm and 3.30pm. ______