Legislative Assembly

Tuesday, 27 February 2007

THE SPEAKER (Mr F. Riebeling) took the chair at 2.00 pm, and read prayers. LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY - CHAMBER PHOTOGRAPHS Statement by Speaker THE SPEAKER (Mr F. Riebeling): I advise members that between 2.00 and 3.00 pm, there will be camera operators in the public gallery taking photographs, as they have no file footage, and, as with previous practice, I have arranged for an official photographer to take pictures of the swearing-in of the member for Peel. MEMBER FOR PEEL Swearing-in The Clerk of the Assembly produced the writ for the electoral district of Peel and announced that Mr Paul Papalia had been duly elected as the member for Peel. The Speaker announced that he was prepared to swear in the member for Peel. The member for Peel took and subscribed the Oath of Office according to law and signed the Roll. The SPEAKER: On behalf of all members, I congratulate the member for Peel on his election and welcome him to this chamber. [Applause.] MINISTER FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT - DISMISSAL Standing Orders Suspension - Motion MR P.D. OMODEI (Warren-Blackwood - Leader of the Opposition) [2.06 pm] - without notice: I move - That so much of the standing orders be suspended as is necessary to allow the house to consider the following motion - That this house calls on the Premier to immediately dismiss the Minister for Local Government; Employment Protection; Racing and Gaming; Goldfields-Esperance and Great Southern for his failure to uphold the integrity required of a minister of the Crown. The issue before us relates to the Corruption and Crime Commission inquiry and proceedings that are taking place. There is no doubt in my mind that the Minister for Local Government has breached ministerial guidelines and should be sacked by the Premier. Is there an indication whether the government agrees? Mr J.A. McGinty: Not at this stage. Mr C.J. Barnett: So much for accountability. Mr J.A. McGinty: There is such a thing as proper process. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr P.D. OMODEI: The evidence before the Corruption and Crime Commission is damning. The Minister for Local Government and member for Murchison-Eyre has been implicated beyond doubt, and the Premier should immediately remove him from his portfolios. I will provide some reasons. The evidence is plain to see. The Corruption and Crime Commission investigated the activities of lobbyists Julian Grill and Brian Burke, and of Precious Metals , Fortescue Metals Group Limited and Kimberley Diamond Company. The commission asserted that the member for Murchison-Eyre had devised a strategy to ensure that he had no direct communication with Julian Grill. The first substantive issue concerns the Economics and Industry Standing Committee. Its chair was the member for Riverton, and its members were the members for Murchison-Eyre, Darling Range and Collie-Wellington and Mr Bernie Masters. In essence, the commission showed evidence to prove that the member for Murchison-Eyre facilitated the changing of a committee report in relation to Xstrata PLC at the request of Precious Metals Australia. The report was tabled on 11 November 2004. The commission produced evidence in the form of telephone intercepts and faxes and provided an analysis of the changes. The commission had e-mail evidence to suggest that the member had forwarded a copy of the draft committee report to Julian Grill prior to the report being tabled in Parliament. I assert that this action constitutes a contempt of Parliament and a breach of parliamentary privilege, and is a sackable offence for the minister.

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The second substantive issue relating to the activities of the member for Murchison-Eyre is that of Fortescue Metals Group Limited. The commission’s assertion is that the member provided assistance to certain mining companies at the request of Mr Grill’s and Mr Burke’s clients, and issued a termination notice under section 111A of the Mining Act to prevent mining on iron ore mining tenements. This related to Precious Metals Australia and BHP Billiton Ltd. The commission presented telephone intercepts, bugged conversations and e-mails. The third substantive issue is in relation to the Kimberley Diamond Company. The commission provided evidence in support of its assertion that on 8 November 2005 - the day after a cabinet meeting - the minister advised Julian Grill of a cabinet decision that he did not advise the company of until 18 April 2006 - the following year. This was again clearly a breach of cabinet confidentiality. I put it to the house that the reasons I have outlined are more than adequate for the minister to be removed from his portfolios. We are seeing corruption in . The good name of Western Australia is being tarnished in the Corruption and Crime Commission hearings. I call on the Premier to agree to this suspension of standing orders to allow this motion to proceed. MR J.C. KOBELKE (Balcatta - Leader of the House) [2.09 pm]: I will not seek to deny that a very serious matter lies behind the suspension of standing orders. As the government, one would regard the suspension of standing orders to deal with such a serious matter as quite appropriate. However, in this case it again shows an incompetent opposition that simply cannot deal with matters in a proper way. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! I am sure we will get through today’s proceedings a lot better if we allow members, when they are on their feet, to speak. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: I think that outburst supports what I said about the incompetence of people opposite. We treat this matter as a very serious one. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: I call the member for Cottesloe to order for the first time. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: Clearly, the opposition does not. It sees this matter as something to use for political advantage, and that is fair enough. However, in addition to the politics that are clearly there, there is an issue as to the facts of the matter and the most appropriate action to be taken. My understanding is that the member for Murchison-Eyre, who is the subject of this motion, is, as of this afternoon, still giving evidence before the CCC. If he is at this very moment giving that evidence, how can we conduct a debate, based on any factual information, about what action should be taken by this chamber? Clearly, in this case the sub judice rule does not apply, but there are certain parallels in that the procedures of this chamber should not interfere with the processes of our courts. In this case, although the CCC is not a court, it is a properly constituted investigative body that is currently taking evidence from the member for Murchison-Eyre. As a result of those proceedings, it may be absolutely appropriate that this house take action in one form or another. However, without having that evidence before us, and without a conclusion of that evidence, particularly from the member for Murchison-Eyre, it is simply gross political advantage that the opposition is seeking to push and to not deal with what appear to be matters of grave substance. This government will not resile from dealing with those matters, which are of a very serious nature. However, it is totally inappropriate, while the member for Murchison-Eyre is giving evidence before the CCC, that we should seek to conclude all the evidence, the outcome of that hearing and what may need to be the outcome of further investigations by this house, or a body that this house might set up for that purpose. Clearly, there are very important matters. There are matters of grave consequence. We believe that they should be dealt with, but it is not appropriate that we suspend standing orders to deal with them at the very time when the member who is the subject of the motion is before the Corruption and Crime Commission giving evidence. MR C.J. BARNETT (Cottesloe) [2.13 pm]: For the second time in 20 years the Labor Party has brought shame onto Western Australia. That is what all members opposite have done. Every single one of them who sits there now and supports the Premier in not debating this motion is a party to this corruption. This is no different from the Brian Burke of the 1980s. It is the same Brian Burke, with Julian Grill, in 2007, and it is the same hapless group of Labor members, crooked to the core, who will not stand up for this state and for decent, honest people. That is what this is about. How much more do we need to know? The member for Murchison-Eyre, a minister, has leaked information from cabinet. He has been recorded devising a way of conveying that information to Julian Grill, and concealing the way to do it. He has been involved in leaking reports of a committee. He has actively lobbied within cabinet and within the bureaucracy to further the financial interests of Messrs Burke and Grill. How much longer do we have to go on? He is as crooked as they come! He is as bad as Burke; he is as bad as Grill.

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The SPEAKER: Order! Members should understand that we are dealing with the motion to suspend standing orders and not the substantive motion. Mr C.J. BARNETT: How much more evidence do we need? Four ministers have gone from this government; three under the premiership of the Premier. We have already had one go this week. I must say that the offence of the minister who went this week - he deserved to go - was far less serious than that of the member for Murchison-Eyre. This offence is not even grey; it is black and white. I wish that the Labor Party members had a mirror in front of them. Just look at them. They are sitting there as guilty as sin. Not one of them has the courage to stand up. This situation is just the same as it was in the 1980s; not one Labor member of Parliament had the courage to stand up when there was blatant corruption in Western Australia. The same situation is happening today. Maybe we have not lost hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money but the conduct of ministers is no different from ministers of that time. The Minister for Local Government, and who has other portfolios, has clearly compromised his position totally: he has leaked cabinet information and he has concealed the way he communicates that to a paid lobbyist. What will he pretend: that he did not know that Julian Grill was a paid lobbyist and would be paid money and that Brian Burke was not involved? He already admitted in this Parliament prior to the summer break that he had regular communication with Julian Grill. He then tried to deny it. We now know; it is on the public record. What is the Premier’s response today? Due process! Following due process means that the Parliament cannot deal with it today. Apparently, we are not going to suspend standing orders because the Corruption and Crime Commission hearing will somehow take precedence over this Parliament. Sorry, but the member for Murchison-Eyre has the right and responsibility to debate his position and his suitability to be a minister. I think that it is without question that he should not be a minister. Mr J.C. Kobelke: How can he debate it when he is before the CCC? Mr C.J. BARNETT: He can defend himself at the CCC, and he can come back here tomorrow or this afternoon if he wants to and we will let him give his side of the story. Right now this motion calls for the Premier to act to dismiss him immediately. We did not expect to be moving this motion because we did not expect the member for Murchison-Eyre to be a minister when Parliament resumed. I was surprised that he was still a minister at nine o’clock this morning. He is still there. Look at members opposite - they are all sitting there defending him. They are all as guilty by association as he is. Members opposite know he leaked cabinet information; they know that he lobbied within cabinet and the bureaucracy. He did that not because of what was right or wrong but for the direct pecuniary interests of Messrs Burke and Grill. He may not have been paid for it - I doubt that he was - but he might as well have been. Members opposite are now arguing that Parliament should not consider that. I am sure that Mr Speaker is concerned about this. If ever an issue of propriety and public conduct has come to the fore, this is it. This government is in denial; it wants to close the place down. Let us hear a nice speech from the Premier about the future of Western Australia. That is not what this is about. This is about the future of Western Australia and the propriety of government. To a man and woman, members opposite do not want the Parliament to debate it. Shame on those members. I do not want to compromise the position of Mr Speaker but I hope his Labor colleagues will revisit their position because if the motion to suspend standing orders is not allowed, it will bring shame on this house and the Parliament and will compromise the position of Mr Speaker. MR B.J. GRYLLS (Merredin - Leader of the National Party) [2.19 pm]: The National Party also supports the motion to suspend standing orders. What we need to do in this Parliament of Western Australia today is to give the community some faith in this Parliament. They have lost all faith in this Parliament. When the time comes to vote on this motion some members on the other side need to work out whether we will start the process of healing the ideals of the Western Australian Parliament. The moment they fall into party line and say that we do not need to debate this, the problems of endemic corruption start to pervade the whole of that side of Parliament. We need to turn this situation around. I am embarrassed to be a member of Parliament, because we are all thrown into what has been occurring involving members on the other side of the house. Members opposite need to play their part in turning this situation around. MR M.W. TRENORDEN (Avon) [2.20 pm]: I appeal to the Leader of the House and the Premier to reconsider their position. Despite what their attitude may be in this chamber as politicians or parliamentarians, the fact is that Australia is looking at us today. I will not speak for very long; I just want to make a couple of points. This is the first time we have got together since 12 December. A great deal has happened since 12 December. This state has hit the front page of Australian newspapers. Members may say that that is not such a fantastic event in the course of man, but the reality is that we are currently the buzz of Australia. I am talking about not only this chamber and the action of some members opposite and some of their colleagues, but also the corporate people in Alinta and the whole raft of issues that have painted Western Australia as “the wild west on the rise again”. We have to deal with this. We cannot put it under the table and pretend it has not happened. It is fantastic that the Premier will deliver his Premier’s Statement today. It is important, and it is important that all members of Parliament should have an opportunity to respond to that statement, but it is more important that we give a message to all Western Australians that we are conscious of what is happening in this place today and

12 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] what is happening in this state, and that we need to deal with reality. If we do not do that, we are not a Parliament. DR K.D. HAMES (Dawesville) [2.22 pm]: I can understand why the Leader of the House and the Premier do not want to debate this issue. What can they say in this house? What can they defend? Senior members of their government have been caught involved in corrupt activities. Who knows who will be the next to go? Yesterday in the Corruption and Crime Commission hearing we heard what the Minister for Local Government was accused of doing. I for one cannot believe that he is still a minister. I cannot believe that given the speed with which the Premier sacked former minister McRae - Mr M. McGowan: After he gave his evidence. Dr K.D. HAMES: What a nonsense! The Minister for Education and Training should read the transcript of what the minister said yesterday at the CCC and listen to what he said this morning; he said enough yesterday and today to bury himself 100 times over. The reason the government does not want to debate the suspension of standing orders is because the minister is not the only one involved. There were links in his evidence to other members in this place, particularly to the Premier concerning his election as Premier, the links between Mr Burke and Mr Grill to the Premier’s election as Premier, and, even some small things, with links to the former minister for Aboriginal affairs who, according to the testimony given by the Minister for Local Government, had come to an agreement with the Premier that an Aboriginal Cultural Material Committee application would be rejected before the ACMC had made a decision. Ms S.M. McHale: It’s not true. Dr K.D. HAMES: If the minister says it is not true, the government should let us debate the suspension of standing orders. The Premier should stand and tell us why the minister said that was the case. The SPEAKER: Clearly, that is what the member wants to say during the debate. He should stick to whether we should suspend standing orders. I have given enough leeway to members espousing the arguments that they wish to make, but I ask members to stick to the motion before the house. Dr K.D. HAMES: The Premier cannot run and he cannot hide. I have no idea why he bothers trying to put off this debate. He wants somebody to stand in this place and say, “The opposition is useless; it sat there and did nothing.” We are not going to sit back on this issue. The Premier might want to deliver the good news in his Premier’s Statement and deliver his vision for the future - we are interested in that and we want to hear it - but he has to give the opposition a chance to debate this issue. He needs to do it now. It is the first issue that must be debated in the Parliament because it is such a serious issue that affects every person within this state. Adjournment of Debate MR E.S. RIPPER (Belmont - Deputy Premier) [2.25 pm]: I move - That debate on the motion to suspend standing orders be adjourned until the member for Murchison- Eyre has completed his evidence today at the Corruption and Crime Commission. MR C.J. BARNETT (Cottesloe) [2.25 pm]: The opposition does not agree with adjourning the debate. Mr E.S. Ripper: All right; don’t adjourn then. Mr C.J. BARNETT: Will the Treasurer speak to the motion? Point of Order Mr E.S. RIPPER: I have been advised that there is no debate on an adjournment motion. If that is the wrong advice, I would be interested to hear what the correct situation is. Mr C.J. BARNETT: I do not know what the motion before you is, Mr Speaker - Mr J.N. Hyde: You should have listened, then. Mr C.J. BARNETT: I did listen; the member for should go back to Thailand, with his grubby little games. Mr J.N. Hyde interjected. The SPEAKER: I call the member for Perth to order for the first time. Mr C.J. BARNETT: I clearly heard the Deputy Premier move to amend the motion; he is entitled to do so, and according to standing orders we are entitled to debate that. I am happy to let the call return to him, so that he can explain his reasons for moving to amend the motion, and then I and others will respond to that. Mr E.S. RIPPER: I did not move to amend the motion; I moved to adjourn the debate. Mr C.J. Barnett: No, you didn’t.

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Mr E.S. RIPPER: Perhaps the member for Cottesloe will let me make my point of order. I moved to adjourn debate on the motion to suspend standing orders until the member for Murchison-Eyre has completed his evidence today at the Corruption and Crime Commission. “I move to adjourn” was what I said. The SPEAKER: That is the written motion before me, so the question before the house is that the motion be adjourned until the member for Murchison-Eyre returns from giving evidence at the Corruption and Crime Commission. Mr C.J. BARNETT: Mr Speaker, you read out the motion, and I do not doubt you have read exactly what is in front of you, but I ask you to consider the situation in which the Deputy Premier altered his motion before it was forwarded to you. What he presented to you is different from what he said in this house. Mr E.S. RIPPER: I absolutely refute the idea that the written motion is in any way different from what I moved. That is a complete fabrication on the part of the member for Cottesloe. The SPEAKER: I cannot recall exactly what the Deputy Premier said, but I now have the written motion asking for the debate in relation to this motion to be adjourned to allow the member for Murchison-Eyre to return from the Corruption and Crime Commission. That is the motion I now put to the house. Debate Resumed Question put and a division taken with the following result - Ayes (30)

Mr P.W. Andrews Mr R.C. Kucera Mr M.P. Murray Mr T.G. Stephens Mr A.J. Carpenter Mr F.M. Logan Mr A.P. O’Gorman Mr D.A. Templeman Mr J.B. D’Orazio Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan Mr P. Papalia Mr P.B. Watson Dr J.M. Edwards Mr J.A. McGinty Mr J.R. Quigley Mr M.P. Whitely Mrs D.J. Guise Mr M. McGowan Ms M.M. Quirk Mr B.S. Wyatt Mrs J. Hughes Ms S.M. McHale Ms J.A. Radisich Mr S.R. Hill (Teller) Mr J.N. Hyde Mr A.D. McRae Mr E.S. Ripper Mr J.C. Kobelke Mrs C.A. Martin Mrs M.H. Roberts

Noes (24)

Mr C.J. Barnett Mr J.H.D. Day Mr J.E. McGrath Mr M.W. Trenorden Mr D.F. Barron-Sullivan Mr B.J. Grylls Mr P.D. Omodei Mr T.K. Waldron Mr M.J. Birney Dr K.D. Hames Mr D.T. Redman Ms S.E. Walker Mr T.R. Buswell Ms K. Hodson-Thomas Mr A.J. Simpson Mr G.A. Woodhams Mr G.M. Castrilli Dr G.G. Jacobs Mr G. Snook Dr J.M. Woollard Mr M.J. Cowper Mr R.F. Johnson Dr S.C. Thomas Mr T.R. Sprigg (Teller)

Independent Pair Dr E. Constable

Question thus passed. Debate adjourned until a later stage of the sitting. PREMIER - CENSURE FOR POOR JUDGMENT Suspension of Standing Orders - Motion MR P.D. OMODEI (Warren-Blackwood - Leader of the Opposition) [2.31 pm] - without notice: I move - That so much of the standing orders be suspended as is necessary to enable the following motion to be moved forthwith - That this house censures the Premier for his poor judgment with respect to the appointment of ministers, the allocation of ministerial portfolios and his lifting of the ban his predecessor Dr Gallop had on Labor members dealing with Brian Burke and Julian Grill. The reason I move this motion is that the state of Western Australia is being seriously damaged. The reputation of not only this state but this Parliament is being tarnished by the revelations of the Corruption and Crime Commission in Western Australia. Mr E.S. Ripper: We will agree to the suspension. Let us debate the substantive motion. Mr P.D. OMODEI: This state is being run by paid lobbyists - Mr Burke and Mr Grill. The tentacles of their connections go to the heart of this government. I am pleased the government is willing to agree to this motion. Question put and passed with an absolute majority.

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Motion MR P.D. OMODEI (Warren-Blackwood - Leader of the Opposition) [2.35 pm]: I move - That this house censures the Premier for his poor judgment with respect to the appointment of ministers, the allocation of ministerial portfolios and his lifting of the ban his predecessor Dr Gallop had on Labor members dealing with Brian Burke and Julian Grill. The matter facing this Parliament today is one of the most serious that has come before this house that I remember. The situation in Western Australia is that four ministers, perhaps five, have been or will be removed - sacked - from their portfolios for corruption. This situation is unprecedented in the history of the Western Australian Parliament. It is a matter that is of deep concern to all members of this house, on whom the actions of these lobbyists and this government reflect. The Premier, Hon , showed appalling judgment in opening the doors to Brian Burke and Julian Grill when he became Premier of Western Australia. Members know that the former Premier banned members of the Labor government from either talking to or having connections with Brian Burke and Julian Grill. This state is faced with a confidence crisis. People across the nation and internationally are commenting on what is happening in Western Australia. This state’s reputation has been damaged by these revelations. Investor confidence in this state is being damaged. People will now carefully consider whether to come to Western Australia to invest, discuss or make arrangements with a government that has lost four ministers, and perhaps a fifth - a third of the cabinet of the Western Australian government. The ethics and accountability of this government are in question and under serious threat. The honesty of this state is in question and has been severely damaged. Each member of this house is affected by the activities that have occurred in the past 12 to 18 months and, I suspect, go back to when the former Premier was in office. If the former Premier knew that these things were going on, it is no wonder that he became ill. The consequences go beyond damaging the Labor Party. They reflect on each member of this Parliament. The institution of this Parliament has been betrayed by the selfish actions and weakness of government members. Instead of setting the highest possible standards, the Labor Party is leading the moral decay of our society. Regardless of which way members look at this situation, it has arisen because of the Premier’s appointment of ministers such as the former member for Peel and Minister for Small Business, Mr Marlborough, and the member for Riverton, the former Minister for the Environment. Now another minister is under threat of losing his job. Had the former Minister for the Environment had any integrity he would have resigned before the Premier sacked him, and the same applies to the Minister for Local Government. Where did it start? It started with the supposed “cleanskin”, the Premier of Western Australia. He is the person who owes his premiership to people who supported and crunched the numbers for the member for Murchison- Eyre - Burke and Grill - and who had connections with almost every minister in Parliament. Their tentacles reach also into the public service. We have heard Brian Burke boasting that he has five ministerial officers on whom he can call at any minute to do his bidding. It is worse than that. In the early 1980s, when Brian Burke was the Premier of Western Australia, he laced the public service with apparatchiks. Those people are still there. The decay goes right to the core of government and to the middle of the public service in Western Australia. Some of those people are here today, former ministerial advisers who came up through the ranks to be ministers. The Labor Party is reaping the rewards, but what is it doing to Western Australia? It is damaging the very fibre of Western Australia; it is damaging the core of the state. I feel ashamed to be here. The people of Western Australia want a line drawn in the sand; they want this matter cleaned up. Every member of Parliament should know full well what is expected of him or her as an elected representative. The people of Western Australia demand the highest levels of honesty and integrity from their members of Parliament. What we have seen emerge from the Corruption and Crime Commission inquiry is absolutely disgraceful. If there are members in this house who cannot do their job properly without fear or favour, they should get the bloody hell out of this place. I do not care which side of the house they are on, they should get right out of here. This is a disgraceful business. I can almost predict what the Premier will do. He will come in here and say he has acted decisively and that he is going to do this and that. He is the guy who started the fire and now that he is putting it out he wants a bravery medal for doing so. He will not get away with it because the people of Western Australia will know that we are in this position today because of the poor judgment of the Premier. MR T. BUSWELL (Vasse - Deputy Leader of the Opposition) [2.42 pm]: I want to read a comment made by that appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald on 21 October 1992. It states - Having confronted the truth about our past and having shown a preparedness to take decisive action, my Government is committed to its ongoing responsibility to the future. I think to myself how true those words ring today in what the Premier has said time and again: “I may have made a mistake last year when I let Julian Grill and Brian Burke loose on my ministers, but I am fixing that, people of Western Australia. I am exorcising those demons from our past and we are looking to the future.” I suppose the

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 15 message of those 15 years from 1992 to 2007 is that some things in this state simply do not change. Members should ask themselves why those things do not change under Labor governments in this state. It is because of the underlying culture of Labor and the union movement, which supports the Labor Party. It is a culture built around patronage and doing favours for mates. We saw it in the WA Inc days and we are seeing it again now. It is a culture that, despite the best efforts of some people, cannot be suppressed. It is a culture that says that when Labor is in government it will put its mates and vested interests ahead of the best interests of the state and good government in Western Australia. The editorial in The Australian Financial Review yesterday under the heading “Carpenter’s own goal” in my view captured the issue that confronts the Premier in excellent detail. Last year the Premier gave free rein to Brian Burke and Julian Grill to commence openly activities involving his ministers. I could not understand at the time why he would do that. I now know, having reviewed the CCC transcripts for some time, that it certainly was a decision that benefited Mr Grill and Mr Burke financially. There is absolutely no doubt about that. Mr C.J. Barnett: And benefited Labor members of Parliament who used their clients to fund them. Mr T. BUSWELL: Of course it did. Mr E.S. Ripper: Did Noel give you any of the money he got from Brian Burke? Mr T. BUSWELL: No. I put up with a lot from the Treasurer at the end of last year when he sat there and made lie after lie and concoction for the simple reason of protecting an incompetent, failed minister of his government, the former Minister for Education and Training. What happened to her? Withdrawal of Remark Mr M. McGOWAN: Mr Speaker, I heard the member for Vasse say “lie and concoction” in referring to the Deputy Premier. I ask that he withdraw that assertion. Mr C.J. Barnett: It can’t be hard; he’s telling the truth. The SPEAKER: In fact it can. I am sure that the member concerned did not say that, because I did not hear it. However, if he referred to a lie, I direct that he withdraw it. Mr T. BUSWELL: Mr Speaker, if I did inadvertently make that comment, I most certainly withdraw it. Debate Resumed Mr T. BUSWELL: It was quite clear what the Treasurer was about in the six weeks or so of last year; it was not about the good governance of Western Australia. For some reason the Treasurer seemed hell-bent on protecting one of his ministerial colleagues, the failed, disgraced former Minister for Education and Training. Why did the Treasurer have a particular interest in protecting her position in this chamber? Why did the Treasurer spend so much of his time trying to keep her in cabinet? People now call the former Minister for Education and Training Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich MBA, minister for bugger all, because that is what she is. That is why the Treasurer expended so much energy last year, and that is irrefutable. Was the Treasurer there when she was on the phone to Brian Burke last year getting media training and tips on how to deal with the media from Brian Burke? Was the Treasurer on the party line when she rang Brian Burke and asked for media advice? Was the Treasurer on the party line when she rang Hon Adele Farina and threatened her preselection? I wonder whether the Treasurer was. Hon Adele Farina’s testimony to the CCC made for very interesting reading, Mr Speaker. However, let me get back to the case in point. The case in point clearly here is a debate about the Premier’s own goal. Mr E.S. Ripper: Aren’t you lucky that they don’t bug cars, my friend? The Commodore compromise. Mr T. BUSWELL: I am going to tell the Treasurer one more time what happened last year. I went to the CCC and gave evidence, and guess what? I have not been back. I went there and told the truth. The Treasurer concocted story after story after story. He said, “You’ll be back there next week, member for Vasse. They’re going to get you back there.” Guess what?” It did not happen. Mr E.S. Ripper: It isn’t over yet, my friend. Mr T. BUSWELL: The inquiry into Smiths Beach has concluded. Mr E.S. Ripper: But not a report. Mr T. BUSWELL: The Treasurer will be interested to know that on 19 January the CCC wrote to everybody who gave evidence about Smiths Beach. They got two sorts of letters. They got a letter that said there was an adverse finding against them, or they did not. Guess what? I did not. I have the letter with me. Does the Treasurer want the letter? Mr M. McGowan: Why don’t you table it?

16 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007]

Mr T. BUSWELL: I am very happy to table the letter, Mr Speaker, when I find it in my notes. Several members interjected. Mr M. McGowan: Table it! Mr T. BUSWELL: I will get it before the day is finished, but I have that letter, so I am comfortable. I did not go to the CCC because I had used my position as a minister of the Crown in this state to provide financial gain to Julian Grill and Brian Burke. I did not go there because I had tried to get Brian Burke’s mates elected or put onto certain boards and commissions around this state. I did not give evidence to say that I passed on secrets of the cabinet and confidential cabinet discussions to other people. I did not do any of that. Therefore, one of the reasons we are having this debate today, as the Leader of the Opposition said, is about the Premier’s judgment and about this own goal. It is now evident beyond any doubt that Mr Burke and Mr Grill had - perhaps still have - enormous influence over members of the Premier’s government, and had and still have enormous influence over various members of the Western Australian public service. This is a huge issue. I look forward to listening to the Premier explain to this house and to the people of this state what he intends to do in going forward - I am sure the Premier will talk about going forward and I applaud that - and how those issues will be addressed. How will the infiltration of the Western Australian public sector by Mr Burke and Mr Grill be addressed? How will people such as Mr Paul Frewer be dealt with? The Premier may recall Paul Frewer; he is now the Acting Director General of the Department of Water. Do members remember Mr Frewer? Mr Frewer is the person who said in conversations with Mr Grill, “Gee, Julian, mate! I am over in the Department for Planning and Infrastructure upsetting the work that the minister is trying to do to protect Smiths Beach.” I do not think the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure is a great fan of Mr Frewer. I would tend to support any comments that the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure might make - I am sure that she will not make any - about Mr Frewer. Mr Frewer rang Mr Grill and said, “I wouldn’t mind that job over in water, Julian - mate.” Guess what? He got the job in the Department of Water. How did that happen? Maxine Murray approached the minister with a replacement for Mr Frewer because she does not like people employed in acting positions. The minister replied that he liked Mr Frewer and that he would keep Mr Frewer in his job. How did that happen? A committee in the member for Collie-Wellington’s electorate is considering what to do with water from the Wellington Dam. Guess who is on the committee? Mr Frewer is on that committee. Who is one of the proponents who wants to shandy or desalinate water from the Wellington Dam? Griffin Coal. It wants to do that by using power from its Bluewaters project. Who is the lobbyist for Griffin Coal? It is Mr Grill. Every page I turn to is filled with links to Mr Grill and Mr Burke. I want to know what the member for Willagee, as the Premier of this state, will do to address the problems that are being caused by the behaviour of his ministers. The to the problem is pretty easy - he should sack them. To the Premier’s credit, he has done that when the situation has warranted it. It is interesting to hear what people around the state say about Alan Carpenter. There is a perception that he is a strong Premier because he sacks people who break the rules and who offend the processes of good governance. However, we should look at the situation. The four ministers the Premier has sacked - the four pillars on which the Labor Party has built its political capital - have all been sacked because of their relationships with others. The last two ministers who were sacked had a direct relationship with Mr Burke and Mr Grill. The Premier gave his ministers the green light to talk to those men. As The Australian Financial Review stated, the Premier kicked that own goal. Before I finish talking about the public sector, I want to talk about Mr Cox, who is the head of the Environmental Protection Authority. We all know about Mr Cox’s evidence to the Corruption and Crime Commission hearings. He phoned his friend Julian Grill and said, “Julian, it’s Wally here. I’d like a part-time job, Julian. I’m under a bit of stress. I am thinking of leaving the EPA.” Do members know what Julian Grill said? He said, “For heaven’s sake, Wally - don’t leave.” Why would Julian Grill not want Wally Cox to leave the EPA? In one of his phone calls to Julian Grill, Wally said, “You wouldn’t believe it, Julian. I met Minister McGowan for the first time and he took me aside and he said that he wanted me to stay in the job and asked how he could help.” He told Julian Grill - I can table this information - that he thought that someone had pulled a few strings to help him out. Who would that have been? It was “Sneakers”. Who would help Julian Grill out by keeping Wally Cox in his part-time job? Which member could not wait to get up and thank Julian Grill in his first speech in this Parliament? Would it be the member for Rockingham? In his maiden speech the member for Rockingham thanked every single substantive member of the right wing of the Labor Party except one person - Brian Burke. We all know that the minister and Brian Burke exchange Christmas and birthday cards and other greetings at traditional times. The member for Rockingham has said in this house that every time he gets up to speak, I whisper under my breath that Brian Burke does not like him. Mr M. McGowan: It is not whispered under your breath; you say it quite plainly. Mr T. BUSWELL: The member for Rockingham said that I must have spoken to Brian Burke because Brian Burke does not like the member. We all know why Brian Burke does not like the member for Rockingham; I imagine it is because Brian Burke would consider the member to be the type of person who would progress

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 17 politically only because of his ability to ingratiate himself with others. That is how he got the nickname “Sneakers”. Members opposite call him “Sneakers” because he is perpetually ingratiating himself with others! There is another term for that - Mr T.R. Sprigg: Suckhole! Withdrawal of Remark The SPEAKER: I call the member for Murdoch to order and direct him to withdraw that remark. Mr T.R. SPRIGG: I withdraw. Debate Resumed Mr T. BUSWELL: I will touch on other matters which have been raised and which will reflect on the Premier’s ability to dribble the ball down the field and whack it through his own goal. Let us look at the fundraising efforts of the member for Wanneroo, which the member for Riverton claimed he did not know anything about. Several members interjected. Mr T. BUSWELL: The member for Wanneroo asked for or accepted an offer from Mr Burke and Mr Grill to invite their people involved in property development in the northern suburbs to a fundraising dinner at which the Premier was the guest of honour. I again give the Premier credit because I understand that when the facts became obvious, he walked out the door. I assume that the member for Wanneroo did not have to refund the money. What about the member for Kingsley and her links to the City of Wanneroo? What about the work done on her behalf by Mr Burke to get her preselected and elected to Parliament? What favours did he ask the member or her husband to do in their capacity as councillors for the City of Wanneroo? We know that he asked them because it has been noted. During her time as a council member of the City of Wanneroo, did the member for Kingsley ever fail to declare a financial interest? I reckon I can find out that she did. Mrs J. Hughes: Go for your life! Mr T. BUSWELL: The Premier’s own goal has opened up a Pandora’s box of problems. I understand that the Premier is attempting to do the right thing during this difficult situation by acting decisively and sacking ministers in the best and long-term interests of this state. However, we will continually remind the people of Western Australia of the reason we are in this predicament. We will continually remind them also that the reason the member for Riverton is the member for Riverton and the member for Murchison-Eyre will continue to be a minister this afternoon is largely because the Premier gave the green light for Brian Burke and Julian Grill to have open and public access to the government. We warned the Premier about that in April. We saw Brian Burke and Julian Grill out there in the courtyard where some Labor Party members were gathered around them. It was a bit like feeding time at the zoo. They were all gathered around and were pouring over maps of property developments, no doubt. They were there almost instantly. We said to the Premier that this could be a problem and the Premier ignored it. Mr P.D. Omodei: That is how arrogant you were; they came right into the middle of the Parliament. Mr T. BUSWELL: It is getting very difficult to get a word in, Mr Speaker. They came back. The challenge for the Premier is to outline to the Parliament and the people of this state what actions he intends to take to start the process of rebuilding confidence in his government and in the Premier’s remaining two years of his term as Premier. The Premier can be rest assured that we will pursue this matter for as long as it takes. I am sure that he will make the hard decisions, but we will hold him accountable. MR J.H.D. DAY (Darling Range) [2.59 pm]: All members of the Western Australian Parliament have a primary responsibility to uphold the reputation and high standards of public life in this state, because, ultimately, if that is not done, all of us are implicated and dragged down. All Western Australians will be dragged down by this poor reputation because ethical people, both interstate and overseas, will be unwilling to do business with Western Australia. One of the great blots in the history of this state is, of course, WA Inc, as it has come to be known, and all the sleazy business activities and deals of the then Labor government in the mid to late 1980s and the early 1990s. Those activities are an eternal shame for that government and, to some extent, the then Parliament. Fortunately, there was a change of government. A royal commission was called, which the then Premier, Carmen Lawrence, was dragged into establishing, and most of it came out. Most of us here and people interstate and overseas could be excused for thinking, “Here we go again. It’s WA Inc all over again.” It is all about Labor mates and doing deals with Labor mates, both in business and otherwise, and former members of Parliament and so on for their own commercial benefit and not following proper process, as the member for Nollamara said in an interjection earlier in today’s debate. Issues and people should be judged on their merits, and not by the sleazy, underhanded backroom deals that we have seen particularly in the past 12 months. Whether or not the Premier likes it, the situation is a very poor reflection of his judgment, as indicated in the motion moved by the Leader of the Opposition.

18 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007]

I will quote a couple of examples from the hearings that have been undertaken in the past week or so. The opposition’s motion calling on the Minister for Local Government to resign or be dismissed by the government has been adjourned. There is no question that that will be necessary. It causes me no joy to say that, because I thought the minister was a decent individual who had high standards and was a nice guy. However, unfortunately, much else has been revealed, to my and many other people’s disappointment. Let us look at what was said during the Corruption and Crime Commission hearing yesterday. The lawyer for the CCC said to Mr Bowler - But Mr Grill was the very person you thought the Premier would be concerned about if you met him in your office. Are you saying that you then found a way to avoid embarrassment to the Premier by just meeting Mr Grill at his home but didn’t tell him? Is that what you’re saying? The response from Mr Bowler, the member for Murchison-Eyre, was, “That’s correct, yes. I didn’t tell the Premier, no.” The lawyer then asked why, to which the member’s response was - I didn’t see the reason for it. If - can I say if Mr Grill had an office down town I would have met him in his office. The transcript goes on to state - People might suspect you of being very compliant of the wishes of Mr Grill by seeing him in his home. Didn’t you think that?---Well, they might suspect that. It also goes on to state - You issued a media statement on 15 November last year. I’m sure you recall it. Can we look at 11582 please? Just before we turn to that, you have said that on some occasions you went to Mr Grill’s house with staffers. I take it there were some occasions that you went to Mr Grill’s house alone?---That’s correct. Let us see how that matches up with the answer given by the Minister for Local Government to a question asked by the member for Bunbury in the Legislative Assembly on 24 November 2005. He was asked - Since he has been the minister, has he or any of his staff talked with, met with or had any other dealings with Messrs Burke or Grill? After some interjections and other comments, the answer was - They will remain friends of mine and I will continue to meet with them. It is not a contradiction of the Premier’s policy, because I have not met Julian Grill in my capacity as a minister. He has not met Julian Grill in his capacity as a minister. Is that not a misleading and, I suggest, a deliberate misleading of this Parliament? Mr C.J. Barnett: Some would call it a lie. Mr J.H.D. DAY: Clearly it is. We have not been told the truth, yet this minister remains in his position, at least for the time being. There is no question that he should have resigned by now on the basis of the evidence that was given to the CCC yesterday. As I have said, it causes me no pleasure to say that, but that is the stark reality. Let us look at some of the events that took place at the CCC hearings last week. The member for Riverton, as he now is - until recently he was the Minister for the Environment and other portfolios - has protested his innocence. The Premier took the right action. There was no other action that could have reasonably been taken, because the Premier and his government would have been crucified if the member had not been removed from his ministerial position. However, the member protests his innocence and has asserted that the Corruption and Crime Commission either showed incompetence or deliberately withheld information that would have exonerated him, or words to that effect. The member for Riverton has asserted that, and I see him nodding. If there is a good explanation, why have we not heard it? Why did we not hear it last week? Why did the Premier not hear it? If there is a good explanation, the member for Riverton would still be in his job. The reality is that the CCC lawyer Mr Urquhart questioned the member for Riverton as follows - Why did you pretend to Mr Grill that you hadn’t actually seen the brief for this matter? We all know the background. It related to a rezoning of land in the Moore River area, and a decision had to be made about whether there would be further advertising of that proposed zoning amendment. The member’s response was - I don’t know that I did pretend. I just don’t remember. Mr Urquhart said - Go to page 1. This is you ringing Mr Grill and, apart from the normal pleasantry, “How are ya?” and “Can you talk?” the very first question you ask is, “Did we make any progress with your request?” Why were you saying that when the request had been finalised?

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 19

The member’s response was - Look, I don’t - I don’t know. Mr Urquhart asked - What do you mean, you don’t know? The response was - Well, I don’t, I don’t. I can’t answer your question. I don’t know. Mr Urquhart asked - You have said it. This was four months ago. Why on earth would you say something like that? The response was - I don’t know. Mr Urquhart asked - Were you trying to find out if Mr Grill was aware that you had already actually made a decision to reverse your earlier one? The response was - No, not that I recall. The member for Riverton clearly needs to give a much better explanation than that he does not remember. It is something that was fairly recent, something that no doubt must have been in his mind and something that, at the very least, was highly questionable. I do not believe he can have it both ways. He cannot protest his innocence but, on the other hand, not give a full explanation. The other example to which I will refer and which has been raised apparently in the CCC today also concerns the actions of the member for Murchison-Eyre, the Minister for Local Government, relating to when he was a member of the Economics and Industry Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly in the previous term of Parliament, until the end of 2004. I was also a member of that committee. It is correct that the committee considered issues concerning - Mr A.D. McRae: You were the deputy chair. Mr J.H.D. DAY: Indeed; I was deputy chair. I was a member of that committee, the member for Riverton was the chair, and the member for Murchison-Eyre was also a member of that committee. The committee made a decision to consider issues concerning the Windimurra vanadium mine and the decision by Xstrata to close down the mine, and related issues concerning that. Although I obviously have not seen the written transcript yet because it is not available, I understand that in the CCC hearings today, information has been provided indicating that Precious Metals Australia Ltd, which was, in simple terms, the opponent of Xstrata, the previous operator of the mine, was providing to the member for Murchison-Eyre information about what it wanted changed in the final report of the committee regarding that particular matter. As a member of that committee, which I thought was operating in a fair and proper way, I am outraged to know that that is the case. If I had known that any commercial organisation was feeding information through a committee member about exactly what it wanted changed in the report, without that being disclosed, obviously I would have certainly been as outraged at the time as I am now, and clearly I and other members of the committee would have taken a different view of the information that was provided to the committee if that had been disclosed. Clearly, that is a matter of major concern and is something else that, unfortunately, makes the Minister for Local Government no longer able to continue in his office. I hope that the member for Riverton, the then chair of that committee, was not aware that that was going on. As the former chair of that committee, he needs to give an explanation of whether he was made aware of that sort of behaviour and whether information was provided to him that was then fed into the final report and, as I understand it, included in the final report pretty well verbatim, if not exactly as PMA wanted it. That is not the way in which a parliamentary committee should operate, and a full explanation of what knowledge the member for Riverton had needs to be given by him regarding that matter. As I said, we have seen some very questionable behaviour. There are many other examples that could be given. No doubt, they will be debated in the future. The actions of the member for Murchison-Eyre include arranging covert meetings with a paid lobbyist, someone who he knew had a commercial interest in particular issues; namely, Julian Grill. He apparently was told by the member for Murchison-Eyre, the Minister for Local Government, that if he wanted him to come over, he should do it in a covert way by asking him to come over for “afternoon tea”. That was the code they had. Obviously, many afternoon teas were shared between Julian Grill and the Minister for Local Government. That is of major concern. The Premier needs to act decisively. He

20 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] needs to admit that he made major errors of judgment last year that, unfortunately, go to the heart of his government and the reputation of government in Western Australia and of Western Australia as a whole. That is why the motion should be supported. MR B.J. GRYLLS (Merredin - Leader of the National Party) [3.10 pm]: My National Party colleagues and I will also support the censure motion. Corruption will continue to grow and prosper in the Western Australian Labor Party when good people allow it to occur without doing or saying anything. That is what we are seeing at the moment. By falling into line and not standing up in this Parliament today and saying that it is time that this stopped, that it is time to move on and that it is time we gave the public of Western Australia some confidence in the Parliament, members of the Labor Party are not moving one step forward. My reading of WA Inc, which was one of the darkest periods of Western Australia’s political history, is that Labor people knew what was going on but continued to play the team game and hide behind the strength of the team. They failed to come out and say that this has to stop; this is corrupt; this is not good for Western Australia. Here we have the same situation again. In 2007 the ghosts of WA Inc have returned. My challenge to members of the Labor Party is to let us see some of the people in the Labor Party stand in this Parliament and say that enough is enough. They do not get the chance to do that in the media. The media will go to the Premier or to ministers. The backbenchers, country or otherwise, need to stand in this Parliament today and say that enough is enough and that they are not going to allow this to continue. Members of the Labor Party must have known that this was going on. Meetings were taking place; phone calls were made; people were ducking out of meetings and leaving early and turning up in unexpected places. This is an absolute shame for Western Australia, including the good people of Walpole who, at the moment, have no power and no water. What do they read in the news every day? Corruption in the Labor Party. Nothing can get done unless Burke and Grill say that it should happen. This is an endemic problem that we need to root out of the Labor Party in Western Australia. Members on this side will stand in this Parliament and call for it to be rooted out, but we do not have the ability to root it out because the other side of the Parliament has the numbers. Mr J.N. Hyde: When you were in government, you failed to set up the CCC! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr B.J. GRYLLS: This is why the Western Australian public is so disappointed. There is no contrition on that side of the house. There is no show of disappointment. The member for Perth wants to attack. When is he going to stand and say that he is disappointed in his colleagues for attacking the Corruption and Crime Commission? His colleagues have said that the CCC is a joke and is carrying out a witch-hunt. It is one of the highest courts in the state. It was set up with the support of the member for Perth. When is he going to stand in this Parliament and say that what the member for Riverton said is a disgrace? When is the Labor Party going to decide that enough is enough? That is its challenge in this Parliament in this debate today. The good members of the Labor Party need to say that enough is enough and that they need to root out this fundamental problem in their party. The only way they will do that is for them to say that they got to this place through their constituency, that they were elected to represent their constituency and that their constituents are devastated at what they are seeing in Western Australian politics. I will stand and use my position as a member of Parliament to say that this situation is unacceptable. It is unacceptable that ministers are dealing with Mr Burke and Mr Grill. It has happened for far too long. Government members need to start criticising their colleagues. If they continue to stand back and say, “I think you can justify this”, we will not have learnt the lessons of WA Inc, we will not learn the lessons from the CCC inquiry in 2006 and 2007 and the Western Australian public will continue to be disappointed with their elected representatives. This issue calls into question the existence of this Parliament. Plenty of people are now saying that state Parliaments should be abolished. After seeing what they have read from the CCC inquiry over the past six months, we cannot blame them. No-one can look at any decision made by this government since the Premier took up his position early last year and believe that it was made in good faith and for the best interests of the state. No-one can do that. I will sit down now, but I want the member for Perth to stand and say that enough is enough. I want good people such as the members for Swan Hills and Victoria Park, young members of Parliament like me, to stand and say, “Enough is enough. We are going to root out this corruption and make sure that the Western Australian people have faith in their Parliament.” Until members opposite take that opportunity and use the time in this debate today to say that they will turn the corner and root out this evil, no-one in Western Australia can have any faith in this government. All members opposite should support the censure motion against the Premier. MR A.J. CARPENTER (Willagee - Premier) [3.16 pm]: The opposition has every right to be pursuing this issue in the way that it is. Mr C.J. Barnett: Why’d you gag the previous debate?

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 21

Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I will get to that. The opposition has every right to pursue this issue; it is a very, very serious issue. I have not yet had the chance to speak to the member for Murchison-Eyre today but I intend to. I intend to speak to him as soon as I possibly can after he has finished giving evidence at the Corruption and Crime Commission today. I will then take the action that I consider to be appropriate. I will speak to him at the earliest possible opportunity. This government is in a very serious situation. The integrity of our government is under question. It is under question over a range of fronts and across a range of people. I want to briefly talk about the central characters in this situation. Brian Burke and Julian Grill are the common point to all these issues. We are confronted with a very, very bad situation. We are confronted with it because of the relationships that members of the Parliament, members of the government, members of the public service and members of the business community have developed with Brian Burke and Julian Grill. These relationships have developed over a long period for some and in other cases they are relatively new relationships. The effect that Brian Burke and Julian Grill are having on politics, governance and business in this state is pernicious and malignant and it needs to be stopped. I intend to do everything I possibly can as an individual, as a member of the Labor Party, as a member of the government and as the Premier of this state to stop what is happening permanently. Brian Burke is a particular character. In the 1980s, he destroyed his own government, which was full of promise and brilliant young people with the potential to change Western Australia for the better, because of his inability to tell the difference between right and wrong. He destroyed the reputations of a number of brilliant young people who had been lured into public life in the belief that here at last was a young, energetic man who would lead them to great governance. He destroyed the political career of , who I believe is a good man with a lot to offer this state politically, who wanted to do great things. The way Brian Burke behaved in government destroyed everything for Peter Dowding, leaving him with nothing he could do and no chance. That destructive, negative flowed on through the premiership of Carmen Lawrence, although she tried to arrest that and do things about it. Effectively, she could not. I sat through the WA Inc royal commission and watched these characters at close range. I also watched the Marks royal commission at close range, and I learnt quite a lot. One of the things I learnt about is the futility of railing against the machine. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Members, the Premier is endeavouring to answer as openly and straightforwardly as possible. The constant interjections from people who think they have something to contribute but do not are annoying and break up the speech. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I have told those on my side of politics not to blame the Corruption and Crime Commission. The inability of these characters to respect the boundaries that should exist in public life is the root of the problem. Mr J.H.D. Day: Where does the buck stop? Mr A.J. CARPENTER: The buck stops with every individual person. This is a situation in which relationships are formed - Mr P.D. Omodei: Is this the new spin? The SPEAKER: I call to order the Leader of the Opposition. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: This is a situation in which relationships are formed and the boundaries that should exist between friendships and acquaintances, party political matters and matters of public responsibility, such as executive government, are dissolved. Mr C.J. Barnett: That is the case with your ministers. The SPEAKER: I call the member for Cottesloe to order for the second time. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: If those boundaries are dissolved, they disappear. We hear a succession of people trying to defend their transgression of the boundaries that should exist, on the basis that it was innocent. They say that this person is a friend; he may be a lobbyist, but he did not influence any decisions. Brian Burke and Julian Grill extract personal financial gain from these relationships. People in political office who facilitate that personal financial gain are making huge errors. That is what is being exposed at the Corruption and Crime Commission to people who cannot see it for themselves. I believe that Brian Burke and Julian Grill cannot see it for themselves. It is tragic that people of good intention who come into government or into public office - the public service - are blind to the boundaries that should exist. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Hillarys and Nedlands. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Some members on this side of politics have said, “These people are friends of mine.” No friend would do what these people have done to these members of Parliament.

22 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007]

Mr P.D. Omodei: So you have all been duped? Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I will deal with that right now. One matter that is raised continually is the ban that the former Premier, Geoffrey Gallop, placed upon ministerial contact with Brian Burke and Julian Grill. My view when I became Premier was that it had been 18 years since Brian Burke had resigned as Premier, and it was time to move on. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I gave my members the chance to move on painlessly. However, some members have not been able to do that. Therefore, for some members there has been, there is, and there will be, a lot of pain. It is difficult to deal with individuals who find themselves in this situation; however, it needs to be done. I am the sixth Labor leader since Brian Burke resigned as Premier 19 years ago. Mr M.J. Cowper: Did he resign? Mr A.J. CARPENTER: He resigned - he left - 19 years ago. I am the sixth Labor leader since that time. It has fallen to me to now deal with these issues, and that is what I intend to do. I have no choice. Ms S.E. Walker: You did have a choice! The SPEAKER: Order! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I am of the view - the member may not share my view - that people who are elected to Parliament and find themselves in government, and particularly in cabinet, should be able to take responsibility for their actions. It should not be necessary for me to tell members that they should not talk to particular persons. Members should have the maturity, responsibility and judgment to make those decisions themselves. However, after what had happened last year, I reimposed the ban, because it seemed that some members needed it. I did not need it. The majority of members did not need it. However, some members clearly did need it, because they were unable to resist the approaches of these particular characters. As I have said, Brian Burke destroyed the Labor legacy of the 1980s. The work of Brian Burke and Julian Grill is now threatening this government. We have been in government for six years. We can be very proud of our record of reform. Our record of economic achievement is the envy of every other state and territory in Australia. We should be unequivocally and unambiguously proud of what we have achieved in government. However, we need to deal with this issue, because the work of Brian Burke and Julian Grill is threatening this government. Perhaps even more tragically, as I read this transcript, they are actually threatening to destroy the careers and prospects of the people who would otherwise be the next wave of people to come into the Parliament. Young people who are motivated to get involved in political and public life because they want to do well have been compromised by these characters and potentially had their futures in this house and in this life destroyed. Not the least of all these people is Brian Burke’s daughter. My judgment is that he has destroyed her future in political life. Members opposite are right. Good people are found across the political spectrum, but the responsibility lies with us in the Labor Party and government - good people - to stand up and say that what is happening must stop; it must come to an end. It is my responsibility as Premier to do everything possible to ensure that not only is it stopped but also the stain is removed. I intend to do that; I have no choice. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: My only other option, Leader of the Opposition, is to walk out the door and not come back. Mr R.F. Johnson: That is what you should do. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I do not intend to do that. I take heart from what has happened since last November. As I have said publicly on radio, when the Norm Marlborough issue arose, “Okay, that’s it; that is where I draw the line; Norm Marlborough must go; Brian Burke must go”, and they left the Labor Party at that time. I was judged then on how I dealt with that issue. A by-election was held as a result of Norm Marlborough’s exiting political life. At the by-election the people made a judgment on the underlying record of this government, not after six months but after six years. They made a judgment of me. It was members of the Liberal Party who said that that by-election was all about Alan Carpenter. I thank them. Members opposite said that it was all about me. It was not, but a judgment was made on what I had done as premier. More importantly, quintessentially, the judgment was about the candidate who put himself forward for public office against a background that may have deterred a number of people from ever thinking about coming into public office. Paul Papalia, the now member for Peel, put himself forward. Irrespective of what side of politics one is on, he stood as a beacon, as an outstanding candidate and as a person whom we would like to become a member of Parliament. We need good people who are unencumbered by these issues to come into Parliament when they get the chance, and Paul Papalia fits that mould perfectly. Several members interjected.

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 23

Mr A.J. CARPENTER: I advise the Leader of the Opposition that in that result I saw a bright light and great hope for everybody. I hope that the new member has an outstanding career. The question of what I am going to do about this issue has been raised. Let me turn it around and say that it is happening. It was about 2004 or slightly before then that we finally got the Corruption and Crime Commission up and running, if that is the way to describe it. We did that because we had the view in opposition that integrity in government and public office in Western Australia was not as it should be and we needed to put in place an organisation that would ensure the highest possible standards, painful as it may be to some people. We established the CCC to ensure, as best anyone in political life can ensure, that integrity be maintained and that, if issues need to be dealt with, they will be revealed and dealt with. It is happening. The Leader of the Opposition has just given an account of what is happening. There are very severe ramifications for people who transgress in public life. Those ramifications did not exist until recently. I have said this all along: when issues arise that need to be dealt with by me, I will deal with them no matter how painful or difficult it may be. I have dealt with them and I will continue to do so. My view is that we have too much to lose for me not to do what is required. The overwhelming majority of people on this side and on the other side of politics, outside Parliament and throughout Western Australia, are good, honest people. The overwhelming majority of people on both sides of Parliament get involved because they want to do something good for the community way over and above their own interests. Individuals all around me and sitting opposite make very significant personal sacrifices because they are involved in the pursuit of the greater good. They are not in it for individual gain or benefit. I lay that across both sides of Parliament. When members of Parliament or of the public sector are found to have done the wrong thing and to have mixed personal and party political interests with what is considered to be the public interest, they will be dealt with. Over and above everything else, the public interest must prevail. If it does not, we are all in deep trouble. If it does not prevail as a result of individual actions or decisions which come to light and of which I become aware, those actions and decisions will be dealt with severely. MR M.W. TRENORDEN (Avon) [3.38 pm]: I congratulate the Premier on his address. I have been in this chamber for 20 years and I know his speech came from the heart. I wish to point out some history, as someone who has been here for some time and who watched Brian Burke become Premier and dominate this chamber as no other Premier has done in my time. At the time, I listened to reports from members opposite who came to me and told me things were not right in the state. In conversations at the time with my colleagues on this side of the chamber, we did not believe Brian Burke was guilty of the charges he was found guilty of. It was beyond the comprehension of opposition members that someone could have gone that far. In the struggle that was occurring at the time, very prominent people in the opposition - I will not use names because I have not cleared the matter with them - did not believe all the stories. I came into this Parliament from the insurance industry at that time and people in that industry were telling me absolutely horrendous stories. The fact is that Brian Burke was corrupt. The fact is that the Burke government was corrupt; I do not think that can be denied. I am on my feet now because many government members do deny it. From those days until now I have heard people say that Brian Burke was just a decent bloke who got caught out. He was not. The member for Perth is not present in the chamber, but I say to him that we cannot reinvent the past about such a dominant character in this chamber, as Brian Burke was when he was Premier, or about David Parker. I can recall David Parker in this chamber saying, “I am a minister for four or five things and I haven’t got enough to do. Give me more. I am sensational.” He was a crook. Those are the facts of the day. Those same individuals, even though David Parker is no longer part of the parliamentary process, have been able to breathe and carry in this state. I do not want to be harsh - I do want to be harsh, in fact. It is appalling that some government members a couple of years ago said in the Parliament that they supported Brian Burke. Members can flick through Hansard and see that in a single debate at least five government members said that they supported Brian Burke. It is no longer good enough for the member for Perth to come into this chamber and all of a sudden say that Brian Burke is a nasty person. Mr J.N. Hyde: I didn’t say that. Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: Or that we cannot believe anything from Brian Burke because he is a nasty person. If all government members thought that was the case, Brian Burke could never have carried out the operations that he has carried out in the past two years. Mr J.N. Hyde interjected. Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: He could have never carried out the operations that he has carried out in the past two years if government members had not given him oxygen. Mr J.N. Hyde: Why didn’t you set up the CCC when you were in government for eight years? You failed, Max; you guys failed. You should have set up that body as soon as you got into power. You nobbled the ACC. Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: All of a sudden the member for Perth is saying that the establishment of the CCC is a magic wand for cleaning this state. I visited my daughter-in-law two days ago and gave her a fairy dress; I think I should have given it to the member for Perth.

24 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007]

Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan: You are pathetic! Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: It depends on how government members take it. I am saying that the member for Perth is out there with the fairies. Mr P.B. Watson: I thought you were bigger than that. Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: It depends on how members think of themselves. If members want a definition, the member for Perth is out there with the fairies. Several members interjected. Point of Order Mr J.H.D. DAY: I am trying to listen to the member for Avon giving a speech. There is a lot of interaction occurring on the other side of the chamber. The SPEAKER: That comes from the member engaging in abuse when he is on his feet giving a speech. If he does not want interjections, he should not sling arrows across the chamber. Debate Resumed Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: Mr Speaker, I have not asked for your protection. The SPEAKER: No. Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: This is actually a pretty serious argument. The point I am trying to make is that many government members will now say that Brian Burke is a terrible man. If he is such a terrible man, how did he have so much power in the past two to three years - I would say to the Premier it is 19 years - if that power was not given to him, particularly by government members in the past six years? The fact is that government members gave Brian Burke the oxygen; he could not operate without that oxygen. I congratulate the Premier on his speech, because it is one of the best speeches I have heard a Premier give in this chamber. Mrs M.H. Roberts: It is probably the only speech that a Premier has given in this chamber! Several members interjected. Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: Okay. I have never lectured my children greatly. However, I have always told them that they should watch people’s actions rather than relying on their words. It has been said that speech makes up seven per cent of communication. The Labor Party is in government for another two years. It has the opportunity, and the responsibility, to turn this situation around. The Premier is not in the chamber at the moment. I am not picking on him for being absent. I was watching members opposite during his speech. Approximately half of those sitting on the government benches listened to him. Last year when the Premier called for support from his colleagues, some members gave it and some did not. I was here a few days ago - I apologise for jumping all over the place, Mr Speaker - when the new member for Peel was learning the procedures of Parliament. I had not met the member before that day. I congratulate Mr Papalia on becoming the new member for Peel. I am pleased that Mr Papalia is the new member for Peel and I am sure that he will be an outstanding member of Parliament. It is fantastic to see him in the chamber; indeed, he deserves to be here. The member for Victoria Park is also a fantastic member of Parliament. I have nothing but admiration for the member for Victoria Park. I will not go through what I think of all members opposite because, frankly, there are not too many members on that side of the house for whom I do not have respect. Mr M. McGowan: What about the Liberal Party? Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: I want to have a word with the Minister for Education and Training. I want to visit him in a few days to discuss a serious matter on which I want his support. My name is not Brian Burke. I am not saying that each individual on the other side of the house had a desire to see what happened happen. However, collectively they allowed it to happen. What happened is not the responsibility of the National Party or the Liberal Party. Rather, it is the government’s responsibility. Members opposite have heard the impassioned plea of their Premier. I point out to members that he is also my Premier. I like the bloke and I would like to see him succeed, even though I would like to see him kicked out of power in two years. I respect the member for Willagee as a Premier. In my 20 years as a member of Parliament, very few members have given the type of speech that the Premier just gave. I reiterate that words do not count for much and that actions count for more. We will have to see what comes out of this situation. I was not getting personal with the member for Perth. I think the member for Perth and I know each other well. We have allowed the egos of a few members to cause the people of Western Australian a considerable amount of pain. I say “we” because I am a member of the Legislative Assembly. However, the Labor Party in particular has caused the people of Western Australia a considerable amount of pain. Member for Perth, when I referred to being out there with the fairies, I was trying to say that one cannot forget the processes. The member for Perth

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 25 can be an ALP member and a member of Parliament, and he can argue with me as much as he wants; however, in the end he is sitting on the government back bench and I am not. I would love to be sitting on the government back bench. Indeed, given half a chance I would change seats with the member for Perth. Mr J.N. Hyde: I could get you a membership form. Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: I do not want to join that club. When I have had cups of coffee with people in the community whom I barely know, I have been told that we are all crooks. I cannot tell members how many people I approached to run as a candidate for the National Party when I was the leader, only to be laughed at. Several members interjected. Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: Most people do not want to be members of Parliament because no-one wants to suffer the ridicule. Members have heard it said that parliamentarians are forgotten by their family members. Being a member of Parliament is an imposition on people. I give credit to the new member for Peel and to the member for Victoria Park for getting involved in and being part of the political process. However, members cannot deny the facts: Western Australians believe that Brian Burke and Julian Grill run this state. Why do they believe that? It is because, in part, they do. The Premier has just stated his position. He has put his neck on the line, and I give credit to him for doing that. Last year he asked cabinet members whether they had any skeletons in their closet, and the answer was that they did not. Look at the position the Premier is in now. Ms S.E. Walker: Did they tell him the truth? Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: A good percentage of cabinet members were not straight with the Premier. The reign of the current Premier has been significantly weakened not by him but by his cabinet members. The cabinet must pull together. I do not want the government to win the next election. I have been an opposition member during the bulk of my time as a member of Parliament. Although I do not want the government to win the next election, I do not want Western Australians to have the view, which has been building up in the eastern states’ newspapers, that Western Australia is the Wild West. That cannot continue. MR M. McGOWAN (Rockingham - Minister for Education and Training) [3.51 pm]: Before I begin my remarks on the motion, I welcome the new member for Peel to the house. It is always an uplifting experience to see a new member walk in full of excitement about being a new member of Parliament. I imagine that there has never been a more tumultuous time for a new member to be introduced into this house. He is an outstanding person who has served his country very well, and I expect that he will also serve the state very well. I will explain to members why I will not support this motion. I have known some of the individuals involved in this matter for a long time, particularly the former member for Peel. I was appalled at what happened at the end of last year. I watched him on the television recently after he had been filmed walking down the street while he was holding a glass of water and his hand was shaking. I saw the expression on his face, which reflected what this process and his actions have brought him to. It was very sad to see him that way. Many members have known him for a number of years and know the sort of person he was. It is sad to see what has happened to him. However, I have no hesitation in saying that, quite clearly, his behaviour was grossly unacceptable. The motion refers to the Premier’s decision when he became Premier to lift the ban on government members associating with Mr Burke and Mr Grill. I recall the discussions about that and that the Premier was resolute about the matter. Brian Burke became the Premier in early 1983, when I was in year 11. At that time, Leonid Brezhnev was in charge of the Soviet Union and Nelson Mandela was in jail on an island off the coast of South Africa. Ronald Reagan was in the early years of his presidency and Margaret Thatcher was in the early years of her prime ministership. The Premier took the view - it was reasonable at the time - that these were historic events; that Brian Burke’s time in Parliament was a historic event. Like Abraham Lincoln, he took the view that we should look to the better angels of our nature in relation to these things. He is an optimist and he presumed that the former member for Peel would do the right thing on becoming a minister in this place, that people would have moved on from those historic events, and that it was better not to elevate those events to the level they had reached when the ban on having contact with Mr Burke and Mr Grill was put in place. Hindsight has showed that his faith and his appeal to the better angels of people’s nature were misplaced. At the time, Mr Speaker, you will recall that there was some widespread support for the decision he made, particularly from the state’s daily newspaper. However, I recall that members of the opposition also thought it was time to move on. The Premier has said that it was a mistake, and I think that hindsight has proved that to be a correct assessment. However, in politics people make mistakes. We all do. Every person in this place has made mistakes. However, it is what people do about their mistakes that defines them. The Premier has done something about his mistakes. If this house is attempting to censure the Premier, we should listen to what the people have said about these issues. Shortly after the events and the appalling circumstances surrounding the

26 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] member for Peel, the government, in its second term, was required to hold a by-election, and 30 000 people in this state had the opportunity to censure the government. Who did they censure? They censured the opposition. The point I am making is that those people had their opportunity to rule on the actions of the Premier. They saw a Premier who took action to rectify his mistakes. There has not been a political leader in this country who has not made mistakes. The member for Avon and the member for Cottesloe are former leaders of a political party. Do members think they have not made mistakes? However, it is what people do about their mistakes that is important. The Premier has taken action in response to those events. That action has been vindicated in the result of the Peel by-election. The influence of Mr Burke in particular has been shown to extend beyond government and the Labor Party. It has been shown to extend into the opposition. Earlier this week the Leader of the Opposition sacked one of his shadow ministers for his behaviour in being used by a political lobbyist at the behest of Mr Burke to take forward his commercial interest in the Parliament. I am wondering. The Leader of the Opposition set out a standard that he would sack people when they read a speech written by Noel Crichton-Browne. I am just wondering: is that the standard that the Leader of the Opposition has set? Will that apply to all his members who are shown to have done that? Mr P.D. Omodei: Let me tell you this: Noel Crichton-Browne is a former senator who was expelled from the Liberal Party 13 years ago. He has no influence on the public service in Western Australia at all. Your problem is that the corruption goes right into the heart of government, right into government service. What has your Premier done about it? Nothing. Mr M. McGOWAN: The Leader of the Opposition will not answer the question. However, if he is to be consistent, everyone who has had his or her speeches written by Noel Crichton-Browne must now be sacked from the front bench. That is the rule the Leader of the Opposition set out, and that is the rule I heard him state on the television the other night. I had the experience last year of taking forward the government’s liquor reform legislation. In fact, it was in this chamber that the process concluded at the end of last year. During that process, I had reason to appreciate some members of the opposition as being good people. I recognised that they were good people. They saw the value of the legislation and recognised that its implementation would do a good job for Western Australia. In fact, it was said by some members of the opposition that in their entire parliamentary careers they had never received such a large amount of lobbying as they had on this issue. At the time at which I was discussing that legislation with people from the Australian Hotels Association, I asked them directly, “Have you engaged Mr Burke as your lobbyist?” I wanted to know. They told me and my staff that, no, they had not, and I believed them. Of course, the evidence that was brought out last year showed that that was a lie on the part of those people. At the start of this process, I came up to this Parliament and went to see Hon Norman Moore about this matter. He told me in his office that he thought it was a good idea and that he wished he had done it when he was minister. This was the sort of thing he wanted to do as minister because he thought it would be good for Western Australia. Something happened. Hon Norman Moore suddenly became the most vicious advocate against this legislation in the Liberal Party room. I wonder what happened. Brian Burke is the lobbyist for the AHA. He engages Noel Crichton-Browne, who is the leader of a group of Liberals, many of whom said they supported aspects of the legislation. Suddenly, there was an amazing backflip, and they opposed the legislation for all they were worth. In fact, it was said that it was the greatest lobbying effort against a piece of legislation that people in this Parliament have ever experienced. That is what the Leader of the Opposition actually told me. He was a good man. He said that he thought it was in the interests of the state and that it should be supported. However, a whole range of other Liberal Party spokespeople took a different view. I wonder what happened in between my speaking with Hon Norman Moore and his telling me that he thought it was a good idea and what then took place. I can surmise and I can speculate. In fact, the AHA people actually told me that they knew they would defeat us in the upper house; they did not have to worry about our legislation because they knew we would be defeated in the upper house. Why did they have that confidence? It was because they knew that they had enough members of the Liberal Party in their pockets to ensure the legislation would not be passed. It does not take Einstein to work out what happened. The lobbyist for the AHA got on to a senior former Liberal Party figure and got into the pockets, into the ears and into the minds of many members opposite to ensure that they opposed that legislation for all they were worth. A whole range of questions must be answered by members opposite about that matter, because they have been used as tools by these people in relation to legislation in this Parliament. Mr P.D. Omodei: What’s this got to do with the debate? Mr M. McGOWAN: Because it was corrupt. What happened on that side of the house was corrupt. I was in the caucus when the legislation came in. Was there one person who spoke against it? No, there was not. They had no influence on the caucus. However, what happened in the Liberal Party room? Initially, the Liberal Party

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 27 opposed it. The Leader of the Opposition was a very good person about this legislation because he came out and supported it. I cannot say the same for a range of his colleagues. DR K.D. HAMES (Dawesville) [4.05 pm]: I cannot believe that the Premier, of all people, could have made such a gross error of judgment in letting Brian Burke and Julian Grill have contact with the cabinet. The Premier sat through the WA Inc era. He sat through every hearing and meeting. He, more than all other members of this house, should have known what they were like. I am worried because the Premier talks about cutting out what he calls a cancer in this Parliament and a cancer in his side of politics. I know a little bit about cancer because I have worked in MoleScan clinics. I know how cancers work and how they spread. The Premier should look at not only where there has been influence on his ministers from Brian Burke and Julian Grill, but also how it has spread and where it has spread. I have read the transcripts of how they have influenced other people. We need only to return to the Norm Marlborough affair and how Brian Burke could ring a chief of staff of a department and get straight through to him. I had an issue in Mandurah and wanted to speak to the local planning department about a local issue. I was told that I could not talk to them; that I was not allowed to talk to them. Despite that, Brian Burke can directly ring a chief of staff and say “G’day, how are you?” What about Mr Lyall? I have read the transcripts of the member for Riverton and Mr Lyall. Mr Lyall gave his curriculum vitae to Julian Grill. He was asked why he gave the CV to Julian Grill and said that he did not know. Mr Lyall was asked whether Julian Grill had any part in getting him a job, and he said that he did not know. He is a chief of staff who has a direct contact and a direct linkage to Brian Burke and Julian Grill. We also heard about Mr Cox and the fact that the former minister did not want him to get out and move somewhere else; he wanted him to stay where he was. We listened to Gary Stokes. Gary Stokes wanted to get out into the private sector, but, no, he was not allowed to go. It was not that the former minister would not let him go but that Brian Burke and Julian Grill would not let him go. They conspired to make sure that he could not get a job outside the public sector because they wanted him to stay. Is the Premier going to find out how many chiefs of staff have been influenced directly by Brian Burke and Julian Grill? How many senior members of departments have had direct contact with Brian Burke and Julian Grill? Mr E.S. Ripper: That is what the CCC is trying to find out. Dr K.D. HAMES: That may be what it is looking at but some issues have arisen in which members on the other side have had Brian Burke and Julian Grill run fundraising events for them. In one case it involved $30 000. It is there: listed in the documents of the Corruption and Crime Commission is a fundraising event of $30 000. There was another fundraising event for the member for Riverton. How many others are there? Will the Premier find out how many of his current members of Parliament have had fundraising events organised by those two people? Premier, when a person wants to cut out a cancer, he cannot just cut out the black spots and the top. He has to cut out every tentacle and root of the cancer wherever it spreads; otherwise, it will come back. It has to be got at everywhere. I wonder how we have got to the stage at which those people have had all this influence. We must remember that the Premier lifted the ban on contact with those men. I have with me a copy of an article from The West Australian dated 21 January 2006. It describes the Premier’s election. Up to that date we knew that the member for Midland had the numbers to become the Premier. What happened when the member had the numbers? The leading member of the left faction, the current Minister for Health, realised that the member for Midland did not have the ability to win at the next election. What did he do? He found a group within the left faction. I know the Minister for Housing and Works is from the new right faction. She broke away because of Brian Burke. The member for Swan Hills is there too. They broke away from that group because Brian Burke wanted to influence the selection of members in certain seats. They broke away so they could support another person. Mr J.B. D’Orazio: It’s actually Ballajura. Dr K.D. HAMES: I thank the member for saying that; I was sparing him as an Independent. Certain members broke away because of the member for Ballajura. In this case, the leader of the left, the Minister for Health, decided that the member for Midland was not the one. He got the group. The members of the group who helped him are listed in this article from The West Australian. Am I allowed to say their names if I quote the newspaper? If not, I will need assistance. Members of that group include one of the members in the upper house, who is the Minister for Fisheries; the member for Wanneroo; the Minister for Energy; another upper house member, who is the former secretary to the minister. Mr R.F. Johnson: You can read it out. Dr K.D. HAMES: If I am allowed to quote, I will do so. The article states - Shortly before 5pm, the metalworker-aligned MPs - Jon Ford, Di Guise, Fran Logan, Sally Talbot, David Templeman and Tony O’Gorman . . .

28 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007]

Three of those members are now ministers. They broke away from the group and made sure that the current Premier got elected. It continues - The West Australian understands that Tourism Minister Mark McGowan, deputy premier Eric Ripper, Sport and Recreation Minister - the minister in trouble - and Mrs Guise - who had a recent fundraising function - two of those had obviously been supported by one of the gentlemen in question, Mr Burke - were instrumental in pulling the numbers together for Mr Carpenter in a week-long campaign. The Premier is not out of this. He has done the right thing because he had to, even though I trust that he would have done those things anyway. I think he has some questions to answer, particularly in the future, when we will explore this issue of him and the former Minister for Aboriginal Affairs allegedly colluding to knock back an Aboriginal Cultural Material Committee recommendation to support Fortescue. Debate adjourned until a later stage of the sitting, on motion by Mr J.C. Kobelke (Leader of the House). [Continued on next page.] MEMBER FOR MURCHISON-EYRE - RESIGNATION FROM MINISTRY Statement by Premier MR A.J. CARPENTER (Willagee - Premier) [4.13 pm] - by leave: A short while ago I met with the member for Murchison-Eyre and demanded his resignation from the cabinet and from the state Parliamentary Labor Party. He has agreed to provide both. I did this because evidence before the Corruption and Crime Commission shows that he has engaged in conduct that is indefensible. The member for Murchison-Eyre has seriously compromised the integrity of the cabinet, the government and the Parliament in his dealings with Julian Grill and Brian Burke. As Premier, I cannot accept that behaviour. The hearings of the CCC in the past few weeks have revealed conduct by individuals in state government, in local government and in the business community that is completely and utterly unacceptable. At the centre of all this have been the activities of Brian Burke and Julian Grill. Their conduct and their influence, and the way they exert it, have a malignant effect which has to be stopped. They have to be stopped, and I intend to stop them. As bad as their conduct has been, it does not excuse the behaviour of others. People must accept responsibility for their own actions. Brian Burke and Julian Grill can have this influence only if people allow them to have it. They should not allow them to have this influence; it is as simple as that. Personal loyalties, political acquaintances and friendships are no excuse. The public interest must always prevail. As I have demonstrated repeatedly now, I will not back away from doing what is required to protect the integrity of government in this state. I will continue to demand the highest standards from my ministers. It is what the people of Western Australia expect of me. If other matters arise before the Corruption and Crime Commission that require the same sort of action I have taken today, then I will act. I told the member for Murchison-Eyre that, in my view, he should also leave the Parliament. However, that is a matter for him and his constituents. MR P.D. OMODEI (Warren-Blackwood - Leader of the Opposition) [4.16 pm]: In responding to the Premier’s Statement, I note that he read from a prepared speech. Only two hours ago the opposition sought the dismissal of the member for Murchison-Eyre from the ministry. The Premier obviously intended to do that all along, and has just sought to defend the indefensible. The facts of the matter are that he has just sacked the member for Murchison-Eyre from the ministry and the Labor Party, which is in contrast to what he did with the former member for Peel, Norm Marlborough, who was sacked from the ministry but is still a member of the Labor Party. The Premier might take some time in the near future to explain why Mr Marlborough was not sacked from the Labor Party. Is it because of his connections to people in the union movement? It seems passing strange to me that the member for Ballajura was sacked from the ministry and from the Labor Party. Mr J.B. D’Orazio: Excuse me - I was not sacked from the ministry. Mr P.D. OMODEI: I am sorry, the member for Ballajura was forced to resign, for a number of reasons, from the ministry and from the Labor Party. The member for Murchison-Eyre has just been sacked, and there is a suggestion that he should remove himself not only from the Labor Party but also from the Parliament. Then there is the member for Riverton. The question must be asked whether he should be sacked from the Labor Party if the Premier goes on this huge accountability path. We will watch with interest. The other important thing is: what will the Premier do about the public service? Even if he removes Julian Grill and Brian Burke from their current positions, others will come up in their place. There is endemic decay in the public service in Western Australia; that has been borne out by the Corruption and Crime Commission. We must recognise that if it were not for the Corruption and Crime Commission, none of these people would be gone;

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 29 they would still be sitting there in the same positions. We know that for a fact. The Premier has the problem that too many people on his side of politics owe their livelihood and their position in this parliament to Brian Burke and Julian Grill, and to nepotism within the Labor Party. The opposition will watch with very close interest. The Premier had no alternative today but to take the action he has taken. It was very predictable that we would hear the conciliatory speech saying that the government had made a mistake and was in trouble, but what else could the Premier do? There is endemic corruption and decay in the Labor Party and right to the core of government. PREMIER - CENSURE FOR POOR JUDGMENT Motion Resumed from an earlier stage of the sitting on the motion moved by Mr P.D. Omodei (Leader of the Opposition). MS S.E. WALKER (Nedlands) [4.20 pm]: I support the motion. I agree with many of the things the Premier has said today. However, I cannot let the Premier off the hook totally. The Premier has been in this Parliament for 10 years. I have been in this Parliament for nearly six years. It has taken me a while, but I now realise that members in this place not only hold allegiances to particular people but also sometimes vote according to those allegiances. I agree with the Premier that members of Parliament should have the courage to vote on issues without fear or favour. Members of Parliament should not do deals for other people. Members of Parliament should vote according to what will be in the public interest and in the best interests of the people in their electorate. The problem the Premier is facing is that he has been a member of this Parliament for 10 years. He has been attending caucus meetings for 10 years. He knows what the Labor factions are. He knows which members of the government are aligned with Brian Burke and to what extent Brian Burke can influence those members. He knows which members of this government became members of Parliament as a result of the favours of Brian Burke and Julian Grill. The Premier knows that that situation exists in this Parliament. However, the Premier is not able to give us a solution. The tragedy is that this situation is affecting the political and business reputation of this state. This problem will continue so long as the Corruption and Crime Commission inquiry is in train. I believe Dr Gallop had it right. Dr Gallop knew that he had to ban Labor members from speaking to Brian Burke and Julian Grill. I am sure Dr Gallop, who is now employed at the University of New South Wales, is having a quiet chuckle about all this. When the Premier was given the gift of being appointed Premier of this state, he decided to repay the favour by lifting the ban. We know that is true, because Mr Bowler told the CCC yesterday, at page 758 of the transcript - The Premier made it quite clear over - even before he relaxed the ban and during it that he had no time for either lobbyist, either person and - but as ministers we were free to meet who we wanted to. There it is! The Premier knew! Before the Premier became Premier, he was a hard-nosed political journalist in this state. He knew exactly the influence of Mr Burke and the damage that Mr Burke had done to the political and business reputation of this state. It is all unravelling again. The Premier may say that he is doing the right thing. However, he has no choice. If the Premier wants to save this government, he needs to show that he has integrity. However, the problem is that it is the Premier who has caused this damage to the reputation of this state, so it is on his head. I agree with the Premier that part of the problem is that some members do not know where to draw the line. However, before I come to that, I want to talk about the speeches that are made in this Parliament. I have written all but one of my speeches. On that speech, which was about juvenile offenders, I was given some help by Hon Peter Foss. I have heard members of this place make legal speeches that I know they did not write. If members do not write their own speeches, it does not allow the Parliament and the people of Western Australia to see what makes those members tick. I am not talking just about speeches that are written by paid lobbyists. All members of Parliament are given information and have research done on their behalf. However, our speeches should be based on views that we have formulated ourselves. The Premier said that individual members do not know where to draw the line, and he was absolutely right. I will refer to the member for Riverton, who is a classic example of not knowing where to draw the line. The member for Riverton sounded plausible on the radio yesterday, but he did not tell the whole story about how he overturned a decision. He was given a memo from the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure to say that she agreed with Hon Adele Farina’s recommendation. The member for Riverton did not say that he overturned that decision and got his chief of staff to deal with it. This is the sort of difficulty that people have with drawing the line. The member for Riverton was asked by Mr Phillip Urquhart whether he was honest and upfront with Grill regarding the Lombardo discussions. The member for Riverton said that he did not know what that question meant. It is about being honest and upfront, and the member for Riverton did not know what that meant. However, he deliberately hung out so that Mr Julian Grill would give him assistance with his fundraiser. The

30 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] member for Wanneroo was having a fundraiser organised by Burke and Grill, which I understand the Premier walked out of. The problem is that the whole mess that Western Australia is currently in is the result of the Premier lifting the ban. The Premier is a journalist and is good with words, but he does not fool me. He would have known when he got the tick to be Premier that when he lifted that ban there would be trouble. He had to know that. I used to ask myself for five years why the member for Peel would sit in the Members’ Bar. I would make a joke of it. He would be asleep. It was because he was ostracised. The Premier brought him in. The only conclusion I can come to on why the Premier did that was because he was given the reward of Premier and he gave a reward in return, but it has come back to bite him. It has been said by members that what has happened at the Corruption and Crime Commission has hurt many people who have allegiances and that the CCC is a circus. No, the CCC is exposing the circus in this town. The Premier did not answer my question. He has reimposed the ban, which he should, but it should be mandatory in this Parliament for each member who is lobbied by a lobbyist, particularly former members of Parliament, to stand in this Parliament and say that they have been lobbied. The problem that Western Australia has, and it happens in all Parliaments, is that many people owe their livelihood to individuals outside the Parliament. If members are afraid of losing their jobs, afraid they will not be leader or afraid they will not be ministers, they will never be good members of Parliament. I refer members to a book that was written after WA Inc: The Executive State contains an essay at page 73 by Patrick O’Brien on the meaning of corruption that states - Being “corrupt” means somehow misapplying political or administrative power, whether directly or indirectly, outside its proper sphere, for one’s own financial or material advantage, or in order to distribute the gains among one’s friends, colleagues, relations or supporters. He outlines in his essay the difference between bribery, which could be one person, and political corruption and the damage it causes to the society we are in. I read the CCC transcripts on the stacking of the Busselton Shire Council. If I had said to many people before that transcript was released that Crichton-Browne and Burke were stacking the Busselton shire from a Claremont real estate office, they would have say I was cuckoo. However, that is what was happening, and it is happening to many councils, of which there are 144 in Western Australia, but there is only one state Parliament. Page 77 of The Executive State reads - WA Inc. involved much more than mere business relations. It was an interlocking association of vested interests which had coalesced around the state government and, in particular, the Department of Premier and Cabinet. Its principal architect was Brian Burke . . . who explained his purpose as follows: I do not know who was in Parliament when he said this, but it is very revealing: There will be a new order in this state and an élite of the able, and that’s what will come to pass and it will come to pass as quickly as I am able to make it happen because I believe that’s the salvation of the state and the salvation of this country. How wrong can anyone be? It is political corruption. It is a tremendous privilege to be here. I have been questioned recently by people in my own party about where my first loyalty lies. It will always be to the people who elect me. The document goes on to say - The defence by wielders of political power that unless their actions can be shown to be illegal those actions cannot be said to be either improper or immoral, or even merely “bad form”, will not do. It goes on to say that political corruption - . . . undermines trust and erodes conscience, political corruption helps to engender psycho-pathological sentiments and behaviour in society, if not the Psycho-pathological Society itself. Therefore, the moral dimension can be ignored only at the expense of democracy. That is true. That was Patrick O’Brien speaking about WA Inc. Sometimes I see things in this Parliament and I mention it to people and they say, “Sue, no-one will ever believe you.” The people of Western Australia, people in my party and everyone else here should read the CCC transcripts. They should see what is really happening and who runs the state. The fact is that we, the elected representatives, should be running the state. It is something I feel very strongly about. It is incumbent on us all to know where to draw the line. We all make mistakes; that is true. I often thought Dr did not have a lot of substance. However, he was right on this issue. I know a lobbying register will be introduced in this Parliament, but in my view it will not go far enough. I agree with the Premier that the onus is on each individual. The only way to get rid of the scum that does this sort of thing and affects Western Australia is to make it mandatory for individuals in this Parliament to

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 31 reveal those people with whom they have been in contact. I fully support the CCC, but I believe the Premier should go a step further than a lobbying register and introduce other legislation. It is done in local government. Things happen in this Parliament because people do deals. Those are my views. I think the Premier exercised poor judgment. I do not know whether in the dizzy elation he felt when he was asked to be Premier he thought he would pay back by allowing Brian Burke back in. The decision to allow the member for Peel into cabinet has caused the lack of confidence among senior business people in town. I do not want the Premier just to say the onus is on each individual. He has recognised that the ban needs to be reimposed. However, if individuals cannot distinguish when a deal should and should not be done and cannot distinguish the right thing to do, perhaps there should be mandatory provisions to make them tell this Parliament and their colleagues who they are really representing. Who has been heavying them on their preselection committees, for instance. Perhaps then we will see a Parliament of integrity. MR R.F. JOHNSON (Hillarys) [4.33 pm]: I support the motion before the house. I will also make a prediction: I foresee rotting carcasses of disgraced government ministers on the lawns of Parliament House. We have seen ministers go already and it will not finish there. We will see more departures because other ministers are implicated in the CCC investigation. Other ministers have made decisions that I think they will be questioned about at the appropriate time. I thought the WA Inc government was the most corrupt government I had ever seen, but I have to say that today’s government takes the cake. I believe there has been more corruption in this government not only with the aid and help of its ministers, but also some of its backbenchers. I want to know whether the fundraising assistance for election campaigns that has been given to the members for Wanneroo, Kingsley and Riverton will be described as the “proceeds of crime”. All we need do is follow the money back. If it is found that those people have been putting money into those campaigns because of favours done by government ministers through the association and direction of Brian Burke and Julian Grill, that money is corrupt money. I therefore want to know whether the Attorney General will take any action in that area. It is all very well for the Premier to take the high moral ground and say that he has acted decisively. It took the opposition and the media to back him into a corner to make the decision today that he should have made yesterday. He had no other option. Any other Premier would have made that decision yesterday. The problem is that some of our ex-ministers do not seem to know that they have done something wrong. The member for Riverton thinks that he has been hard done by. All I have heard on the radio and the television and read in the papers are his protestations that he has done nothing wrong at all and that this is the fault of everybody else, including the Premier, the media and the opposition - everybody other than him. I suggest, Mr Speaker, that he doth protest too much. His actions unquestionably resulted in the right decision by the Premier; that is, to sack him. That was not the first such action by this government member. I take members back to the 2005 election when somebody who visited the member for Riverton’s office signed a nomination form as an Independent - Withdrawal of Remark Mr A.D. McRAE: The member is now using evidence that was found to be not true by the Corruption and Crime Commission after the 2005 election. Mr T.R. Sprigg: It was not! The SPEAKER: Members! Mr A.D. McRAE: The member should withdraw that remark, which is misleading the house. The SPEAKER: I do not know of any ruling on that. I recall that some action after the election exonerated the member for Riverton. I note that the motion does not attempt to blacken the name of every member of this house, although it mentions Labor members dealing with Brian Burke and Julian Grill. It is probably a long bow to suggest that some other action, other than those actions, is tied to this motion. Debate Resumed Mr R.F. JOHNSON: The essence of the motion before the house is the integrity, or lack of integrity, of this government. This government is in crisis. It has lost whatever integrity it had. It has lost the confidence of the people of Western Australia. The government will say that the result of the Peel by-election proved that it is not the case. The facts of the matter are that the electorate seat of Peel is a Labor stronghold; it always has been and probably always will be. Labor voters in that electorate may not have supported the previous member if he had stood for re-election, but because the new member for Peel is a cleanskin - somebody who I think and hope will make a very good member of Parliament - they voted for that person. Let us not therefore muddy the waters by saying that the public has had its say. If the Premier had guts and fortitude, he would let the public have its say and call an election, as there is a crisis of confidence of the people of Western Australia in this government. I have never seen quite as much corruption as I have seen by this government, not only by government ministers, but also by those members of the backbench who have been partly involved in this matter. They know exactly who they are. We will see their rotting carcasses outside Parliament by the end of this year - I guarantee it - because there is a lot more stuff to come out of the CCC. It is also interesting to note that it seems that the only

32 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] members who have not had their telephones bugged - perhaps they have - are those members of the Attorney General’s faction. He has a pretty strong faction in this Parliament. Ms M.M. Quirk: Wrong! Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I am sorry, who said, “Wrong”? Ms M.M. Quirk: I said “Wrong” Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Is the member for Girrawheen in the Attorney General’s faction? Several members interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: How does the member for Girrawheen know then? My friend the member for Girrawheen does not have a clue. We know that the member for Girrawheen is not a friend of Brian Burke, because he worked against her by trying to advance a different candidate for the seat of Girrawheen. The member for Girrawheen should tell us whether she has had her telephone bugged, because we would be interested to hear about it. The Corruption and Crime Commission hearings will produce more revelations about other government ministers. A complete transcript of all the evidence will reveal that other ministers are involved in corruption. This motion is about not only corrupt ministers, but also the Premier, because in appointing certain members to cabinet he showed the worst judgment in the world. We have to ask why he appointed those members to cabinet and why he lifted the ban that prevented Labor Party members from contacting Brian Burke and Julian Grill. I have a pretty good idea about the answers to those questions. The Premier needed the support of the Burke-Grill factions to be elected Premier. In addition to the member for Willagee, the Attorney General and the member for Midland were also interested in becoming Premier. The Labor Party had three choices. We know that the Attorney General was not going to help the member for Midland and that the member for Midland was not going to help the Attorney General. Neither of those two candidates had the numbers to become Premier. To whom did they give their support? They gave it to the member for Willagee. The Premier owes an allegiance to those people who helped him secure the state’s top job. I have lost track of the number of factions in the Labor Party. Members of certain factions do not talk to members of other factions. The way those factions work is corrupt and that corruption has permeated into this chamber. Indeed, that corruption has been revealed as a result of the actions of those ministers who have been sacked. Further action could be taken against those ministers. I am sure that further action will be taken against certain individuals with whom they were friendly. Another problem is that every ministerial office has union officials. The Minister for Corrective Services should not shake her head. Brian Burke’s ex-chief of staff is the now the chief of staff at the ministerial office of the Minister for Housing and Works. That just goes to show how people move from one faction to the other. The Minister for Housing and Works has fallen out with Brian Burke. We are aware of the union officials who work at ministerial offices, because we are given a list of them. We can see which factions they belong to and which officials are trying to come up through the system. The member for Kenwick, who is the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, was a former staffer - Ms S.M. McHale: I am the Minister for Tourism. Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I am sorry, there has been a change in portfolios. I wonder why that is. Why did the member for Kenwick lose the indigenous affairs portfolio? Ministers in this government change portfolios as often as they change underwear. The number of times that ministers change portfolios in a week is mind boggling. The trouble is that there are corrupt influences in every ministerial office and corrupt influences in the public service in general. I was once told that Brian Burke boasted that if the Liberals were to ever gain power, it would take them 20 years to root out the people that he had placed in the public service. He was right, because many of them are still around today. I assure members that the opposition will help root out those people, because they are bad news for the people of Western Australia. There was corruption in this state in the 1980s and early 1990s and we are now experiencing it again. Hopefully, the people of Western Australia will come to their senses and realise that they cannot trust the Labor Party because, unfortunately, it breeds corrupt ministers. DR G.G. JACOBS (Roe) [4.45 pm]: I will speak in support of the motion and about the poor judgment of the Premier. Earlier today the Premier told us how he knew of, and followed in detail, the machinations of the WA Inc royal commission. I propose that the Premier knew that this current situation was coming. He knew of the machinations and tentacles of nepotism that were about to be revealed. However, despite that, he exposed members of his government, including the former member for Peel, to the lobbying ravages of Mr Burke and Mr Grill. The Premier must have known that the former member for Peel was vulnerable to the machinations of Mr Burke, who is a very powerful and corrupt lobbyist. Some of the snippets of information from the Corruption and Crime Commission have revealed how Mr Burke had the former member on the end of a string. The Premier must have known that he would expose the member for Murchison-Eyre when the Premier appointed him as the Minister for Resources. The Premier must have known that the member for Murchison-

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Eyre and Mr Grill had a connection that stretched back almost a lifetime. The Premier must have known that that minister would have been exposed to the lobbying tentacles of Mr Grill and to the ravages of corrupt nepotism. It is for that reason that we insist the Premier showed poor judgment. What the Premier did today is laudable. He had no choice but to do it. The Premier is dealing with pockets of crises as they become evident. He normally would not do what he did, but he was forced to do it. History will confirm that he showed poor judgment in exposing government members and ministers to the ravaging lobbyists, who are well known to us all. I happen to like the member for Murchison-Eyre; I think he is a good bloke. I am from Esperance and he is from Kalgoorlie. We have something in common; like me, he understands the country and has the country at heart. He has lived there for many years and has raised his family there. He is a man who truly has the country and regional Western Australia at heart. The Premier, who is absent from the chamber, exposed the member for Murchison-Eyre, just as he exposed other government members, despite knowing that there was a problem. He must have known. There were danger signals, and the potential always existed for this to happen. The Premier is the skipper of the government ship, and that ship is taking water. The buck stops with the Premier. I was disappointed about one thing that the Premier did not say today. In the announcement he made today he did not give a reason for sacking the member for Murchison-Eyre. It is up to the skipper of the ship, which is taking water, to explain to the member for Murchison-Eyre why the Premier sacked him. The Premier owes that to the member and, importantly, to the member’s family. That was not put on the record. The member for Yokine might look away, but it is not on the record. The member for Yokine would want that and I would want that. If I were in the same position as the member for Murchison-Eyre, I would like a parliamentary explanation. The Premier owes it to the member, he owes it to the member’s family and, as the member on this side said, he owes it to this Parliament and to Western Australia. There is an issue of accountability. The Minister for the Environment had a shot at the opposition about the lobbying done by the Australian Hotels Association. Every member of this Parliament knows that we are lobbied every day. That is our job; we get lobbied. Mr P.D. Omodei: I think I saw a few Labor members at the AHA footy matches. Dr G.G. JACOBS: Absolutely. The nub of the issue is: are there strings attached to this lobbying? Is there a quid pro quo? That is the difference. Anybody can lobby me, but the danger is if there are strings attached; that is, I will do this for someone and I can have a kickback for doing it. I must tell the minister for whatever he is now - Several members interjected. Dr G.G. JACOBS: I am referring to the Minister for Education and Training. It is very hard to keep up. I will talk about the unfortunate people in the disability services sector who will now be faced with their eighth minister in almost two years. The changing of the guard happens so often on this ship that is taking water that it is dysfunctional in doing its job. It does not do its job. The next person in this place with the most knowledge and experience of disability services is me, given that on this ship the portfolio has changed hands so often. Until now I have been disappointed. I am still disappointed, because the Premier has shown poor judgment in exposing members when he knew all the history. He told us about the history and about understanding how the commission worked and the issue of cronyism and its tentacles. However, still he put the member for Peel in the cabinet, and the rot set in. Mr R.F. Johnson interjected. Dr G.G. JACOBS: In fact, if we go back one step, as the member for Hillarys has said in his interjection, we must wonder why. Why did the Premier, with his astuteness and knowledge of the history of the WA Inc saga and the tentacles of cronyism, do that? Was there some coercion? Was there some deal? Was there some quid pro quo in all that? If he puts that man in cabinet, perhaps he will get the top job. We should ask that question. The Premier, who had knowledge of the history of WA Inc, had an immediate conduit from the inner sanctum of cabinet to Burke and Grill. I congratulate the new member for Peel on his appointment. We heard him say at his swearing-in that he would faithfully serve the people of Western Australia. Are members of Parliament faithfully serving the people of Western Australia by commitment and by doing what is best for them? Do we truly act for the people of Western Australia in accordance with the words of the prayer that is read at the start of Parliament every day? I do not care on which side of Parliament we sit; that must be paramount. Aside from ego, aside from financial benefit, aside from career and aside from anything else, do we do that? If we do not, I suggest, as the prayer says, that we will not be glorified and we will not be blessed in this place. Honesty and integrity are an important part of this. I humbly submit that my previous job to this had at least some honour attached to it, but I must tell members that since I have been a parliamentarian in this place, the job is not receiving any honour. Members opposite are not receiving it and nor are members on this side. We have no honour. That, above all else - above my career, above how much money I make and above anything else - is the thing that will be most important when I go from this world. Most important will be my honour and whether

34 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007]

I served the people of Western Australia. Members might say that this is very trite and sounds very good. However, in the end, will members opposite and members on this side go from this place and from this world having served with honour? I make this call to members on both sides of Parliament: shady politicians should put up their hands and come clean. We need to do the right thing to get the blessings in this place. As the member for Merredin said, bad men prosper when good men do nothing. I am sure there are good men and women on the other side. We must stand up for this view so that we can go out with honour and, above all else, serve the people. As our prayer says, we must truly serve the people of Western Australia. If we do that, this place will be glorified and blessed. DR J.M. WOOLLARD (Alfred Cove) [4.56 pm]: I will support this motion to suspend standing orders to allow the house to censure the Premier for his poor judgment when appointing ministers, allocating ministerial portfolios and lifting the ban that his predecessor, Dr Gallop, had on Labor members dealing with Brian Burke and Julian Grill. Before speaking to the motion, I also welcome the new member for Peel and congratulate him on winning the by-election. I say to the member for Peel that for probably more than 99 per cent of my time, my role as a member is very enjoyable. I love working with the people in my electorate. I also enjoy participating in Parliament; that is, being in this place and joining in the debate on legislation and making legislation that will influence our community. Often I do not agree with how the legislation gets up, but I know that I am able to put forward the views of a large number of people in my electorate and in the general community. It is an honour to be a member of this Parliament, and normally I feel very proud as a member of Parliament. At the moment, it is very disappointing that people are looking at all members of Parliament - that is, on both sides - because of the evidence given to the Corruption and Crime Commission. Some members have been named, and we are wondering who will be next. We know that the CCC has not finished its hearings. Will more people in this house be named? Will this continue in the next few months, so that when people meet us as members of Parliament, they will wonder whether we are all tarred with the same brush? We are not all tarred with the same brush. What has happened to members on the opposite side who have been caught up in this fiasco is very sad. I believe that part of the problem goes back to what the Premier said today about how people should be accountable for themselves, and that includes ministers. I think that the Premier should be saying more than that. That is why I put in a request last year to the Public Accounts Committee - which I believe was passed to Mr Speaker - for education of members of Parliament. In 2001 or 2002 a code of conduct was brought in, which was to be included in the house’s standing orders. What assistance are members and new members given concerning legislation and lobbying? Obviously, the situation is different for me as an Independent because both major party machines provide a lot more support to their members. However, it is possible that there is not enough support. Because of what is happening now, we know that members have not been given enough support. What is very worrying about all this is that, although the Premier is asking members of Parliament to resign as the Corruption and Crime Commission reveals that they have been involved in corrupt activities, there are concerns about public servants. I am wondering how many decisions have been made by the public servants named. Will the CCC look at the public servants who have been liaising with Mr Burke and Mr Grill in the 12 months or so since the ban was lifted? Will it look at what decisions have been made and what information has been fed from those public servants to other public servants in other departments? We know that government departments are a bit of a boys’ club in the way that local councils are often a bit of a boys’ club. Ms J.A. Radisich: And like the Parliament! Dr J.M. WOOLLARD: The member is right; it is very much a boys’ club here. However, we are here to change that! We are doing our bit. I am very concerned about decisions by the Environmental Protection Authority and the person named from the Water Corporation, as well as decisions by other public servants. What decisions have been made? Have they been made in the public interest over the past 12 months? I have not read all the transcripts but I have read some of today’s transcript. It is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle with all the bits coming together. It is all very disappointing. I support the motion but I am very sorry that this Parliament is having this debate. What is happening among Labor ranks is reflecting on Liberal members of Parliament. It is reflecting on me as an Independent member of Parliament. The Premier needs to give more support to his ministers and his backbenchers. He also needs to ensure that ministers go back and look at their departments and determine who in their departments has been leaking information. They could ask their public servants, in the way that the Premier asked his ministers several months ago, whether they have had any contact. Now may be the time for ministers to go to their senior public servants and ask whether they have had any dealings with Brian Burke or Julian Grill. If, within the next four weeks, any of their names come up in the CCC hearings, those people should be sacked.

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I support the motion and I hope that, on behalf of all members, there will not be another minister named in the next few weeks and that this is the end of the matter. MR T.K. WALDRON (Wagin - Deputy Leader of the National Party) [5.04 pm]: I will be brief. In supporting the motion I must say that, like so many other members here, I feel very disappointed about what has happened. One feels very let down. Today has been quite a day in this chamber. I support what the Premier said. I thought that he spoke well today. I support what he said and what he honestly wants to do. However, I do not think my support will count. The Premier needs the support of government members to try to fix this problem once and for all. It does not do any of us any good. While sitting in this chamber today, I wondered whether I was privileged to be here today or will I be able to say to my kids that I was in Parliament when some of these terrible things were argued? Good things can sometimes come from bad. This situation could be a bit of a watershed for the state in the future. The only people who can make it a watershed so that it can go forward positively are all members of Parliament, particularly the members of the government and the member for Avon. They need to support their Premier. I definitely support what he said today in what he is trying to do. Today someone said something about their constituents. This is my seventh year in this place. I have always tried to do and say everything on behalf of my constituents and what they would expect of me, because they are the reason that I am here. We all need to look at ourselves, get back to basics and really think about what has happened. Although there has been a lot of pain to individuals, maybe this could be a watershed time in this state and for years to come. Perhaps when I come back to this place for lunch as a retired old former member, I can say that from that dark day in this chamber came some really good stuff that got Western Australia back the respect it should have. MS K. HODSON-THOMAS (Carine) [5.06 pm]: I too want to keep my comments brief. I want to say something about what is currently happening at the Corruption and Crime Commission. We are all very concerned and disappointed at the current state of play that has beset the Labor Party. It reflects badly on all of us. It is a hard place to come back from when we are all seen to be corrupt. I know in my heart when I look around this place that most members in this chamber come here to genuinely make a difference. I know I did. I wanted to raise an issue in this censure motion about the Premier and his poor judgment on the appointment of ministers, the allocation of ministerial portfolios and his lifting of a ban that his predecessor, Dr Gallop, had on Labor members dealing with Brian Burke and Julian Grill. Obviously, he has seen fit to put that ban in place. Sometime last year I asked a question of the former Minister for Small Business Norm Marlborough. The question related to the sacking of one of the state’s best chief executive officers of the Small Business Development Corporation. I asked whether he was pushed or sacked and if this person stood up to his minister and said, “No, I won’t do that because it’s not right.” This is supposition. I am making suppositions now. It reflects badly on the government that the employment of a former CEO of the Small Business Development Corporation was terminated. The answer that I received from the former minister was that he had accepted a management-initiated . There was no sacking or interference. It was a very glib answer. I subsequently asked the new Minister for Small Business if she would investigate the matter further to see if there was any forced sacking of a very valued and well-respected man in this state. I got another wishy-washy answer. If that is what this Parliament is about, I call on the Premier to encourage all his ministers to ensure that they give honest answers. There should never be cover-ups. Members should not laugh. Good government is about providing honest and direct answers. It is quite clear that Mr Marlborough had links to Brian Burke and was influenced heavily. We are seeing more and more of that. I will be pursuing this matter vigorously. In fact, if that man was sacked because he was a good public servant and did the right thing, it is a serious error of judgment and should be made right. MR D.F. BARRON-SULLIVAN (Leschenault) [5.10 pm]: The Premier’s own words earlier on were that people must accept responsibility for their own actions. He did not do that. He did not accept responsibility for his own actions in the speech he gave in Parliament today. He certainly did not acknowledge his own responsibility for the direct influence that Brian Burke in particular has had over his government, ministers and members of Parliament. Never once did the Premier say that he accepted his own degree of responsibility for the fact that Brian Burke has this degree of damaging influence. The Premier has never explained to the house that Brian Burke is responsible for the fact that the Premier sits in that very seat. If Brian Burke was not alive, or was living in Guatemala and did not have influence over Labor Party members, it is quite likely that the member for or someone else would not be sitting in the Premier’s seat. Do not take my word for it; take the word of the former Minister for Local Government, the member for Murchison-Eyre, in his transcript from the Corruption and Crime Commission. Why, on 31 January 2006, did he telephone Brian Burke and, when he found that there was no-one in and an answering service took the call, leave the message “congratulations”? When questioned why he had used that word and left that message, he said that he was using Brian Burke to support his candidate for Premier. Brian Burke indicated that he too was supporting the candidate of the member for Murchison-Eyre.

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Mr A.J. Carpenter: For what position? Mr D.F. BARRON-SULLIVAN: For the position of Premier. The Premier should read the transcript. This is the point - he will not accept the responsibility. He tries to dodge all the time. He sounds tough, saying that he will clean people up and send them packing and so on, but he does not look in his own back yard and admit how he got where he is. That says three things to me. Firstly, somebody wanted Brian Burke to back him as Premier. He does not do these things out of magnanimous gratitude. Somebody wanted him to assist the Premier. The second thing it does, coming directly from a former minister at the highest echelons of power in this state, is confirm that Brian Burke had that degree of power in the Labor Party, and could help exercise powers on behalf of other people or himself to get someone elected to the high position of Premier. The third thing it infers is that the Premier himself must have been complicit. Surely, this intense behind-the-scenes lobbying does not happen without some idea from somebody that Brian Burke is pulling strings. I would love to hear more from the member for Murchison-Eyre about his knowledge of what was being done on behalf of the Premier, and I would like to hear the Premier be honest enough to say that Brian Burke helped him to become Premier of this state, and wielded influence on his behalf. There is further evidence, if we can call it that. Immediately on being appointed, the Premier appoints one of Brian Burke’s best mates, the former member for Peel, Norm Marlborough, to cabinet. Blind Freddy would have realised what went on behind the scenes. Brian Burke will shuffle a little support to the Premier, but he wanted his little mate who had been on the back bench for 20 years to be moved to the front bench. That is how it would have worked. He would have said, “I want Norm on the front bench. That is part of my condition for leveraging a number of members of the Labor Party to support you as Premier.” That is how it works. That is the degree of political corruption we are talking about. We saw it with the member for Murchison-Eyre, who is a close mate of Julian Grill. We saw it also, as other members have pointed out, when the current Premier lifted the ban that had been placed by Geoff Gallop, the former Premier, on ministers liaising with Brian Burke and Julian Grill. We saw it indirectly with the appointment of the member for Riverton to cabinet and his promotion to the environment portfolio. We all know that the member for Riverton is a mate of not only Brian Burke and Julian Grill, but also Kevin Reynolds. That tells us two things. Firstly, it tells us that the Premier is not being open. The Premier is not admitting that this situation is the result of not only his poor judgment, but also the fact that he owes certain people. The Premier is totally compromised. Secondly, it tells us that this matter is not over yet. I detected that in the Premier’s speech when he said that there are other people. I can guess a couple of those people already. I will touch on one in a moment. The Premier knows that it is not over yet, because he knows that someone who commands such a large degree of support in both the lay and the Parliamentary Labor Party will not turn around in his tracks overnight. It takes more than a floppy Panama hat to cause someone to become weak in this game. The Premier knows that he owes Brian Burke and the other people who made it possible for him to become Premier. Therefore, this matter is absolutely not over yet. The Corruption and Crime Commission evidence is very interesting. When the member for Riverton was placed in the predicament that the Premier had no option but to sack him from the ministry, Labor Party members, and also Labor Party supporters such as Kevin Reynolds, openly attacked the CCC. Members of Parliament are elected to represent the interests of the community. The Premier said in his speech, in a tacit way - or at least that is how it came across - that he would rather his members did not do that. He did not say, in a much more direct way, that they should get out of the Parliament and be sacked from the Labor Party. He did not give them the ultimatum that either they get out of the Parliament or he will get out. The Premier did not give that ultimatum, because these members are mates of Brian Burke, and it was Brian Burke who helped him to get his job as Premier. I am concerned about the increasing degree of hostility towards the CCC that is being expressed by members of the Labor Party. The Premier is not prepared to quell that hostility. That is particularly concerning when we consider that the head of the Corruption and Crime Commission, Commissioner Hammond, is expected to resign in the near future. Under the CCC act, the person who will choose the new commissioner is the Premier. That is the same bloke who owes his job to Brian Burke! Mr A.J. Carpenter: I might appoint Brian Burke! Mr D.F. BARRON-SULLIVAN: God forbid! The point is that the CCC is giving the Premier stick. Under the CCC act, the Premier is required to choose one of three nominees to be the head of the CCC. The Premier will not appoint as head of the CCC a person who may cause him even more problems in the future. What I am saying is not far-fetched. In light of all that has been happening with this government in recent times, I am concerned that the Premier may seek to influence the appointment of the commissioner. Mr A.J. Carpenter: Did you say I may seek to influence the appointment? Mr D.F. BARRON-SULLIVAN: I will go further than that. The Premier is the person who makes the appointment. God forbid that any influence could be brought to bear on that decision.

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One other example of why this matter is not over yet can be found in the evidence that was given to the CCC about the rezoning of certain land at Whitby. That evidence is very interesting. The transcript refers to a telephone conversation between the Deputy Director General of the Department of Industry and Resources and Brian Burke. I will put a couple of these things on the record. The conversation took place on 27 February last year. The transcript reads - BURKE: I just wanted to say that Julian and I were discussing, whether or not we might uhm, ask er, for er appointments with Alannah and ah, John Bowler and ah, Ljiljanna Ravlich in respect of Whitby for our clients, - That is Union Pacific - and we didn’t want to do that without checking with you. Why would they check with the deputy director, Gary Stokes? The transcript continues - STOKES: No. I ah, that’s fine. Ah I think, between you and I I think we’re handling it in a gutless way now but, that aside uhm, I think the outcome will be that same but the expectation is that the first two that you talked about in particular, ah will have a discussion because the departments can’t sort it out, - I find that remarkable. To continue - . . . therefore becomes a political issue and they’ll ah, write down to us telling us to get on with it. He said “They will”. Who did - Alannah, Ljiljanna and John Bowler? The transcript states - STOKES: I think it’s unfortunate that, it’ll be imposed rather than us actually being a little bit smart. Mr Stokes is a deputy director of a department; he is not someone who does not know his business or how this government operates. This is not the first time something such as this has happened. He has seen it before. If members place themselves in the position of a minister who may lean this way and is in the very important planning portfolio which deals with crucial decisions that involve rezoning, such as the one at Whitby, and which will have a significant impact on the people concerned, they will understand the scope for corruption. In this case the deputy director indicated that a decision would be imposed on them rather than it going through the department. At the Corruption and Crime Commission hearing, the deputy director spoke about how the Parliament will deal with it; that is, it will get knocked back. The transcript reads - STOKES: So that’s the front, the front door. The back door will be providing advice which effectively ah, I think they’ve even provided a draft for Alannah to sign off coming back saying, heard all your noise, happening anyway. The deputy director of a department heard that a draft had been done for the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure to sign off on, even though he was expecting it to be knocked back by the department. Is just the minister or Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich involved in this? Perhaps the Deputy Premier might interject. Mr E.S. Ripper: Do you want an interjection? Mr D.F. BARRON-SULLIVAN: My time is limited. The transcript states that Mr Burke said - Okay well we’ll handle it in here from now. Boy, how nice. To continue - We’ll set those appointments up and I’m sure Alannah’s very, very committed so we’ll see what happens. How does Brian Burke know how committed is the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure? Later in the hearing it emerged that Gary Stokes said - Hopefully next time Brian we can ah, you know. BURKE: Not a worry. STOKES: Kick a goal, kick a goal rather than going via fullback. Some time ago I heard a rumour that the former Premier was going to sack the current Minister for Planning and Infrastructure but that Brian Burke used his influence within the Labor Party to save her. These are the sorts of issues that the Premier should be addressing. He should explain how he got the premiership and what was Brian Burke’s involvement, because, clearly, one of his former ministers has directly implicated Brian Burke in the lobbying for him to become Premier of this state. By God, it does not get any harder than that, Premier. DR S.C. THOMAS (Capel) [5.24 pm]: I am glad to follow the member for Leschenault because I was worried that everybody was praising the Premier too much and I would have to open with the “I’ve come to bury Caesar, not to praise him” line.

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I congratulate the member for Victoria Park on his nuptials over the break and I hope the Corruption and Crime Commission did not have a bug in his house in the period following his wedding. I also congratulate the member for Mindarie on the birth of another child. I am sure that the CCC would not have a bug in his house because it would record nothing but crying and that would be rather dull. I also congratulate the member for Peel on his election. During the election the Premier appeared to be very close to the new member for Peel and was by his side quite a lot. I am concerned that the Premier has seated him in the corner of the chamber. As members will know, when new members first come to Parliament they tend to be influenced by the people near whom they are sitting. What have the Premier and the Leader of the House done for the new member for Peel? They have sat him next to the member for Murchison-Eyre. He is not here at the moment, but of course he is a very strong influence. The next member along the bench is the member for Riverton, another very good influence on a new member of Parliament. If the member for Riverton is not in the house, the new member for Peel will then be sitting next to another sacked minister, the member for Yokine. That is a very strong field, Premier. For the sake of the member for Peel, do not call him a rising star, because it will be the death of him. Please seat him next to the member for Southern River so that he has a positive influence in Parliament rather than the influence of the member he is currently sitting next to. Mr E.S. Ripper: What about the member for Perth? Shouldn’t he be sitting next to the member for Perth? Dr S.C. THOMAS: The member for Peel is a new member and I would not inflict the member for Perth on him at this stage. It is not my intention to drag out this debate; it has gone on for a long time. Mr M. McGowan: Trying not to drag it out! Dr S.C. THOMAS: I am trying not to; others may have. I would like to make a simple point. Geoff Gallop acted in advance on corruption in government and its processes in this state. Whatever else the Premier does, whatever actions he takes - he says he is going to sack this person, that person and the next person for corruption - the problem he has is that his predecessor acted in advance. Geoff Gallop recognised the problems, and he led. The issue the Premier has to face is that he has failed to do so. He is acting in response to events and is following. The Premier should now take the lead and root out corruption. He has failed to do so in the year that he has been Premier. Question put and a division taken with the following result - Ayes (24)

Mr C.J. Barnett Mr J.H.D. Day Mr J.E. McGrath Mr M.W. Trenorden Mr D.F. Barron-Sullivan Mr B.J. Grylls Mr P.D. Omodei Mr T.K. Waldron Mr M.J. Birney Dr K.D. Hames Mr D.T. Redman Ms S.E. Walker Mr T.R. Buswell Ms K. Hodson-Thomas Mr A.J. Simpson Mr G.A. Woodhams Mr G.M. Castrilli Dr G.G. Jacobs Mr G. Snook Dr J.M. Woollard Mr M.J. Cowper Mr R.F. Johnson Dr S.C. Thomas Mr T.R. Sprigg (Teller)

Noes (30)

Mr P.W. Andrews Mr R.C. Kucera Mr M.P. Murray Mr T.G. Stephens Mr A.J. Carpenter Mr F.M. Logan Mr A.P. O’Gorman Mr D.A. Templeman Mr J.B. D’Orazio Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan Mr P. Papalia Mr P.B. Watson Dr J.M. Edwards Mr J.A. McGinty Mr J.R. Quigley Mr M.P. Whitely Mrs D.J. Guise Mr M. McGowan Ms M.M. Quirk Mr B.S. Wyatt Mrs J. Hughes Ms S.M. McHale Ms J.A. Radisich Mr S.R. Hill (Teller) Mr J.N. Hyde Mr A.D. McRae Mr E.S. Ripper Mr J.C. Kobelke Mrs C.A. Martin Mrs M.H. Roberts

Independent Pair Dr E. Constable Question thus negatived. MEMBER FOR PEEL - INAUGURAL SPEECH Standing Orders Suspension - Motion MR J.C. KOBELKE (Balcatta - Leader of the House) [5.31 pm] - without notice: I move - That so much of standing orders be suspended as is necessary to enable the member for Peel to address the house at 7.00 pm for a maximum of 30 minutes.

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I thank the opposition for suggesting this motion. I thought it best to deal with it now while the complement required for an absolute majority is present in the chamber. Question put and passed with an absolute majority. MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING; SOUTH WEST; THE ENVIRONMENT; CLIMATE CHANGE; DISABILITY SERVICES Appointment of Member for Rockingham - Statement by Premier MR A.J. CARPENTER (Willagee - Premier) [5.32 pm]: I take this opportunity to inform members that with effect from 26 February Hon Mark McGowan, MLA was appointed by His Excellency the Governor as the Minister for Education and Training; South West; the Environment; Climate Change; Disability Services. PROCEDURE AND PRIVILEGES COMMITTEE - FIFTH REPORT, “MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT (FINANCIAL INTERESTS) ACT 1992 REVIEW” Government Response - Statement by Premier MR A.J. CARPENTER (Willagee - Premier) [5.33 pm]: The government is currently considering the recommendations made by the Procedure and Privileges Committee following its review of the Members of Parliament (Financial Interests) Act 1992. We are not, however, in a position at this stage to report to the house on the action the government intends to take in respect of these recommendations. The recommendations in the committee’s report have implications for every member of Parliament and need to be considered carefully. I will present the government’s response to these recommendations as soon as it is finalised. WATER REFORM IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE Statement by Minister for Water Resources MR J.C. KOBELKE (Balcatta - Minister for Water Resources) [5.34 pm]: With drought and a drying climate, this state faces a severe water challenge. The Labor government in the past six years has been implementing programs to conserve, maintain and better manage our water resources for the future. As part of that sustainability planning and program implementation, the state government set up the Water Reform Implementation Committee in September 2005, chaired by Mr Ross Kelly. The committee’s blueprint for water reform was completed in December last year and I will shortly table the state government’s response to its 72 recommendations. The blueprint is the result of some 500 individuals and community and industry groups attending 17 workshops across the state to discuss the need for water reform. The main thrust of the blueprint’s proposals relates to the provision of greater security of access and certainty of process for water users, including the agriculture, horticulture and mining industries, while ensuring that environmental water needs are met. This government is committed to continuing the improvements we have made in the management of our water resources. By accepting the vast majority of the blueprint’s recommendations, we will continue that drive for future sustainability. While I thank the committee for the extensive work and thought that has gone into its recommendations, the crucial outcome will be changing how people think about the value of water and how they can use it more wisely. The federal government has commended Western Australia as leading the nation in water management and conservation. However, we will not rest on our laurels. These reforms further our commitment to a sustainable water future. In the face of increased demand and reduced availability, we need to ensure that the allocation, use and management of water resources are carried out in the most effective way possible. The changes to be introduced include comprehensive water planning for water sources; more water trading; perpetual water entitlements; provision of environmental water entitlements; an administration fee for water licence holders; and widespread metering for licensed water users who take 50 million litres or more a year. This reform agenda also provides the framework that will allow us to meet our obligations under the national water initiative. As part of the national water debate and this state’s commitment to a unified approach to securing our water future, I will also present the government’s implementation plan for the national water initiative. The initiative is an intergovernmental agreement between the commonwealth and the states and territories. The draft implementation plan sets out key reform tasks for Western Australia and a timetable for completion. I table “Government Response to A Blueprint For Water Reform in Western Australia”, “A blueprint for water reform in Western Australia” and “Western Australia’s Implementation Plan for the National Water Initiative”. [See papers 2322 to 2324.] WOODSIDE PLUTO SITE B Statement by Minister for Indigenous Affairs MRS M.H. ROBERTS (Midland - Minister for Indigenous Affairs) [5.37 pm]: The state government is committed to ensuring that Western Australian Aboriginal culture and heritage are protected. As the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, I have very carefully weighed up the substantial amount of evidence in relation to

40 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007]

Woodside’s Pluto project and its proposed use of industrial site B. In the interests of the state and the nation, I have decided to grant Woodside consent, subject to very stringent conditions that will help protect Aboriginal sites of high significance and provide a comprehensive cultural heritage management plan. On 7 February this year, I visited site B on the Burrup Peninsula and walked across the area in question. I met with the land’s traditional owners, community members and Woodside representatives and listened to their concerns about the proposed development. The decision to grant conditional consent to Woodside has been done in a way that will ensure that Woodside makes every possible endeavour to maintain sites in situ. If sites need to be moved, they will be moved with minimal disturbance. Should there be a need to relocate any of the material, it will be done through a consultative process with the traditional owners of the land. Approximately 190 Aboriginal heritage sites have been identified through archaeological and ethnographic surveys. As a result of my consideration of the 190 sites, I have insisted that a further 20 remain in situ as opposed to the original number of five proposed by Woodside. In effect, that means that 25 sites will remain untouched and preserved. These include the archaeological sites for the thylacine, an animal now extinct and commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger, and the significantly important standing stone sites. Although Woodside has been proactive in its approach to Aboriginal heritage management, I have requested that staff from the Department of Indigenous Affairs conduct regular compliance checks to ensure that it fulfils the strict conditions I have imposed. The importance of the Woodside project goes beyond its impact on the state of Western Australia and extends to the national economy. This decision is of great importance to Australia, and in today’s dollar terms it will generate $17.5 billion towards the national economy. In terms of Western Australia’s benefit, the project will generate $28 billion in wealth to the state economy. During the construction phase of Woodside’s Pluto project, 5 000 jobs will be generated. Once it is operational, 200 people will be employed for the life of the project which, at this stage, is estimated to be more than 20 years. In 2002 the traditional owners of the land negotiated with the state government that an area commonly referred to as the Burrup industrial site would be excised from any claim to native title. In return for the traditional owners negotiating that agreement, significant financial and other benefits have flowed directly to the traditional owners. The decision of the Federal Court in considering native title in 2005 confirmed that native title had in effect been extinguished over the area of the Burrup Peninsula, which includes the entire Woodside development for the production of liquefied natural gas. Having considered all the information before me, there are no economically viable alternative sites to Pluto site B. This is the only site that will bring gas on line consistent with our international commitments with countries such as Japan and China. As Minister for Indigenous Affairs, I assure the house of my strong commitment to the wellbeing of Aboriginal people in this state, a commitment that includes supporting and maintaining Aboriginal heritage and culture. DEPARTMENT FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT - BUSHFIRE RESPONSE Statement by Minister for Communities MR D.A. TEMPLEMAN (Mandurah - Minister for Communities) [5.39 pm]: As members know, when a natural disaster such as a bushfire occurs, it impacts on the lives of many people. The fire that swept through the Dwellingup and Coolup areas last month brought heartache and devastation and destroyed property and endangered lives. It also brought out the absolute best in several tight-knit Peel communities. The way these communities responded to the tragedy was truly heart-warming, as was the way the responsible agencies went into action in the space of a few hours. I acknowledge the wonderful work of the volunteer firefighters, as well as the efforts of government departments such as the Department of Environment and Conservation and the Fire and Emergency Services Authority, and community organisations such as the Australian Red Cross, the Salvation Army and Fairbridge. I draw particular attention to the work done by my own department, the Department for Community Development, in alleviating the hardship and anxiety of hundreds of people in the aftermath of the fires. The Department for Community Development is the lead welfare support agency under the Western Australian emergency management arrangements. It is responsible for the management of the state welfare emergency management support plan, the state registration and inquiry plan and the state reception and evacuees from overseas plan. The department’s effort was led by Mandurah manager Ken Monson and emergency service unit manager Kim Dean. A large number of staff from a range of district offices and head offices and who are members of the department’s early response teams also contributed. This was their first official deployment. They and the emergency service unit worked closely with other agencies to assist people in the emergency accommodation at Fairbridge. They participated in an open information day at the Dwellingup community centre and offered information on financial support and other assistance, and are helping to distribute the funds raised from public appeals. They all deserve our warm appreciation and thanks.

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Last year the government allocated $6.9 million over four years to help support families affected by emergencies such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks. The expanded emergency services capability will provide better training, advice, support, coordination and monitoring. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING - STATE SUPPLY COMMISSION INVESTIGATION Statement by Minister for Education and Training MR M. McGOWAN (Rockingham - Minister for Education and Training) [5.41 pm]: I inform the house that the State Supply Commission has completed its investigation of contracts awarded to Huntly Consulting Group Pty Ltd and Miles Morgan Australia Pty Ltd by the Department of Education and Training. The commission’s investigation found that, where full documentation exists, contracts awarded by the department to Huntly Consulting and Miles Morgan were compliant with State Supply Commission’s open and effective competition polices. However, the commission was unable to offer an opinion on a number of contracts due to inadequate record keeping. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr M. McGOWAN: The major issue identified by the commission was the lack of documentation of verbal quotes for contracts under $10 000. In response to the commission’s criticism of record-keeping processes, the department has sent a communiqué to all directors, managers, schools and technical and further education colleges, reinforcing the requirement that staff fully understand and comply with government policy for the procurement of goods and services. In particular, emphasis has been placed on the need to maintain contract records, including for quotes that have been received verbally. Professional development programs in procurement will also be made a priority for all staff engaged in these activities. Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr M. McGOWAN: There were no findings by the State Supply Commission that the department’s procurement processes were not open and transparent and there were no findings by the State Supply Commission that departmental officers showed any bias towards Huntly Consulting and Miles Morgan. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! The minister is making a short ministerial statement. The members for Cottesloe and Vasse have spoken almost as much as the minister. Please let the minister finish because he has only one minute left in which to speak. Mr M. McGOWAN: I am pleased to table the report of the State Supply Commission. [See paper 2325.] HALLS CREEK - ACCOMMODATION AND SUPPORT INITIATIVE Statement by Minister for Indigenous Affairs MRS M.H. ROBERTS (Midland - Minister for Indigenous Affairs) [5.43 pm]: On 15 February this year, I visited Halls Creek and announced a $21.6 million package for the community that will provide safe accommodation and support for children who are most at risk. This initiative was developed in consultation with the Halls Creek community, the Shire of Halls Creek and state government agencies. As the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, my priority is to provide a safe and supportive environment for children in need of immediate protection. Another area of concern to be addressed in this initiative is the introduction of a school truancy and responsible parenting program that is aimed at addressing family violence and alcohol and other drug abuse. Included in the $21.6 million package will be two residential care homes in Halls Creek for children aged zero to six years and six to 15 years. This initiative will make a significant contribution to help address some of the most serious problems that plague the Halls Creek community. The hostel complex will be located on an existing Department of Community Development property, which will be renovated and extended. Once fully implemented, the hostel complex will be able to support up to 18 children ranging in age from zero to 15 years. The state government’s commitment also includes the provision of improved foster care services, with additional funding for a total of 18 children. It is expected that many of these children will have special developmental, educational and health requirements. As part of the package, special assistance will be provided to meet these needs and, if appropriate, a plan will be put in place to reunite the children with their families. Supporting

42 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] parents and extended family members who struggle to raise children and young people who are truant from school or who engage in other antisocial behaviour is also an important issue for the community in Halls Creek. I believe parents and students will benefit from additional school resources that will provide homework classes and after-school sports and other activities, as well as counselling services. The education and truancy initiative will include the employment of a local indigenous person who will liaise with an elders reference group, as well as the school board. The $21.6 million package builds on the government’s commitment to improving services in Halls Creek. Members will remember that last year the state government approved $15 million for a number of projects in Halls Creek. These included - the construction of four new public rental properties - which are due for completion midyear; the upgrade and refurbishment of eight public rental homes - four of those refurbishments have been completed; the purchase and development of 12 lots for new public rental housing and 10 lots for government officers’ housing - those lots are expected to be available by the end of March; the appointment of a new community child protection worker; detoxification services at the new Halls Creek hospital - these have been in place since July 2006; expanding the Halls Creek homemaker program; an indigenous employment initiative; and the construction of six two-bedroom units for government regional officers’ housing - these are due for completion in October. I think this speaks volumes for our government’s commitment to the people of Halls Creek. UNITINGCARE’S PANCAKE DAY Statement by Minister for Communities MR D.A. TEMPLEMAN (Mandurah - Minister for Communities) [5.46 pm]: Last Tuesday, 20 February, was UnitingCare’s Pancake Day. This is an annual national event that raises awareness of the impact of poverty on the lives of Australians and raises funds for UnitingCare’s work with disadvantaged and vulnerable people. On Pancake Day, thousands of individuals, businesses, schools, churches and community groups cook and sell pancakes to raise funds for UnitingCare’s services. National Pancake Day involves more than 2 000 groups across Australia cooking, tossing and topping 200 000-plus pancakes to raise awareness of the impact of poverty in Australia and to raise funds for UnitingCare’s work with disadvantaged and vulnerable Australians. In Perth, UnitingCare Western Australia celebrated Pancake Day at the front of the Wesley Church, on the corner of William and Hay Streets. The catch-cry of Pancake Day - “share it ‘round’” - promotes the idea of sharing with those in need in our communities. The message is that there is enough for everyone if we share it “’round”. UnitingCare’s network of agencies and missions across Australia provides practical support and advocacy to more than one million Australians each year. Buying a $2 pancake supports UnitingCare Western Australia in the important community work it does, and it does a tremendous job. UnitingCare Western Australia runs programs addressing homelessness, poverty, substance abuse issues, disability services, psychiatric illness, ageing, loneliness, brain injury, primary support breakdowns and financial crises. Since it began in 2002, more than half a million people have eaten a pancake at one of UnitingCare’s Pancake Day events. In 2006, 3 370 groups participated in UnitingCare’s Pancake Day, raising more than $600 000. About 33 700 volunteers assisted in running Pancake Day events for UnitingCare in communities across Australia in 2006. It is important that members in this place respect and commend UnitingCare and other community organisations for these sorts of initiatives and for the community spirit that they generate in our state to support those in need in our community. QUESTION TIME Statement by Speaker THE SPEAKER (Mr F. Riebeling): In view of the time, I will allow question time to start. I do not intend that we sit past six o’clock. After the member for Peel has given his inaugural speech immediately following the dinner break, we will return to question time. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE PREMIER - BRIAN BURKE CANDIDATE 1. Mr P.D. OMODEI to the Premier: I remind the Premier of his comments in this house on 21 November last year when asked whether any of his colleagues had negotiated a deal with Brian Burke to secure his position as Premier.

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He stated - What an outrageous suggestion of the great Australian Labor Party - the good men and women of the state Labor Party. What a shocking suggestion. . . . I do not have to ask my members those sorts of ridiculous conspiratorial questions. (1) Did the Premier read the transcripts from the Corruption and Crime Commission yesterday when the member for Murchison-Eyre, the Premier’s numbers man, revealed that he had contacted Brian Burke to secure Mr Burke’s support for his candidate for Premier? (2) Can the Premier confirm that he is that candidate? (3) Can the Premier confirm that, as part of his grubby little deal, the member for Murchison-Eyre was put in charge of the sensitive resources development portfolio, and the former member for Peel was put into the cabinet? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(3) I could not keep up. There were a lot of sub-parts to the question. On a basic run through them, the answer is “no” to all those propositions being put. Mr P.D. Omodei: So you didn’t read the transcripts of the - Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Yes, I did read the transcripts, but the Leader of the Opposition’s questions were about who did what to whom and why. It is a flight of fancy. I am aware that some dates were mentioned in the transcript. My understanding - this is from my memory - is that the phone call, the e-mail or the message that was left was on 31 January. I was sworn in as the Premier on 25 January. It is a long time to say “thank you”, six days later. I think that there was the cabinet election for the - Mr T. Buswell: Who would Mr Burke’s candidate for cabinet have been? Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is not the point of the question, though, is it? Mr T. Buswell: Who would it have been, though? Mr A.J. CARPENTER: That is not the point of the question. I had absolutely no contact with Brian Burke. I had one phone call from Brian Burke last year, and I think I have said that. Very surprisingly, about midyear, I received a call on my mobile phone and found that it was Brian Burke. I asked, “How did you get my number?” He said, “Don’t worry about that”, and then he complained about a story about his daughter in The West Australian newspaper, and seemed to be asserting that I had something to do with it. I immediately got a new phone with a different number. COMMONWEALTH GRANTS COMMISSION - ALLOCATION TO WESTERN AUSTRALIA 2. Dr J.M. EDWARDS to the Treasurer: Can the Treasurer inform the house how much goods and services tax revenue the state government will lose if federal Treasurer Peter Costello adopts the latest recommendations from the Commonwealth Grants Commission. Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: Mr Speaker - Mr T. Buswell interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The member for Vasse should not be taken as any authority on history, because the goods and services tax agreement, of course, was signed by Richard Court and inherited by this government. Mr T. Buswell: I didn’t see you down at the land tax meeting, Treasurer. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Vasse! Mr E.S. RIPPER: This is an important issue, and I would hope that even the member for Vasse would show some interest in the pernicious effect on Western Australia of the Commonwealth Grants Commission recommendations. Mr T. Buswell interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: However, the member for Vasse appears to not have the interests of Western Australia at heart, because he does not even want to allow me to put forward the information. However, here it is for those

44 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] other members of the house who I think are concerned about this state’s ability to fund services, infrastructure and the economic growth of the state. Several members interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: They want to shout me down, Mr Speaker. The SPEAKER: I am quite convinced that the people on my left want to finish question time now, but I am sure that we will finish at least the answer to this question. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Commonwealth Grants Commission is recommending a $272 million cut in GST revenue in 2007-08. That cut will mean that by 2010-11 we will have lost a total of $1.2 billion in commonwealth grants as a result of the Commonwealth Grants Commission recommendations. Of course, taking $1.2 billion of financial capacity from the state government’s grasp will affect our ability to deliver services, to build infrastructure and, indeed, unfortunately, to cut taxes. We are being punished for our economic success. If the Leader of the Opposition is so foolish to think that this is a matter that can be settled by negotiation, he has no understanding of the agreement that was signed by his own leader when he sat in the cabinet. Perhaps he did not pay attention when Richard Court briefed the cabinet on that particular matter. Under the formula adopted by the Commonwealth Grants Commission, states whose economies are doing well are punished - Mr T. Buswell interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Vasse to order. Mr E.S. RIPPER: Their share of commonwealth grants is transferred to the states whose economies are weaker. The Commonwealth Grants Commission - Mr P.D. Omodei: You didn’t even have an application - The SPEAKER: Order! I call the Leader of the Opposition to order for the second time. Mr P.D. Omodei: You have got no guts. The SPEAKER: Order! I call the Leader of the Opposition to order for the third time. Ms S.E. Walker: Why weren’t you at the rally? The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Nedlands to order for the second time. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The Commonwealth Grants Commission is very quick to take account of Western Australia’s revenue growth but it is much slower to recognise the increasing cost that are confronting the state. We are disadvantaged by the fact that the Commonwealth Grants Commission process does not recognise sufficiently the cost of providing infrastructure in Western Australia to support the economic growth that it then uses as a reason to transfer a share of commonwealth grants from us to places such as New South Wales, Victoria, and . When we look at GST, which is what I am talking about at the moment, that is only part of the story. Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER: The member can harass me if he wants on any number of other issues, but I think that he really ought to pay attention to the interests of the state. He should think about the interests of the state because what is happening, member for Cottesloe and others - Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Cottesloe to order for the third time. I call the member for South Perth to order. Mr E.S. RIPPER: What is happening, member for Cottesloe, is that our share of commonwealth grants is being steadily reduced because the Commonwealth Grants Commission says that we are more successful than other states. That means that we get a lower share of commonwealth grants. The money will go to the states that are not as successful. The difference will be $1.2 billion over four years. Imagine what infrastructure we could have built with that. Imagine if we were able to devote that or a portion of that, for example, to tax relief. Imagine if we were able to put some of that into services. Imagine what improvements we could get. That is only part of the story. That is the GST part of the story. There is another side of the story, which is the total commonwealth tax take in Western Australia compared with total commonwealth expenditure. We are moving from having a slight benefit in terms of our share of the GST to being a donor state for the GST. The overall context is that the commonwealth taxes us $28 billion and gives back to Western Australia $24 billion. Even the member for Vasse, who has not been paying much attention during my answer, might be able to notice that there is a $4 billion difference, which is $2 000 for every Western Australian per annum. That is the extent

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 45 of our subsidy to the rest of the country. I believe that the community of Western Australia is entitled to say that we are in the middle of a very strong period of economic growth and that we should take the proceeds of the economic growth and reinvest them in Western Australia’s future. The difficulty is that we cannot, as a state, capture the full proceeds of our economic growth because they are captured by other states and the commonwealth government. The situation is getting worse. Every year the subsidy grows. In 1986 there was no subsidy at all. It is now $4 billion. I think that the next time we do the analysis it will be $5 billion. It could be broken down for individual projects, and I will use the Ravensthorpe nickel project as an example. We are putting in $30 million of common-user infrastructure to support the project. The commonwealth is putting in $11 million. The commonwealth will get seven times the fiscal benefit from the Ravensthorpe nickel project than will the state government. When the state government receives its benefit, the grants commission will come along and redistribute even that benefit and give some of it to the other states. Fortunately, there is one political leader at a national level who understands Western Australia’s circumstances, and that leader is Kevin Rudd. He has promised to give Western Australia $100 million a year in royalties from the Gorgon gas project. That is something that John Howard has resolutely set his face against. We have never had any sensitivity from John Howard at all but Kevin Rudd understands. He listens. He has made a commitment to Western Australia and that will help us invest in infrastructure that will help the state grow. Thank you, Kevin Rudd, for listening. An opposition member: Go on! The SPEAKER: No, I have had enough! I will leave the chair until seven o’clock. [Continued on page 48.] Sitting suspended from 6.00 to 7.00 pm MEMBER FOR PEEL Inaugural Speech Mr P. PAPALIA (Peel) [7.00 pm]: Mr Speaker, I stand here before you the result of a striking decision by the people of the Peel electorate. Asked by many and expected by most to punish the incumbent government in this by-election, the voters of Peel instead took a different path. On 3 February they resoundingly endorsed the leadership of the Premier and this government. Not surprisingly, the result confounded the pundits. Why, they asked, would people choose to support a government in such a controversial by-election? Why would they not only support that government but also return its candidate with an even greater margin? Mired in a cynical and constrained view of political life, some commentators sought to rewrite their pre-election assessment. “It was always a safe seat”, they declared; “the people of Peel are blue-collar workers who will always vote Labor. They have very short memories these days and incumbency is everything.” Mr Speaker, it will probably not surprise you that, being new to politics and unencumbered by years of grinding pessimism, I have a different view. In the course of the campaign, I had the pleasure of meeting thousands of voters in the Peel electorate. I met them at their doors, in their shopping centres, at community centres, clubs and associations. I met them in the southern suburbs of Kwinana, the leafy streets of Settlers Hills, the established pockets of Woodbridge and Hillman and in the rapidly expanding coastal strip in suburbs as diverse as Waikiki, Warnbro, Port Kennedy, Secret Harbour, Golden Bay and Singleton. Although I could not meet all those who reside in the semi-rural expanses of Baldivis, I wrote to all of them and received dozens of detailed replies. The people I met share many things in common. These are people who aspire to a good life. They care about their community and are angered by antisocial behaviour such as vandalism and irresponsible driving. They want the best for their children and grandchildren, including good schools, employment opportunities and high quality health care. Overwhelmingly, they care about their environment and recognise the need to protect and preserve the many unique natural attributes of the Peel electorate and this state. They see security of water supplies and combating global warming as mainstream issues that we all need to confront in a positive fashion. But - and it is a salient point overlooked by many commentators - these people are not a homogenous mass easily pigeonholed under the label “definite ALP voter”. Rather, I believe the people of the Peel electorate share other characteristics that explain the election result. They are positive and optimistic. Faced with the alternative of anger and negativity, they chose hope. Given the chance to support an honest and forthright Premier, willing to take hard decisions, the people of Peel grasped that chance with both hands. Instead of the easy, negative option of sending a message to the government, the people of Peel took the more challenging decision to encourage a fresh approach. This is why so many commentators were perplexed by the result. Optimism does not appear in the lexicon of the average political analyst. By contrast, optimism and hope are things I have encountered constantly throughout my short but very crowded political life. That I entered this process at all is entirely attributable to the vision and courage of three men and one woman. The three men are the Premier, Hon Alan Carpenter, MLA; my old navy colleague, Hon Mark McGowan, MLA; and the Australian Labor Party state secretary, Mr Bill Johnston. Despite my complete lack of political

46 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] experience, and in contravention of accepted conventions, these men saw fit to ask me to nominate for preselection, and then supported me through the subsequent turbulent months. Theirs was a bold decision and I will at all times aim to fulfil their trust. The woman to whom I refer is my wife, partner and closest friend Gillian. Together, we considered the consequences of following this new path, and together we decided it was an obligation rather than a choice. But she alone will bear the brunt of my absence and the burden of public life without accolades. I will be forever grateful for that and will always strive to repay her support in kind. I owe a debt of gratitude to many others who have joined this journey. The dedication, enthusiasm and energy of our campaign volunteers were constant sources of inspiration. The steady hand of experience provided by Simon Mead, Hon Kate Doust, MLC, and Margaret and Max Duff firmed resolve and calmed nerves when things might otherwise have gone awry. At the same time, the youthful exuberance and idealism of Terry Healy, Gus Riggs, Varun Gosh and Esmeralda Rocha proved irresistibly contagious. All of these people, teamed with the serene and calming presence of Maureen Meredith, made my first political campaign far less turbulent than it might otherwise have been. I was also buoyed by my encounters with the wider labour movement. Coming from the outside, I had been used to the critics invoking the image of the Labor Party as some type of machine, grinding its way on an endless quest for power and influence. The portrayal of the unions as faceless monsters intent on wreaking havoc on workplaces and destroying the economy is standard conservative fare. My experience has been different. The hundreds of Labor Party and union volunteers who joined me in doorknocking during the campaign and who flocked to assist on the day of the election were just people. People driven by a shared ideal that government should afford a fair go to every member of our society and should be responsible for offering a hand up to those who fall by the way. People willing to sacrifice their time and energy in the service of that ideal. But other than that, they are just good, honest people. People typified by the members of the Australian Labor Party sub- branches comprising the federal Brand electorate council. None had met me before preselection, but all willingly embraced and supported the campaign. I am proud of all these Labor Party people. That I stand here now is tribute to their collective generosity and hard work. One of the good Labor people who helped in the campaign has, in my opinion, also contributed to the building of this nation as much as any Western Australian in modern times. Hon Kim Beazley, MP, rightly lists the two- ocean navy concept and the associated basing of our ships and submarines at Garden Island amongst his proudest achievements. As a consequence of this far-sighted decision, the Peel electorate has the highest density of serving military personnel of any electorate in the state. The fact that both the member for Rockingham and I have a Navy background shows that Labor recognises the importance of service personnel to the Rockingham- Kwinana region, the state and the nation. My Navy service as a has shaped who I am. Mateship, determination, courage and an abiding sense of humour distinguish the clearance diver. His forebears dived in murky waters, or waded across mudflats, to render safe by hand mines and bombs never before encountered. Their heroics stamped them as the bravest of the brave and ensured they were among the most highly decorated Australians of World War II. Foremost of these men was the late, great Western Australian Leon Verdi Goldsworthy, GC, DSC, GM. Subsequent generations have seen hazardous service in Malaya, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Gulf War, East Timor, and Iraq, and many other smaller events around the globe. They served in the counter-terrorist squadron of the Special Air Service Regiment for 15 years and continue the same role with the Commando Battalion to this day. I am honoured to be an ex-Navy and remain thankful for the friendship and support of so many who carry the same title. In particular I wish to acknowledge three ex-divers and their partners who supported my campaign: Mr Simon Smith, recipient of a Commendation for Distinguished Service in East Timor, and his partner, Raylene; Captain Adam McPhail, Cape Cuvier port pilot, and his partner, Veronica; and Captain Michael Edwards, OAM, Cape Cuvier port pilot, and his partner, Ilonka. All residents of Peel, they have been, and continue to be, stalwart friends. Veterans’ support for my campaign was not limited to the recently retired. I am also very grateful for the assistance and advice of two ex-soldiers, Mr Terry Healy senior, and Mr Barry Gilbert. They are representative of a great many of my constituents, and their presence on my team meant an enormous amount to me. Labor acknowledges the high regard in which members of the service and ex-service community are held in today’s society. My feelings reflect this attitude. I am proud of my service. However, I am even more proud of the men and women who continue to serve. If I achieve anything in my time in this place, I hope it will be a greater voice for our service and ex-service, and in particular our veteran, community. They and their families deserve more than a photo opportunity on their return from a mission. Those who place themselves in harm’s way on our behalf deserve our ongoing respect, gratitude and care. In contrast with the respect so rightly afforded to our ex-service community, the political process and those engaged in it are increasingly held in low esteem. Many times during the Peel campaign a range of people questioned my motivation, if not my sanity. One senior journalist, touchingly concerned for my wellbeing,

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 47 asked why on earth I would willingly relinquish the highly revered status of a veteran for perhaps one of the most derided professions in the community - a politician. In retrospect, one response might have been that I refuse to relinquish that status. After all, politicians are just people who bring with them, and draw upon, the sum total of their previous life experience. However, that reply would not do justice to the question. I am deeply concerned by the ongoing decline in respect for the political process. Mesmerised by constant revelations of the human frailties suffered by some in the political process, we risk diminishing more than the reputations of a few politicians. Daily public focus exclusively on wrongdoing and perceived wrongdoing by the few disregards the goodwill and honest intentions of the many. To remain optimistic is difficult. Far easier instead to mock the entire political process and all those engaged therein, or, worse still, to opt out entirely and claim no interest whatsoever in the political process. As a society we risk succumbing to political apathy. The answer to the journalist’s question of why would I become a politician is simple. Given the opportunity, I felt obliged to step forward. Generations of Australian men and women have sacrificed much so that we can benefit from this political system. It is one of the best political systems in the world. It is the bedrock upon which all our freedoms, rights and conventions rest. To enjoy the benefits of a representative democracy such as ours is a very rare privilege. I have been to parts of the world in which people would willingly forfeit everything for a democracy that is remotely like ours. I also believe there are many good men and women on both sides of politics. I believe that all those who enter this place do so with the intention of doing good and serving their community. The vast majority of members maintain that focus and contribute greatly to the betterment of our society. I believe it is essential that we attract good aspirants to political life from as many walks of life as possible. Therefore, faced with the opportunity to contribute, I simply had no choice. Beyond the apathy and cynicism of politics I will focus on another issue that increasingly threatens the wellbeing of our society. To illustrate my concern I request the indulgence of members as I tell the story of a man I know. This man came to Australia from overseas. Although he gratefully adopted his new home, this man spoke English with a broad accent and preferred to speak to his friends in his mother tongue. His wife wore traditional clothing that many Australians found to be dark and strange looking. The man and his wife had children who were born in Australia, but their family was still viewed with a little suspicion by other Australians. This suspicion was heightened when Australia joined a war in which many of the man’s former countrymen were on the opposing side. Concerned over security and fearful of attack, the man’s neighbours reported what they believed to be suspicious activity. They were concerned that he might be a terrorist. The man was removed from his family and jailed. Left behind, his family were subjected to harassment by the authorities and verbal abuse by their fellow Australians. That story probably sounds familiar to many members and, no doubt, some members are already categorising me as a bleeding heart for telling this story. Maybe I am soft on terrorists or anti-American. Maybe I lack courage and want to cut and run instead of standing by my mates. Today, these are common criticisms of anybody who is willing to stand up for people like this man. However, there is a point to my telling this story. The man whose story I told was eventually released from confinement. He and his wife made an honest contribution to Australian society. His sons and daughter went on to make their own contribution. Indeed, inside a decade of this man’s release from confinement, one of his sons served in the Australian Army in the Korean War. His grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren continue to make contributions to this day. In fact, one of that man’s grandsons stands before this house as the most recently elected member of Parliament in the state in which a little over half a century ago he was imprisoned as a potential terrorist. I am not soft on terrorists. I am not anti-American. I love my country and will willingly do anything to defend it against a threat. However, I am gravely concerned when minority groups are used as scapegoats and targeted for political purposes. I believe the best way to defend this country against internal threats is to promote inclusiveness. Minority groups that feel they are part of society will work to defend it and are best placed to identify rogue elements. Debate on this matter is often led at the federal level, but the impact of that debate and subsequent changes to society are experienced in every state, including this state. By isolating people we fuel discontent and risk missing out on potentially significant contributions from future generations. I believe it is the role of government to exercise good leadership and assist everybody to make a full contribution to society. This government is leading for all people. The people of the electorate of Peel recognised that at the by-election. They could see the evidence: the massive Perth to Mandurah railway and Perth to Bunbury highway projects; a $100 million upgrade to Rockingham-Kwinana hospital; a $107 million investment in school infrastructure; and a commitment to a transit police station in Rockingham and a police station in Secret Harbour. Since the election they will also have noted the move by this government to fund a shared equity scheme to assist with the housing needs of those challenged by the state of our economy. There is always more to be done and I look forward to being part of the team that continues to lead in this state’s progress. I also take the opportunity to repeat my election night pledge to the people of Peel: I will never forget who put me in the job and will always remember who I work for.

48 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007]

In closing, Mr Speaker, I must return to the subject of respect for the political process. While it is true that many wondered why I would ever choose this path, it is just as true that many of our family and friends have been incredibly supportive. I thank my parents, Frank and Edna Papalia, who are here today from my home town of Burekup, for their unstinting loyalty and practical support throughout the campaign. They raised all their sons with a touchstone sense of right and wrong. It has guided me through my life and I trust it will aid me in navigating these new and challenging waters. I thank Gillian’s mother, Patricia Weston, for her unfailing support throughout this process. I might add that it made the decision process far easier knowing that my mother-in-law was an absolute true believer. To my brothers, sister-in-law, nephews, extended family, including Gillian’s extended family, and friends, some of whom are here today, I thank them for their support and the flood of best wishes we have received. They all served to strengthen our resolve. I thank our little boys, Daniel and Jacob, for always reminding me of what is truly important: I hope that one day they will forgive me for disrupting their lives. Finally, to the journalists concerned over my well-being, I say thank you, but rest assured I am a Burekup boy and, by comparison, Balmain boys are wimps! [Applause.] QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE Resumed from an earlier stage of the sitting. CORRUPTION AND CRIME COMMISSION - COMMENTS OF MEMBER FOR RIVERTON 3. Mr T. BUSWELL to the Premier: I refer to comments from the member for Riverton, the former Minister for the Environment, when he said - The Premier has his interpretation of the matter wrong. The CCC has either wilfully withheld information that would have clarified the supposition that it was putting in its hearings, or it’s incompetent. In light of these comments, can the Premier guarantee that the Corruption and Crime Commission will be allowed to continue to operate in an open and accountable manner? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: Yes. MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES - IMPROVEMENTS 4. Mr A.P. O’GORMAN to the Minister for Health: Will the minister advise the house of the resources this government is investing to improve mental health services? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I thank the member for the question. I am very pleased that yesterday the new Ellis ward at Graylands hospital opened. It is a 14-bed secure ward that will do a lot both to reduce the on our emergency departments presented by mental health patients as well as provide for far better mental health care for people who need support in our public hospital system. It will have nine patients as of tomorrow and it will evolve progressively, as was always intended from opening yesterday, to 14 beds being fully operational within the next month. The member for Cottesloe was present at the public open day two weeks ago to look at this facility. I think it is regarded as one of the best in Australia for what it does. It also includes in addition to the 14 secure inpatient beds a four-bed assessment area that will enable people suffering acute episodes of mental health to be assessed. Hawthorn Hospital, which was converted with effect from December last year to a subacute facility for people with mental health concerns, and which was again designed to upgrade the level of mental health care for people who need it, now has nine patients, with three pending admissions. In addition, in the past 12 months emergency department mental health liaison nurses have been introduced throughout the Geraldton and metropolitan areas in six sites to improve the care of mental health patients who present in emergency departments. In addition, work has now well progressed on community-supported accommodation for people with mental illnesses. Construction is almost complete in Albany and Geraldton, is underway in Busselton, and is about to commence in Bunbury, Bentley, Armadale, Peel, Osborne Park, Kalamunda and Middle Swan, with a further facility in each of Bentley, Mt Claremont and Osborne Park. Of particular interest to me is the provision for mental health facilities for homeless people. This has been a controversial issue in my electorate of Fremantle. I was gravely disappointed that the Fremantle city council chose not to support this particular facility. I was very pleased that the Western Australia Planning Commission rejected completely the view of the Fremantle city council and gave approval for the facility for homeless youth to be built in Alma Street, Fremantle, which will be under way after tenders have been called in July this year. Several members interjected.

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The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: By contrast, the Perth city council approved the construction of a facility twice that size in central Perth for homeless people with mental health disabilities. I mention these initiatives to the house as they are very positive steps in caring for people with mental illnesses. For some years now Western Australia has had the highest per capita expenditure on mental health patients of any state or territory in Australia. With this new commitment for capital works and the associated staff, we will continue to be the largest contributing state caring for the mental health needs of its residents. CORRUPTION AND CRIME COMMISSION - PHONE TAP INVESTIGATION TIP-OFFS 5. Ms S.E. WALKER to the Attorney General: I refer to allegations by Labor powerbroker Kevin Reynolds that certain members of the left faction of the government have been tipped off about the Corruption and Crime Commission phone tap investigations into the activities of his mate Brian Burke - Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! Ms S.E. WALKER: I can start again. Several members interjected. Ms S.E. WALKER: I refer to allegations by Labor power broker Kevin Reynolds that certain members of the left faction of the government have been tipped off about the Corruption and Crime Commission phone tap investigations into the activities of his mate Brian Burke. (1) Will the Attorney General confirm that under the legislation the one person who would have this information is the Attorney General? (2) Has the Attorney General leaked this confidential information to his own faction for political gain? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(2) First of all, I express some surprise. This is the first time in this house that I have heard members of the opposition refer to Kevin Reynolds as a reputable and reliable source! Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I wonder who wrote that question for the member for Nedlands! Ms S.E. Walker: I didn’t say that. Dr K.D. Hames: She didn’t say that. Ms S.E. Walker: Did you tip them off? Mr J.A. McGINTY: I was surprised that the member for Nedlands was placing such credence on his words. I will go on to answer the question. Kevin Reynolds and Brian Burke are close friends, and I think that relationship colours what each of them says. I would be very surprised if anyone warned anyone else of phone taps conducted by the CCC. I certainly did not and would not. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members can telegraph their punches. In other words, I would be very surprised if there was any truth whatsoever in Kevin Reynolds’ unsubstantiated allegations. Mr T. Buswell: Why would he say that? Mr J.A. McGINTY: Most people accept responsibility for their actions. Kevin Reynolds seems to suggest somewhat that others are somehow or other culpable for the misbehaviour of some of his friends; behaviour that has fallen short of acceptable standards. CORRUPTION AND CRIME COMMISSION - PHONE TAP INVESTIGATION TIP-OFFS 6. Ms S.E. WALKER to the Attorney General: I ask a supplementary question. Given that the Attorney General gave a hard copy of the Lewandowski affidavit to the member for Yokine prior to it being made public, how can this Parliament and the Western Australian public have any confidence in his response? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: They can.

50 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007]

WATER SMART AUSTRALIA PROGRAM - STATE PROJECTS 7. Mr M.P. MURRAY to the Minister for Water Resources: Western Australia submitted five projects to the commonwealth’s Water Smart Australia program in June 2006. Can the minister outline what progress Western Australia has made in securing funds from the commonwealth? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: I thank the member for his question. It reflects the fact that he has a keen interest in ensuring that we use water resources as wisely as possible and that we secure the water future of Western Australia. That is something that this government - Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: We can move on only after the minister has answered the question. That is how it works. If the same level of interjections continues, the time for questions will cease. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: It is interesting that at the same time that the federal Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Malcolm Turnbull, and the Prime Minister commented positively on Western Australia’s leadership on water matters, all we heard from the state Liberal opposition was cries of derision. It simply does not want to face up to the facts. I was pleased to meet with Mr Turnbull in Perth last week. He was able to respond to some of our requests. Roughly $30 million will be allocated to statutory water management plans for Gnangara, Pilbara, Collie and the south west. Of that, $15 million will be spent on managed aquifer recharge at Beenyup. That $30 million is only a fraction of what this government is spending. In fact, it is about 2.5 per cent of what the national government will provide the states under the scheme. We are certainly very thankful for the start of what we hope will be a productive partnership with the commonwealth. However, we must make it clear that we expect our fair share of the money. Given that Western Australia comprises 10 per cent of Australia’s population, one-third of its land mass and one-third of the nation’s material exports, the percentage should be somewhere between 10 and 30 per cent of the national money. If we were to receive all the grants that we have requested, we would still have only 6.5 per cent of the national money. We are still looking for money for the Kwinana reclamation plant stage 2 and for a high-pressured irrigation system in the Carnarvon area, which is a very productive horticultural area that could be enhanced with the pressuring of irrigation. The Harvey-Waroona piping project is a $150 million project for which we hope the commonwealth will provide a fair share of the money. The partnership is off to a good start; however, in terms of what is a fair share for Western Australia, we have a long way to go. Members on this side of the house will battle to ensure that Western Australia is recognised and that it receives a fair share of the money. It is a pity that members opposite are not willing to stick up for Western Australia. DAYLIGHT SAVING TRIAL 8. Mr B.J. GRYLLS to the Premier: Given that the Premier has already admitted that he made a gross error of judgment by opening up cabinet communication lines to Mr Burke and Mr Grill, I ask - (1) Does the Premier concede that canvassing support for a daylight saving trial without any public consultation was another major error of judgment? (2) Does the Premier concede that there is major division and upheaval in the community as a result of daylight saving and the way it was introduced? (3) What will the Premier say to the 24 000 people who signed petitions - they were delivered to National Party members at Parliament House today - calling for a referendum this year? (4) Is the Premier now prepared to give people a say on this important issue by supporting a National Party private member’s bill that calls for an early referendum? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: (1)-(4) I regret that as the Leader of the National Party asked his questions, I did not write them down. Will the Leader of the National Party repeat them one at a time? Mr B.J. Grylls: I really want to know whether the Premier now concedes that there is major division and upheaval in the community as a result of daylight saving. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: No more so than usual. EXPORT INFRASTRUCTURE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA - FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTRIBUTION 9. Mr S.R. HILL to the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure: Is the federal government making any real contribution to the provision of vital export infrastructure in Western Australia?

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Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied: I thank the member for Geraldton for the question. He knows first-hand about the pressure that has been put on the local communities of Western Australia as a result of the massive growth of our mining and other export activities. Western Australia is now producing in the order of 42 per cent of the value of the nation’s exports. However, it is not getting anywhere near adequate assistance from the federal government - Mr T. Buswell interjected. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN: These are updated figures. The SPEAKER: I call the member for Vasse to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN: More than 50 per cent of the volume of Australia’s exports is exported from Western Australia’s ports. Dr K.D. Hames interjected. The SPEAKER: I call the member for Dawesville to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN: Each of the seven regional ports from Broome to Esperance must be upgraded, and the state government is taking full responsibility for upgrading each of those facilities. In addition, there is enormous pressure on the road and rail links into each of the ports. We have seen no commitment whatsoever from the federal government to provide assistance to the state government for any of those projects. We have heard about the $19 billion the federal government will spend, most of which it appears will be spent in marginal seats in . This is a completely unacceptable set of circumstances. Western Australia is bringing home the bacon for the Australian economy and, as a result, our regional communities are under a lot of pressure. We need commonwealth assistance for our road and rail infrastructure. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: If the member for Cottesloe does not want to be here, he can keep interjecting. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN: The mentor is back to his nasty, shifty self. Another issue for regional Western Australia is the failed privatisation of the grain rail infrastructure. It now appears to be almost inevitable that 1 000 kilometres of grain rail will be closed. After Westrail was sold for a profit of some $300 million, the rail companies now want us to put $300 million into road and rail infrastructure to make it work. We need commonwealth assistance and a massive injection of commonwealth funds into regional road and rail infrastructure. I expect members opposite to support us in that request. MINISTER FOR PLANNING AND INFRASTRUCTURE - ADVICE FROM BRIAN BURKE ON OBTAINING E-MAILS UNDER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 10. Dr S.C. THOMAS to the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure: During the hearings of the Corruption and Crime Commission yesterday involving the member for Murchison- Eyre, it was revealed that the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure received advice from Brian Burke about whether certain e-mails were able to be obtained under freedom of information legislation. (1) Will the minister confirm that she received such advice? (2) What was the information that Brian Burke and the minister were so keen to conceal from the public of Western Australia? Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied: (1)-(2) The member is completely off the page. Mr T. Buswell: It is on the page; we have it here if you want to read it. The SPEAKER: Order, member! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN: Are members opposite interested in listening to the response? I am more than happy to provide a response. We received an FOI request for the disclosure of all contact our office had with Mr Brian Burke and Mr Julian Grill. I think all ministers got a similar request. As part of the process that is provided for in the legislation, the FOI coordinator duly wrote standard formal letters to Mr Burke and Mr Grill informing them that we had a number of documents from them in our records and that they had a right to comment on whether they wanted those documents to be excluded in any way. The response from Mr Grill was that he had no objection to any of these documents being disclosed and sought no exemptions. Mr Burke wrote a very legal letter - I presume it was written by some lawyer - setting out in great detail the reasons that he objected to the disclosure of these documents. We then sought independent advice from the State Solicitor’s Office on the letter that he had sent us and, after having considered all those matters, we released 14 e-mails. It

52 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] has always been our view that there is nothing in the nature of an e-mail that exempts it from freedom of information applications, so that advice from Mr Burke has been wrongly interpreted. MINISTER FOR PLANNING AND INFRASTRUCTURE - ADVICE FROM BRIAN BURKE ON OBTAINING E-MAILS UNDER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 11. Dr S.C. THOMAS to the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure: As a supplementary question, the minister said that 14 e-mails were released. Can she tell us how many documents there were in total and how many were not released, and will she release those documents? Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied: We will continue to abide by the FOI legislation. BRIAN BURKE AND JULIAN GRILL - CONFIDENTIAL CABINET INFORMATION 12. Mr R.F. JOHNSON to the Premier: I refer to the leaking of confidential cabinet information to Brian Burke and Julian Grill and the politicisation of the public service. (1) How can the people of Western Australia have any confidence that the Premier’s government is putting the interests of the community ahead of allegiances to Labor mates? (2) Does he trust the other members around his cabinet table, given that two others have already lied to him about the extent of their dealings with Mr Burke and Mr Grill? (3) Can he guarantee that no other confidential cabinet information has been released to third parties for their commercial gain? Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for the question. (1) The public will judge me on the way I have responded to these issues. Members of the opposition will ultimately have the chance to put that question to the public directly, just as they did in Peel, and I wish them luck. (2) Yes. (3) If there are other issues that require my attention and if there are other issues that require the Corruption and Crime Commission’s attention, the CCC will do its job and so will I. BILLS Assent Messages from the Governor received and read notifying assent to the following bills - 1. Consumer Protection Legislation Amendment and Repeal Bill 2005. 2. Betting and Racing Legislation Amendment Bill 2006. 3. Shipping and Pilotage Amendment Bill 2006. 4. Railway Discontinuance Bill (No. 2) 2006. 5. Liquor and Gaming Legislation Amendment Bill 2006. 6. Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Bill 2006. 7. Auditor General Bill 2006. 8. Financial Management Bill 2006. 9. Financial Legislation Amendment and Repeal Bill 2006. BILLS Appropriations Messages from the Governor received and read recommending appropriations for the purposes of the following bills - 1. National Environment Protection Council (Western Australia) Amendment Bill 2007. 2. Racing, Wagering and Betting Legislation Amendment and Repeal Bill 2007.

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DAYLIGHT SAVING - REFERENDUM Petition MR B.J. GRYLLS (Merredin - Leader of the National Party) [7.44 pm]: I have a petition signed by 16 903 petitioners, and it reads 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, say that we are strongly opposed to the introduction of Daylight Saving to Western Australia. Furthermore, we request that a referendum be held before 31 October 2007 so that a democratic decision can be reached. Now we ask the Legislative Assembly to initiate the said referendum and ensure that the said referendum takes place before 31 October 2007. I understand that this meets all standing orders of the Parliament. A similar petition was presented by Mr T.K. Waldron (Deputy Leader of the National Party) (708 signatures). [See papers 177 and 178.] PAPERS TABLED Papers were tabled and ordered to lie upon the table of the house. WORKCOVER WESTERN AUSTRALIA - ANNUAL REPORT 2005-06 Correction to Tabled Paper - Statement by Speaker THE SPEAKER (Mr F. Riebeling): I have a statement in relation to a correction to a tabled report. I have received a letter dated 12 December 2006 from the Minister for Employment Protection requesting a correction to the 2005-06 annual report of WorkCover Western Australia tabled on 14 September 2006. The minister requests an amendment by way of an erratum to page 106 of the report. That page contains an error in the declaration provided on the authority’s compliance with section 31(1) of the Public Sector Management Act 1994. Accordingly, under the provisions of standing order 156, I advise the Assembly that I have authorised the necessary corrections be made to the tabled paper. POSEIDON NICKEL AGREEMENT ACT 1971 VARIATION AGREEMENT - DISALLOWANCE Notice of Motion Mr F.M. Logan (Minister for Resources) gave notice that at the next sitting of the house he would move - That the Poseidon Nickel Agreement Act 1971 variation agreement dated 3 October 2006 between Hon Alan John Carpenter, MLA, Premier of the state of Western Australia, and Niagara Mining Limited - Niagara - laid on the table of the Legislative Assembly on 21 November 2006, be and is hereby disallowed. WATER CORPORATION - FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO CANOEING WA Notice of Motion Mr T.R. Sprigg gave notice that at the next sitting of the house he would move - That this house calls on the government to ensure the Water Corporation honours its commitment to provide $10.85 million in financial assistance to Canoeing WA to replace the Harvey international slalom course it was forced to relinquish in 1998. DAYLIGHT SAVING AMENDMENT BILL 2007 Notice of Motion to Introduce Notice of motion given by Mr B.J. Grylls (Leader of the National Party). PREMIER’S STATEMENT Presentation MR A.J. CARPENTER (Willagee - Premier) [7.52 pm]: I rise this evening to detail key elements of the government’s legislative program for the year ahead, which reflects our commitment to building a better future for all Western Australians. Firstly, I would like to offer a warm welcome and congratulations to the new member for Peel, Paul Papalia. I congratulate him on what was a fine first speech. Paul brings to this Parliament strong community credentials

54 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] and a proven and longstanding commitment to public service. I refer, of course, to his time serving our country in the Defence Force in a career spanning more than 20 years. This included two periods of deployment in Iraq. He served for seven months with the United Nations Special Commission to destroy chemical weapons in late 1992 and early 1993, and again in 2003 when he was deployed to Iraq serving as the Executive Officer of the Australian Clearance Three on operations in southern Iraq and the Al Faw Peninsula. In recognition of his first service in Iraq, he was awarded a Conspicuous Service Cross. Before I proceed to discuss our plans for the future, we need to assess where we are currently positioned as a state. When we were elected to government, we sought to make a real difference, and I believe we have. There is no doubt that Western Australia is in a great shape and that we are heading in the right direction and the direction people want us to head in. Unemployment in the state has never been lower. Economic growth has never been higher. Our building program, public and private, has never been bigger. To get a real picture of the progress we have made as a state, we need to compare the current state of our economy and services to the community with the state of decay that existed under the previous coalition government. When we came to power, we inherited an economy valued at $76 billion. That economy was shrinking. By the end of this financial year we will be looking at an economy valued at $126 billion. Total employment has grown by 16.8 per cent - that is 151 000 new jobs - while the unemployment rate has halved to a record low of three per cent. It is not just the economy that is on the right track. As a community, we have made significant gains in the core service areas of community safety, health, education and environmental protection. An extra 330 police officers are now working to protect our community. Home burglary rates are now 30 per cent lower than when we came to power and car thefts are down by 40 per cent. The number of nurses working in our hospitals has increased by 1 700 since 2001. We have built 30 more schools, raised the school leaving age to 16 years and next year, 2008, we will be raising it to 17. We are already seeing results, with 97 per cent of all 16-year-olds in WA this year either at school, in training, in an apprenticeship or otherwise employed. That compares to the situation I inherited as education minister, which saw up to 50 per cent of boys in some places leaving school after year 10, declining retention rates across the board, zero growth on a low base in training and youth unemployment of nearly 30 per cent. We have increased the number of apprenticeships in WA by 60 per cent. Protection of our local environment has dramatically improved. There are now 33 extra national parks and three more marine parks. In securing our state’s future water supplies, we are now recognised as leading the nation. Even the Prime Minister recently stated that WA was the only state to have taken this issue seriously. I recall the situation we inherited when we came to office. It was appalling. Our efforts, in large part, can be attributed to our decision to build Australia’s first large-scale desalination plant at Kwinana which, when fully operational, will produce on average 130 million litres a day and supply 17 per cent of Perth’s needs. We should contrast this to the state opposition’s current position on water, which is nothing. It did not support the construction of the desalination plant. Instead it supported a fantasy scheme to pipe water from the north or bring it south via a channel, which is now widely recognised by the community and experts as nothing more than an election gimmick. It now has not one single plan for developing our state’s future water supplies. We have delivered real improvements to Western Australia - to our economy, public services, lifestyle and the regions. The forecast for this year is likely to be another strong year for the WA economy. Western Australia is vastly better off than it was six years ago and it is also much better positioned to be successful in the future than it was back then. We have positioned ourselves for future success. Obviously, that positioning is a work in progress. It is work - that is, positioning ourselves for future success - that must be continuous. That is why we have another strong legislative program for this year, which again reflects our key commitment to reforming our health system, reducing the road toll and meeting the challenge of climate change and stronger environmental protection. Our health system is undergoing a transformation that previous governments had neither the will nor the capacity to even contemplate. Our $4 billion health reform program will deliver services closer to where people actually live, provide excellence to every aspect of patient care as well as ensure we get value from every dollar spent in health. Our economic effort - the effort of ordinary Western Australian men and women who constitute the economy - has given us this capacity to fund a capital works program in health and improve the way that we deliver services to those ordinary Western Australians that the new member for Peel reflected upon. It will be one of the greatest legacies that any government can leave future generations. In health, we have the plan - we have outlined that plan - the capacity and the will to carry it through. We have the will that no previous government has had. To back this significant investment in our health system, the state government will continue to reform legislation governing health policy. This includes a new bill to replace the Mental Health Act 1996, which will implement recommendations released from a statutory review by Professor D’Arcy Holman. The new mental health bill will advance the rights of people with mental illness while further supporting the responsibilities of mental health clinicians to provide quality care. The new legislation will especially help to modernise the Mental Health Act

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 55 by revising the definition of mental illness in accordance with internationally accepted standards; ensuring the provision of more information to consumers related to their care, including a mandatory discharge plan; expanding the role of the Council of Official Visitors and the Chief Psychiatrist to offer a more comprehensive advocacy and monitoring service; providing for the State Administrative Tribunal to take over the role of conducting mandatory reviews of involuntary patients within time frames that are significantly earlier than in the present act; and establishing new parts that will deal with children and adolescents and with complaints. In addition, the government will introduce new legislation to amend the Human Reproductive Technology Act 1991 to maintain consistency with commonwealth legislation. This is needed as a result of recent amendments to the commonwealth legislation, dealing with human cloning and embryo research, that were passed in December last year. The number of lives lost on our roads is of serious concern for all Western Australians. It is a tragedy that so many people are still being killed on our roads. Although the government has already undertaken key reforms to make our roads safer, including tough anti-hoon laws and increased penalties for a range of road offences, we believe there is more work to do. As a result, we will continue to pursue a number of measures to improve road safety and reduce the number of people dying on our roads. There are currently two pieces of legislation before the Legislative Council, which must pass as a matter of priority. The Road Traffic Amendment Bill 2006 significantly strengthens our highly successful anti-hoon laws, passed in 2004. The new reforms will remove the need for a police officer to witness an offence in order to impound a vehicle, making it much easier to gain evidence to get hoons off our streets and protect innocent lives. The second piece of legislation, the Road Traffic Amendment (Drugs) Bill 2006, will introduce two new offences of driving while impaired by a drug and driving with a prescribed illicit drug in oral fluid or blood. This bill will also enable police to carry out random roadside drug testing and ensure that those under the influence of drug substances, not just alcohol, are detected. In addition to these existing bills, we also intend to introduce new laws to the Parliament this year to implement initiatives to deal with repeat drink-drivers and bolster the novice driver system. Key legislative improvements will enable a tougher approach to repeat drink-drivers, including vehicle sanctions and alcohol interlocks to prevent further offences being committed. The safety of novice drivers, and ensuring they are well prepared to meet the demands of different driving conditions, has seen the government already introduce reforms to the learners’ permit system. Building on these changes, which include a lengthened three-year learner permit, the government will introduce a graduated demerit point system for new drivers as part of new legislative amendments. The combined package of laws will also deliver on our commitment to establish a zero alcohol limit for learner and P-plate drivers. Finally, we will take an even tougher approach to those drivers and passengers who do not a wear seat belt. Such a simple measure can saves lives. I am astounded by the number of people who are killed on our roads simply because they are not wearing a seat belt. It is a carnage that is completely avoidable. The government will push forward with plans to more than double fines for drivers and passengers who fail to buckle up and wear a seat belt to save their own lives. The fines will increase from $200 to $500. We are even prepared to consider doubling these fines again if people still do not take notice. We are also examining other penalties, including fines for speeding and drink-driving. I believe that if we want to save people’s lives, and, perhaps even more importantly, if we want to save people from taking other people’s lives, we need to teach people a lesson that they will not forget. I do not want to suggest that these reforms in themselves will provide a complete solution to saving lives on our roads. The government will always listen to the community, as well as draw advice from a range of stakeholders, including expertise through the Road Safety Council, to improve legislation and road safety strategies. The government will also continue to tackle issues in the community that previous administrations have found too difficult to deal with or comprehend. As a government that looks to the future, we must always be prepared to modernise our laws to not only reflect but also manage changes in community attitudes and social relationships. In this regard, the government will introduce new legislation to the Parliament to regulate surrogacy, as well as clean up the current mess and confusion relating to prostitution. The new Surrogacy Bill 2007 will ensure that we have the best framework in place to manage the practice of surrogacy for medically infertile couples and, most importantly, that the interests of the child are put first. In particular, new laws will provide clarity on the status of the commissioning parents in a surrogacy arrangement. This is very important legislation, and I believe it will be strongly supported by the community. We are also committed to introducing new legislation to reform the regulation of prostitution in Western Australia. There is no doubt that this issue has been of ongoing and significant concern to not only local governments and their residents, but also the police, who must dealt with a vast range of issues and complexities. As a result, the government has agreed to adopt the recommendations of the Prostitution Law Reform Working Group, which considered laws in other states, as well as New Zealand. The group also consulted with a number of community stakeholders, including representatives from local government, public health organisations, churches and legal bodies, and the sex industry. The new bill will provide clarity for local government, police

56 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] and the sex industry. It will establish a new system in which the Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor will regulate approved brothel and escort agency operators and managers under a certification system. Businesses employing more than two sex workers will require operator/manager certificates, which will need to be renewed annually. As outlined in the proposed legislation, brothels operating without being certified will receive penalties. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I am looking forward to the member for Alfred Cove’s contribution to this debate. She has been making comments every few minutes, and it is not appropriate to interrupt this speech. The member will have an opportunity to speak because it is a general debate. The member will be able to contribute to this debate at the appropriate time, but now is not the appropriate time. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Under the new laws, streetwalking and kerb crawling will continue to be illegal. Provisions that protect children from being involved in or exploited by prostitution will be maintained. The state government is constantly making decisions for our future; not for the next one or two years or the next election, but for the decades and generations to come. This is nowhere more apparent than in our approach to climate change. There has been a dramatic increase in public awareness of climate change and we are all grappling with it - at government level, at community level and at individual level. Governments, industries and families are looking at the threat that climate change poses and at what they can do to meet the global climate change challenge. The state government is taking the issue of climate change very seriously and has already a range of initiatives in place. The most recent initiative, which I announced in January, is a commitment by our government to purchase 20 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy; that is, one-fifth of the power used by government schools, hospitals, offices and other workplaces. This will help to save 90 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, which is equivalent to taking 21 000 cars off the road. The government will also continue to pursue further innovative policy initiatives as part of the climate change action plan, which is still being developed in light of recent recommendations made by the Greenhouse and Energy Taskforce and recent agreements made by the Council for the Australian Federation. For example, the government is very excited about prospects in relation to energy renewables, including geothermal energy. There is great potential for this type of energy in our state. We know companies are interested in exploration licences for geothermal resources. We believe there are synergies between deep drilling for hydrocarbons and for geothermal resources that Western Australia can capitalise upon through its existing expertise in the oil and gas industry. As a result, the government will introduce new legislation to help facilitate this new industry. The proposed Western Australian petroleum and geothermal resources act will help create legislative guidelines for geothermal exploration projects in Western Australia, covering the two main types - hot, dry rock energy and more conventional geothermal energies. The proposed legislation will include state ownership of Western Australia’s geothermal resources; secure tenure for geothermal proponents; regulation of exploration drilling and energy recovery; the ability to collect royalties; and the capacity to have coexisting titles for mineral, petroleum and geothermal resources on the same land. These changes have been joined with the Petroleum Act, because their resource exploration and production processes are similar and there is already an administrative body to deal with applications. One solution we do not believe is sustainable is nuclear power. I do not need to again go over the reasons for our position, except perhaps for some members of the Opposition. The Western Australian people know where we stand on this issue and support us. We will back this clear commitment with legislation and will introduce this year a new bill to prohibit the establishment of nuclear power stations and enrichment facilities within WA. Specifically, the legislation will seek to prohibit the construction or operation of nuclear facilities, regulatory approvals for a nuclear facility and the enabling of a nuclear facility to connect and transmit power to any electricity network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Vasse! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: Of course, not everyone shares our view. The federal government has made it abundantly clear that it is looking towards plans to introduce nuclear power into Australia’s energy generation portfolio. It will be interesting when the Western Australian people get to choose between a party that opposes nuclear power and a party that supports nuclear power for this state. Of even greater concern is the commonwealth’s refusal to rule out overriding the state and using its power under the Corporations Act to impose such facilities on Western Australia. In this event, the legislation will also compel the Minister for Energy to hold a plebiscite if he or she believes that the commonwealth government has taken or is likely to take steps supporting the construction of a nuclear facility in our state.

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Our reform to environmental laws is not limited just to climate change. The government also intends to make further improvements to the Environmental Protection Act. Building on a significant overhaul of penalties and regulations undertaken by our government in 2003, new amendments will be introduced that will increase penalties for pollution and environmental harm offences. The main changes will see penalties for corporations that pollute the environment increase fivefold to a maximum of $5 million, bringing them in line with the highest penalties in Australia for environmental offences. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Capel and member for Vasse! Mr A.J. CARPENTER: In addition, the amendments will introduce civil penalties that will make it easer to bring convictions for low-level offences. Several members interjected The SPEAKER: I call the member for Capel and the member for Vasse to order. Mr A.J. CARPENTER: New amendment bills tackling waste avoidance and resource recovery will also be introduced to deliver significant improvements in the way waste is managed throughout Western Australia. This legislation will finally modernise waste management in WA and provide a number of new measures to reduce the amount of material going to landfill as well as increase the rate of recycling. The changes include establishing a new waste authority to drive real improvements in waste management and manage the expenditure of landfill levy funds. All these measures combined represent a comprehensive package of reform to our environmental laws and reflect our genuine plan to protect and enhance Western Australia’s unique lifestyle and environment. I want to talk about housing affordability, which is an issue because of the runaway success of our state’s economy. None of the forecasters or governments, state and federal, predicted what has happened in this state. Last year, one forecaster predicted a one per cent decline in Perth house prices. The average increase was nearly 40 per cent. I acknowledge that housing affordability is a serious issue for us now in Western Australia, particularly for first home buyers and renters. Western Australia has experienced an enormous growth spurt, and this is one of the growing pains that comes with it. The government is developing a range of initiatives that will help secure more affordable housing. As members will be aware, one immediate measure, recently announced, will help 3 000 families to purchase their own homes in partnership with the state government. This shared equity scheme will allow Western Australians and the state government to jointly purchase homes up to the value of $365 000. It will mean that first home buyers on low to moderate incomes who are currently priced out of the market will now be able to afford a modest home, and the state government will share in that cost. With the passage of time, as their finances permit, they will be able to purchase the government’s share of their home. Most importantly, it means that low to middle income earners will be in a position to make their first property purchase. With the historical growth in the real estate market, it means that these people will have a chance to grow their own equity and achieve long-term financial security. This model has been successfully used in the United Kingdom, and I believe it will alleviate some of the concerns for lower income first home buyers in Western Australia. We are also engaged in a dialogue with the building industry to look at real measures to ensure that land and house packages become available for first home buyers. We will also immediately be expanding our capability in respect of planning - more planners and a better planning system. As part of this process the government intends to undertake reform of land development through the establishment of a single land development authority. The land development agencies bill to be introduced this year will establish the agency, combining the current activities of LandCorp and the East Perth and Subiaco Redevelopment Authorities. The key aim of this legislation is to combine the expertise of these agencies, as well as simplify existing processes to get the job done more quickly. It makes basic commonsense to draw together all elements of these agencies into one body, including urban designers, architects, remediation specialists and planners, to tackle land development projects across Western Australia. Under the legislation the new organisation will have two divisions. The LandCorp division will continue to operate as a corporatised body without planning powers, while the second division will focus on a series of redevelopment projects. The legislation also provides for local government representation on project boards set up for each relevant specified area. There are two bills currently before the Parliament that must be addressed this year. The first, the Acts Amendment (Consent to Medical Treatment) Bill 2006, should be considered and completed. As members well know, this bill will realise the state government’s commitment to reform the law relating to medical treatment for the dying. As debated in this place last year, this legislation creates a framework whereby people can, in advance, write a health directive to give their consent or otherwise to a particular treatment in the event that they become mentally incompetent and require medical treatment for any condition, including a terminal illness. Alternatively, they may choose that treatment decisions be made by a guardian chosen by them. Secondly, it is time for the Legislative Council to pass the Parental Support and Responsibility Bill 2005. This is very

58 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] important legislation to ensure that we can intervene at an early stage to prevent harm to children by giving support to parents. In particular, it will see the establishment of responsible parenting orders that will allow courts to direct parents to engage with support services, with the possibility of a penalty being imposed if they fail to do so. As previously outlined by the Minister for Child Protection, these orders are a last resort. The legislation is also focused on voluntary agreements that will help parents access a range of support services. We are serious about solving the issues that confront us in government and about meeting and solving the state’s long-term challenges. We are governing for the next generation and the one after that, not the next election. Projects such as the desalination plant and the Perth to Mandurah rail line are evidence of our commitment to solving long-term problems even when we are confronted with short-sighted criticism. The legislation I have detailed today again confirms this approach as it drives reforms that will help guide better service delivery as well as strong environmental protection in the long term. The Labor Party is doing what it said it would do. We are making decisions for the future. That is the way we have approached government in the past six years, and that is the way that we will approach government in the future. We are positioning this state for long-term success. Consideration - Motion On the question - That the Premier’s Statement be noted. MR P.D. OMODEI (Warren-Blackwood - Leader of the Opposition) [8.26 pm]: I rise to respond to the Premier’s Statement and to join other members of the house in welcoming Paul Papalia, the new member for Peel, to Parliament. It is good to see him in this chamber, especially given that he comes from a small southwest town like Burekup. The new member for Peel and I share similar parentage and a similar background. I recall very fondly that for many years Paul’s uncle Joe Papalia was the manager of Peters at Manjimup. It handled not only milk and cream, but also peas, beans and corn. The Papalia family is a well-respected family. I welcome Paul to Parliament. I hope that he enjoys his stay and that like all other country members he makes a great contribution to this place. We in Western Australia are a privileged lot. We are experiencing an unprecedented boom that has been fuelled by a huge demand for our raw resources. Indeed, China’s demand for our resources is massive and it is growing exponentially. I was in Japan only last week, and after visiting a number of companies, there is no doubt that Asian countries are energy hungry and hungry for Western Australia’s resources. There are huge opportunities for Western Australia in Asia. This is a period during which people should be able to realise their dreams. It is a period during which enterprises should be able to flourish and individuals should be able to invest and build their wealth, change their car, house and lifestyle and build a long-term future for their children. Unfortunately, those things have been hampered by the mismanagement of the good times by the Carpenter government. The government continues to thwart the aspirations of individuals and enterprises by putting hurdles in front of them at the same time that it reaps the benefits of the economic boom for itself and its Labor mates. While the government has been slapping business and householders with massive taxes, it has been handing out millions of dollars to its union and Labor mates in grants, board positions and other jobs. While developers have to wait for years before they can go through the regulatory hoops that are required before a project can proceed, the clients of Brian Burke and Julian Grill receive expeditious treatment in return for favour and money. The government has had to put in place a number of measures to expedite the approval process for major projects in the mining and resources sector. It appointed Brendan Hammond to try to speed up the approvals process. Likewise, the government has placed a troubleshooter in the planning and infrastructure sector to speed up the process. That means that the system is not working any more. The system that once served this state very well is now blocked. Developers, businessmen and entrepreneurs are very concerned about that blockage. We are still in a situation in which some people in Western Australia are struggling to buy a home. People who do not earn at least $110 000 a year and those who are ineligible for the government’s new plan for people to buy a house valued at under $365 000 are precluded from buying a house. Even people who work in the state’s ministerial offices and who are the sole breadwinners have very little chance of buying their first home. In just one week, Brian Burke and Julian Grill would earn the $20 000 that must be paid in stamp duty for a median house price. The question must be asked: what is the point of Western Australia enduring an unprecedented period of economic prosperity if the government of the day will not share that prosperity with its people? Why does the government continue to amass budget surpluses of $2 billion? That is above and beyond the very generous allocations that are currently provided to government departments. Many government departments are unable to spend the money that they have been allocated. Western Australia is still the highest-taxed state in the nation. For many young people, the dream of owning a home is just that - a distant dream. The gap between the haves and the have-nots has never been greater than it is today. People wanting surgery and people on the waiting lists to see a doctor are waiting an unacceptable amount of time. The government cannot provide enough teachers, nurses or police. We never heard anything in the Premier’s speech about those issues. The

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 59 fundamentally important things to all Western Australians were not mentioned in the Premier’s speech. The government has treated the Western Australian people with contempt. At the same time, I realise that members on this side of the house cannot take the people of Western Australia for granted. We will not simply fall into the trap of criticising the government; we will offer alternatives. To that extent, our policies are well advanced, particularly in the areas of health, education and the environment. We will provide an alternative vision for Western Australians that will be built on honesty and integrity, which is currently missing. That is a challenge facing the Liberal Party, and it is a challenge that we know we are capable of conquering. I will now comment on the Premier’s speech and refer to some of the matters that were omitted. It is a very flimsy speech. At a time when the state’s economy is absolutely booming with huge surpluses and the Treasurer does not know what he will do next with the money, we have serious problems. The Premier talked about protecting our local environment. He said that it has been dramatically improved by the addition of 33 national parks and three more marine parks. When the budget is brought down, I will be interested to see what amount of money the government has allocated to manage those national parks. The Western Australian Labor Party has made great capital about the creation of new national parks, going back to its promises during the 2001 election and also the promises it made during the 2005 election. Those new national parks have little or no management. Feral animals and noxious weeds are rife in them. The government has been negligent on the environment. The members for Capel, Moore and others contributed to the debate on the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Bill. That bill places far more onerous requirements on the private sector and on farmers than on the government. The government should hang its head in shame over the management of the natural resources of Western Australia. Just saying in name only that Western Australia now has 33 new national parks does not make one iota of difference if the parks are not managed properly. More of our national parks will be destroyed by fire before very long. That is a situation just waiting to happen. If members do not believe me, they should talk to the people who live near Dwellingup. We nearly lost the town of Dwellingup. Just north of the town of Dwellingup, the fuel levels are older than they were in 1961. The potential for major disaster by fire in Western Australia has never been greater. Was there mention of fire and protecting people’s houses in the Premier’s Statement? There was not one mention of it, and not long after we have had probably the greatest number of fires in this state for quite a period. The Premier said that the government had done a marvellous job with water supplies and that even the Prime Minister had recently stated that Western Australia was the only state that had taken the issue seriously. I beg to differ. There is no doubt that the other states are in dire straits. The member for Yokine can snigger, but I will show members a little plan that has been produced by the Water Corporation. The plan is very clear. It is on a piece of A3 paper. The bottom quadrant shows a blue section depicting the existing surface water sources of 136 gigalitres a year. The plan also shows existing ground water sources of 120 gigalitres a year, desalination of about 45 gigalitres a year, and Harvey Water of 70 gigalitres. It also shows the south west Yarragadee aquifer. There is a line that goes from 320 gigalitres, which is the amount that is consumed in Perth today, to 500 gigalitres, which is the amount that is expected to be consumed by 2020. This graph is an official document of the government of Western Australia and the Water Corporation, and is used by all and sundry when they talk about water, whether they be conservation groups, industry groups or government groups. It shows very clearly that we are, in fact, running short of water right now. Supply is not meeting demand. Strange though it may seem, there was no mention of the southern Yarragadee in the Premier’s Statement. Why not? We know how problematic the southern Yarragadee is, and you would be well aware of that, Madam Deputy Speaker. I have noted your comments with great interest and they are very valid indeed. If the government does not have a 45 gigalitre increase in water supplies in the very near future, by 2010 we will certainly be starting to have a critical shortage of water. If the southern Yarragadee is not taken into account, a 137 gigalitre source capacity is required to restore the supply-demand balance by 2049-50. The government does not have any plans to address that issue. I would like to table this document. It is an official document. I invite those members opposite who think that the government is really up to date on the issue of water supplies to look at the graph. I listened to the Minister for Water Resources when he said that the opposition does not know anything about water. I can tell him that I was Minister for Water Resources for two years. I also served for 11 years on a committee advising the minister responsible for water. The member for Dawesville was Minister for Water Resources for four years. There is not the great dearth of knowledge of water issues on this side of the chamber that the Minister for Water Resources would like the people of Western Australia to think there is. In fact, there is a great depth of knowledge and experience of water issues. The member for Capel is one member who has researched this matter very well. There was no mention made by the Premier of the southern Yarragadee and there is a distinct shortage of water. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to refer to that document again, or does he wish to table it now? Mr P.D. OMODEI: No, not yet. I will refer to it again in a moment. It is a very important document. The Premier asked us in his speech to contrast his plan to the current state opposition’s plan, which is nothing. That is patently untrue. Again, the government’s propaganda machine would like the people of Western Australia to

60 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] think that the Western Australian Liberal opposition does not have a plan for water. We do have a plan and we have made it very clear. We have made it very clear that we believe we should take water from the Wellington Dam. It is plain. Mr E.S. Ripper: When? Mr P.D. OMODEI: As soon as we get into government. It is well known that if it were not for the contribution of national action plan money from the commonwealth government for the East Collie diversion pipeline to pipe hypersaline water into the mine voids, this state government would not have even done that. That was a good initiative. I will be the first one to say, and I am sure my colleagues will agree, that that was a very good initiative, and it is already starting to bring down the level of salinity in the Wellington Dam. What has the government done about the Wellington Dam? It was actually a Liberal government that brought in clearing bans in 1979 to make sure that the Wellington Dam’s salinity was ameliorated. It was not a Labor government; it was a Liberal government, under Graham MacKinnon. We know that the level of salinity has now gone down from 1 600 to 900 milligrams a litre, so we are getting that level down quickly. In winter, the dam contains 180 gigalitres. In a very wet winter when that dam is overflowing, there is huge scope for the Water Corporation to shandy that water with the water from other dams close by, whether it be South Dandalup, Harris River or any others. Therefore, the Premier should not tell members on this side of the house that we do not know anything about water. I will deal with the desalination plant. Conservation people in Western Australia - members should not take just our word for it - are very concerned about the way in which the government manages the desalination plant and the potential damage to Cockburn Sound. Mr A.J. Carpenter: You would close it down, would you? Mr P.D. OMODEI: No, we would not close it down. However, we are very keen to see more recycling and more work done on the Harvey irrigation scheme and the piping of the channelled waters. That is a very good initiative. It was a Liberal government that privatised the irrigation water in the Harvey area. It was when I was the minister, as a matter of fact. We went down there and got the south west farmers to take over that water. It is their innovation that has given the government of Western Australia an extra 17 gigalitres of water to play with. If the government were to pull its finger out and do a bit more in a hurry, it would find that Harvey Water could provide a lot more water for the metropolitan area. The other issue is that of recycling. I have heard about the initiative for the reinjection into the Gnangara mound. That is a very good initiative. It should have been done years ago. However, let me raise one very obvious point. In the past five years in Perth, 30 000 new houses a year have been built, most of them in new subdivisions. Has this government gone to the extent of requiring those developers to have a dual system in those new houses? There are 150 000 houses using our water, and 50 per cent of it is going onto the garden. In my electorate, this is the kind of innovation that people, without any incentive, can take up. The Shire of Augusta-Margaret River is borrowing $2 million of ratepayers’ money to pipe waste water from its waste water treatment plant to the next subdivision so the developer can put that water on gardens. The net result is that 50 per cent of water per household will be saved. The government of Western Australia, with all its experts and this wonderful minister who tells us that we do not know anything about water, has not been able to do that. It is so simple in a new subdivision to require that there be a dual system. There is membrane technology now whereby water can be cleaned up and polished on a suburb-by-suburb basis. Has this government done that? Is there anything in the Premier’s Statement about that? No, there is not. I will let my case rest on water. I will take the opportunity to table this very good graph that shows exactly where Perth’s water supply is going into the future. It states on the graph - If the Corporation is successful in securing a 17GL water trade, and the 45GL South West Yarragadee (or Desalination No 2) source, this will restore the IWSS supply/demand balance until 2017/18 That is the case if the southern Yarragadee is included. If it is not, we are short of water today. [The graph was tabled for the information of members.] Mr P.D. OMODEI: I will talk further about the southern Yarragadee. As members will know, the opposition opposes water being taken from the southern Yarragadee for a number of very public reasons. The people of the south west and all the conservationists in Western Australia - the Greens (WA) in particular - are concerned about the environmental damage that may occur as a result of drawing water from the southern Yarragadee. If we add to that the requirement of regional water needs into the future for one of the fastest-growing areas in Western Australia - from Bunbury and Busselton to Margaret River - that is why people are concerned. It is not just about the people in the south west. It is not a question of it being their water and other people not being able to have it. There are already 14 major dams in Western Australia, eight of which are in the south west. There is not that type of sentiment down there. People understand that the cheapest water that can be captured and the water that uses the least energy to move is water that is captured by dams. We have concerns about the

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 61 environment. The member for the South West Region, Hon Paul Llewellyn, is mounting a huge campaign in the region using postcards. People on our side of the political fence, including Hon Barry House, Hon Robyn McSweeney, Hon Nigel Hallett, the member for Capel, the member for Bunbury, the member for Vasse and me are all very concerned about taking water from the south west. This is not just a political issue. This is a very important issue for people who live in the south west and who are concerned about damage to the environment. We know that the Blackwood River is highly saline. It will be many years before we can restore any real health to the Blackwood River. There are still ecosystems that exist within the Blackwood River, the Harvey Inlet, Scott River and so on. The tributaries of the Blackwood River, Scott River, St John’s Brook, Poison Gully/Milyannup Brook and Capel River - just to name a few - are all streams that are in reasonably good condition today. Members do not have to take my word for it because the information is in the science. A very good letter was sent to the minister by Peter Lane, who represents the Cape to Cape Alliance. Peter Lane stood against me in the last election for the Greens (WA). He is a hydrogeologist so he knows his stuff. His letter is worth reading. It was sent to the minister, the Premier and the member for Riverton et al. If the Premier is at all interested in the southern Yarragadee, I recommend that he read it as it is very sensible. It is very technical and gives all the reasons water should not be taken from the southern Yarragadee. I will touch on a couple of points in the letter. He states that the Water Corporation’s model is based on rainfall for the next 30 years. It ascertains that there will be a nine per cent permanent reduction in recharge. The letter also contains a lot of information from the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee’s interim report. I will quote part of Peter Lane’s letter - There has been a phenomenal shift of climate and weather in the south of WA and it does appear to be unique worldwide . . . there seems to be no other place that is drying quite as fast as the south of Western Australia . . . We have had to cope with that over the last 10 years. It has been a trend, we now know with the best of hindsight, for about 30 years. For the last eight or nine years the rainfall has been down by about 21 percent on what it was up until 1974 and the runoff has been down by 64 percent. There is reference to research from the Indian Ocean Climate Initiative for the periods August 2005 and September 2006. It found that reduced rainfall has resulted in a 50 per cent decrease in run-off. There is other information included in the letter but I will not go through it all because it belongs to Peter Lane. It shows very clearly that there is a serious decline in rainfall in the south west. Last year the reduction of rainfall from Cape to Cape was 50 per cent. That might be a one-year event. La Niña will take over from El Nino and we might return to sensible and regular rainfall patterns. The truth is that nobody can depict what damage is occurring to that aquifer by this reduction in rainfall because the damage will not manifest. Even a layperson such as me knows that the damage will not manifest itself for many, many years into the future. We should look at what is happening to the water from Lake Jasper and the associated lakes - Lake Quitjup in particular and the Reedy wetlands - which drain into the Scott River. They are all very sensitive wetlands. It is predicted that the water table levels will fall even further. I have a paper called “Escalating Ecosystem Stress to Australia’s only Biodiversity Hotspot” dated October 2006, a very recent document. The authors are Don Bradshaw and Felicity Bradshaw of the University of Western Australia School of Animal Biology, Stephen Hopper from the UWA School of Plant Biology, Peter Horwitz and Ray Froend from the ECW School of Natural Sciences, and Peter Davies from UWA Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management. These people have been going to all the public meetings. They are eminent scientists who know their stuff. They are saying to the people of Western Australia that this is too dangerous, this should not happen, and that there are too many ecosystems and too many biological species that will be placed under threat as a result of taking water from the Yarragadee. I put it to the members of the Green movement before the Peel by-election that to fire a shot across the bow of the state government, they might give their preferences to the Liberal Party. I thought they might melt for a bit. But, no, they did not. I am a bit disappointed about that. There is a lot of information in this document about the southern Yarragadee. I have made speeches in this Parliament about the Water Corporation’s figures and about the recharge in the Blackwood River that comes up from either the Leederville or the Yarragadee aquifers. I will quote from some of the streams in this document - The environmental health of the lower part of this river and the Hardy River - that is the Blackwood River - and the Hardy Inlet - which is right down near Augusta - into which it flows is dependant on cold, fresh water from the Yarragadee and the overlying Leederville formations. The annual discharge into the river and its tributaries is estimated to be up to 40 gigalitres per year.

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At one stage the figures provided by the Water Corporation were eight gigalitres. It then went to 12 gigalitres, 16 gigalitres and 20 gigalitres. The truth is that I do not think there is any definitive information. This document says it is estimated to be up to 40 gigalitres. It continues - Above Hutt Pool and below here an additional 11 gigalitres is contributed by the Yarragadee alone. In summer months, this fresh water can make up to almost 90 per cent of the flow of the river. Just west of Nannup, the river has all but stopped. This is the massive Blackwood River. It is one of the biggest rivers in Western Australia. There is a whole lot of documented, scientific information that says we should not take water from the southern Yarragadee. We did not just say, “Don’t take water from the southern Yarragadee.” We said that there are alternatives. We believe that Wellington Dam is a viable alternative for the government. In the end, if it is hypersaline water, a desalination process - a process - can occur. There have been a number of reports. Peter Coyne in particular has been talking about desalinating water from the Wellington Dam for many years. I will move on to some of the other aspects of the Premier’s speech that concern me. I notice that the Mental Health Act will be replaced. That is a step in the right direction. It would help if the government changed its policy on drugs. We should look at road safety initiatives. We on this side of the house have said time and again that we need a parliamentary committee to look at the whole aspect of road safety. The public of Western Australia would welcome that. The member for South Perth has been going on about road safety for a long time. We need a full inquiry at which people could come up with ideas that may change the number of people who die on our roads rather than using punitive action to try to stop people driving if they are not wearing seatbelts. I do not think we will ever be able to stop those sorts of things. The government is not dealing with reality. Not enough is said in this house about road safety measures. A parliamentary committee would be the way to go. It should be a full and open inquiry that listens to what the community has to say, for a change. I refer now to the initiatives on the environment and the plan to bring in legislation about geothermal power. There is no doubt that geothermal energy is one option, and we have supported that all along, provided it is cost effective. When the Greens (WA) introduced a bill to increase renewable energy targets by 20 per cent, the Liberal Party supported that legislation in the upper house, where it was passed. However, when it was introduced into the Legislative Assembly, the Labor Party threw it out. The Premier’s credentials on the issue of renewable energy targets are in tatters. I will raise the issue of nuclear power for a moment. Nobody is saying that we should have a nuclear power station in Western Australia. However, a massive expansion of the Olympic Dam project in South Australia is planned, under a Labor government. Do they bring back the nuclear waste from their clients? Is there a nuclear waste disposal centre in South Australia? There is not; and South Australia has a Labor government just like the one in Western Australia. When I was in Japan last week, the story that came up again and again from the gas and electricity companies was that they could not understand why the government of Western Australia would not allow the export of uranium. It is the only way to significantly reduce greenhouse emissions. Mrs J. Hughes: In what year - 2050? Mr P.D. OMODEI: The member for Kingsley is living in the dim, dark ages. Japan built three new power plants last year. There are 55 nuclear power plants in that country. Mr T. Buswell: Go back to the City of Wanneroo and bribe some of your fellow councillors. Withdrawal of Remark Ms J.A. RADISICH: I believe the member for Vasse cast an aspersion upon the member for Kingsley, and I would like you to ask him to withdraw it, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: If the member for Vasse made a direct allegation against the member, then he will need to withdraw that statement. I heard a direct allegation. Mr T. BUSWELL: My apologies, Madam Deputy Speaker; I withdraw. Debate Resumed Mr P.D. OMODEI: While I was in Japan, I visited Kobe. I went to the earthquake place, where the whole city was destroyed in 10 seconds. Japan is a very disciplined country and a major trading partner of Western Australia. It has built very strong trading relationships with this state over the past four or five decades. It is a very sophisticated country, with more than 50 nuclear power plants. There are liquid gas installations very close to residential areas in an earthquake zone. The very strong argument put by the Japanese is that they cannot believe that a government would deny energy deficient Third World countries a fuel source that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is a blight on the Premier’s environment credentials. When Labor governments in every other state in Australia can export uranium, the Premier wants to play the scaremongering game to scare people about things like Chernobyl, nuclear waste and all of that rubbish. It is about time the Premier and his government grew up and came into the twenty-first century on this issue.

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I have no problem with changes to the Environmental Protection Act, provided they are for sensible reasons. However, the Premier should talk to the major resource companies and to farmers about the environmental legislation that has been enacted in this state. When that legislation came into the Parliament, I described it as a sledgehammer to crack a nut. I still believe it is. That legislation needs to be changed. However, those changes need to be sensible changes. The Premier’s Statement mentions housing affordability. I am sure the member for Vasse, the shadow minister for Housing and Works, will expand on that issue. The Opposition set up a housing affordability task force, which came up with a dozen very sensible recommendations. There is nothing in the Premier’s Statement about land tax. There is an acknowledgment that housing affordability is a serious issue in Western Australia, particularly for first home buyers and people who are renting; however, that is the only comment in the Premier’s speech about that matter. The Premier’s tax policies are killing young people who are trying to buy or rent a house in Western Australia. I will give credit where credit is due. The shared equity scheme - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mrs D.J. Guise): Order! I am sure the Leader of the Opposition is capable of making a speech without the concerted efforts of members on my left. I would like to hear what the Leader of the Opposition has to say. Mr P.D. OMODEI: Madam Deputy Speaker, you have always been a very good judge. There is nothing in the Premier’s Statement about land tax and about making the purchase or rental of a house in Western Australia more affordable. All we have had is a promise. In the future, the people of Western Australia will judge the Treasurer for what he is - Ripper the rip-off merchant. As I have said, I will give credit where credit is due. The shared equity scheme is a good initiative. However, it will go only part of the way. I would be surprised if many people will benefit from that scheme, because it will cut out at $365 000. Not many houses in Western Australia can be purchased for less than $365 000. The Premier’s Statement is very flimsy. There is nothing in the statement about planning for the City of Perth and about the Committee for Perth’s deliberations. There is nothing in the statement about the proposed stadium. The report of the task force has not come out yet, and I do not want to pre-empt what may be in that report. Burswood Entertainment Complex has put forward an excellent stadium proposal. I have had a close look at that proposal. I believe it will enhance the City of Perth. I have not discussed that with my colleagues. However, I am prepared to meet with the government in a bipartisan way and talk about the stadium proposals. The Premier’s Statement is supposed to set out the future program of the government of Western Australia. There is nothing in the statement about the fact that this state is a resources hub, and about how this state can use its technology in mining and resources, and also in engineering, to provide jobs post the boom. The Opposition has a policy about how we will provide jobs post the boom. We have made that policy very clear to the public. The government should have a policy on that matter, given that is the fundamental plank on which the Committee for Perth is basing its deliberations. There is nothing in the Premier’s Statement about education. Perhaps the Premier was afraid to mention the three terrible words, outcomes-based education, and the shambles in education in Western Australia. The final matter is the Parental Support and Responsibility Bill 2005. If the Premier really wanted that bill to be passed, he would not play politics and use his spin doctors but would put that bill at the top of the notice paper in the Legislative Council, and it would be dealt with. The concern of the Liberals and the Greens in the upper house has been about the penalties that are proposed to be imposed if people do not engage support services. Many of the people who require parental support services are on low incomes. I have no objection to parenting programs. I believe there is a need for parenting programs in Western Australia. The typical family these days is not a mum, a dad, three kids and some grandparents. Many families in Kwinana, in the member for Peel’s electorate, are single-parent families. Therefore, we need to be cognisant of that. The Liberal Party will certainly have a strong policy on families, particularly the care of children. The Premier’s Statement makes no reference to children. It contains a smart alec comment about getting the Legislative Council to pass the Parental Support and Responsibility Bill. The government should put that bill at the top of the notice paper and get on with it. The government should not put the blame on anyone else. The Premier’s Statement does not make any reference to the mandatory reporting of child sex abuse. One of the most prominent issues before this Parliament last year was child sex abuse, but this statement does not make one mention of it. No reference is made to either paedophiles or the abuse of young boys. These issues should have been included in this statement. Western Australia is enjoying unprecedented good times. The government’s coffers are overflowing. A lot of things in the Premier’s Statement are good initiatives, but a heck of a lot is missing. MR T.K. WALDRON (Wagin - Deputy Leader of the National Party) [9.06 pm]: I had no intention of speaking at this time. I thought a member on the other side would speak. However, I will make my contribution

64 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] now and commence by welcoming members to the Parliament. It has not been a very positive day for members, but let us hope that things improve. I wish all members the best for 2007. We have an important year ahead of us. I congratulate the new member for Peel, Paul Papalia, on his maiden speech. It was an excellent speech that was very well delivered, and I wish him the best in this place. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Darling Range. Mr T.K. WALDRON: It is okay, member for Darling Range. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, it is not. The member knows that he should not walk between the Chair and the member on his feet. Mr J.H.D. Day: My apologies. I thought I was out of the line of fire. Mr T.K. WALDRON: It is okay, Madam Deputy Speaker, because I am quite tall! I find that after the Christmas break, the middle of January to February, is a great time in one’s electorate. It gives local members the opportunity to get around their electorates and meet with people and community groups and gain a lot of feedback. I usually find people are refreshed after a break, and when school starts the year begins to roll. People talk about the negatives and positives. However, regardless of the negatives, there are so many positives. However, a lot of positive things occur at the beginning of the year, such as community activities that bring people closer to their communities. I refer to events such as the triathlon that is held in Dumbleyung in February, and the Apprentice of the Year that is run by the Katanning Rotary Club. Its award night involves both the apprentices and the employers. It is a fantastic initiative that went down very well this year. I refer also to the Boyup Brook Country Music Festival. I am not a great country music fan. I like some country music, but I am not one to listen to it for hours. However, this event has grown, and over the past two or three years the number of people attending it has tripled. This year John Williamson attended the festival. To have someone of his standing perform at this festival was a great coup for a small community. The street parade and activities that were held on the Saturday were absolutely outstanding. If members want to experience something different and learn something about country life, this festival is worth attending. I am sure that next year it will be even bigger and better. In my electorate is a small town called Darkan that holds the Darkan beach party. There are no beaches anywhere near Darkan, except at Lake Moodiarrup. The local publican and others organise the party. They put down some sand and close off the middle of town. It is a fantastic event, particularly for young people. These sorts of events demonstrate what country communities are capable of doing. They never cease to amaze me. Some big events will take place in my electorate this year. The weekend after next the Wagin Woolorama will be held. It is a huge agricultural exhibition field day. This year it will be even bigger and better than previous wooloramas. The Narrogin Revheads is a fantastic show that occurs later in the year. It is unique. Members talk about road deaths, which I will refer to later, but Revheads gives youngsters the opportunity to get out in a controlled situation to let off a bit of steam. We know that youngsters, particularly males, like to give their car an occasional whirl, and at this event they can do that in a controlled environment. All the money that is raised goes into community projects, providing equipment for the hospital, and a hundred and one other things in that region. It is all done by local community people and is a wonderful event. The Bridgetown Blues Festival is another big event, as is, of course, the Dumbleyung Bluebird Festival. There is also a famous 50th birthday coming up in my electorate. I refer to Ross Ditchburn, whom many members will remember as a great footballer for Claremont and Carlton. Tonight I have an opportunity to talk about issues that have been brought to my attention particularly in the first part of this year, although some of them date from last year. I will begin with the recent problem with pole-top fires in our electricity system. I have spoken today to the Minister for Energy, Hon Fran Logan, about the problem. About 10 days ago we had some early rain in the shires of Kojonup, Katanning and Broome Hill that resulted in 37-plus pole-top fires in two days. It was a really dangerous situation. Such a high number of fires in that small area is unacceptable. I also had reports of many other pole-top fires. The weather contributes to that, and although it does not rain much any more in Western Australia, it will rain from time to time. I acknowledge that the government has implemented a $60 million program over five years, but we are already three years into that program. It provides $12 million a year, and although it is helping - I acknowledge that - it is obviously not doing enough. We have to upgrade the program and commit more resources to it. There are a number of aspects to this matter. One is the safety problem. I am really concerned because locals have to go out and try to do something about these pole-top fires. I am concerned that a young farmer or volunteer may do something silly by spraying water on live wires and we will have a tragedy. There are live wires on the ground because the poles have burnt down. There is also a fire risk if three or four of these fires get away on a bad day. Luckily, on those days we did not have bad fire conditions, so the volunteers have been able

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 65 to keep the fires under control. Another problem is that volunteers were tied up for two days in fighting the fires and one day happened to be on the weekend. The fires took people away from local sport and we were unable to get as many volunteers on the weekend. It also puts other emergency services under pressure. The minister has asked me to define where the main problem was and I plan to take that up with the local fire people so that the minister can do something about it. I would appreciate it if he could do something. This is not a problem that is confined solely to my area, so I will continue to talk to the minister about more resources and funding for that program. A further aspect of this matter is that people were really frustrated when they tried to ring Western Power’s call centre to report the fires. By the time the message got through it was really too late for the local Western Power representatives to do something. People are used to giving pole numbers, but Western Power wanted the roadside numbers, so there was some confusion. That needs to be ironed out. Our local Western Power workers do a fantastic job. At the Kukerin fires and the more recent Williams and Porongurup fires, the farmers and volunteers involved had nothing but praise for the local Western Power linesmen. They gave up their weekend and went out of their way to get the power back on. They did a great job. We need to have call centres with a local Western Power representative so that that person can activate things to get linesmen out to work with the volunteers before we have a tragedy. I will talk to the minister about that. It is something we can do to make a difference and save someone’s life. I want to talk about aged care workers. This is a federal issue as much as a state issue. I have written to the federal minister about it and I am not really happy with the reply I received, so I will continue to pursue the matter. Level 3 aged care workers are paid as little as $14 an hour to work in this important area. These workers are looking after our elderly residents at aged care homes. They are looking after people who have served this state and country and brought us to the position we have reached today. We are losing these workers and cannot replace them. They are giving up because the work is too demanding and the pay is inadequate. In a couple of areas in my electorate young women have taken on this role but have given it away because it is not worth it. The majority of their clients are old people affected by dementia, and there are danger issues. It is also not the most pleasant work. It is an issue that really worries me. The aged care role will increase as a lot more people like me, of the baby boomer era, age. I will therefore continue to talk to our health minister and to the federal government, which has a responsibility that it is not quite meeting at this stage. We now have a new regional director of health in the great southern, Rob Pulssord. I congratulate Rob, whom I met for the first time the other day. I wish him good luck in his job. It is a big role to play in that area and in such an important area of health. There is also a new lady, whose name escapes me this evening, who has been appointed director of health for the wheatbelt. I have not met her yet, but she is just starting in the wheatbelt area. I also congratulate Geraldine Ennis, who had been acting head of Katanning District Hospital and has now won the position permanently. She was formerly head of Katanning District Hospital. I am sure she will do a wonderful job in the goldfields area. Health is a big issue for everyone wherever I go. Country areas have an issue with attracting and maintaining doctors. We had big problems in Katanning, which we managed to overcome. We have had a turnover of doctors in Wagin, and thanks to the productivity of members of the local shire we now have another doctor. Narrogin has been very well served. We have a wonderful hospital in Narrogin that has had a number of doctors. We have just lost about three or four doctors. We therefore have a mini crisis there at the moment. However, I hope that will be overcome shortly. Visiting specialists are really critical, particularly in major hospitals. Visiting specialists visit Narrogin, but I would like to see more come in on a regular basis. I know that what we have is better than nothing, but it is an area on which we can still improve. While we are talking about health, I want to mention dental health care. I brought an issue to the attention of the Minister for Health last year but nothing has happened about it. We need some government health clinics in rural WA. Elderly people in Rockingham, for instance, with denture problems and that type of thing can attend a government clinic at no cost and have their problems seen to. In rural areas where there are no government clinics, people must attend a private practitioner at a greater cost. Some people, particularly elderly people, are not attending those private clinics because they cannot afford it, and that is causing major health problems. That is an area on which we really need to focus. I noted that the Premier mentioned quite a bit about mental health reform in his statement; I will therefore be watching that closely. People may have forgotten but I have often said that country WA provides good mental health services. Services in country WA have definitely improved in my six years as a member of Parliament. I congratulate the government for improving those services, but there is still a long way to go. I am really concerned about resourcing and the number of mental health workers. I see a lot of them under so much pressure that, at times, I fear for their own mental health. I think we need to be very careful about that. The Premier said in his statement that the state’s $4 billion health program will deliver services closer to where people live. If that does happen, that will be a great thing. I think it is happening in the metropolitan area but it is not happening in the country. Health services are actually being taken away from where people live. We

66 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] might still have what is called a hospital in Dumbleyung, which I talked about two to three years ago in this Parliament when it was a big issue. With the efforts of the people of Dumbleyung, the local government and me, we were able to keep that hospital. It is a critical facility. It is not really a hospital; it is an aged care facility with four beds and a very basic accident and emergency unit. However, it is still very important for the people of that town. I recall arguing the issue with the health minister and the health minister saying to me that the people in Dumbleyung are only 31 kilometres from Wagin, which has a good hospital. That is true, but someone who lives 50 kilometres on the other side of Wagin is 81 kilometres away from the hospital. I have spoken before about what it was like when I was a single parent with little girls. In the middle of the night, when we are worried that our children might be slightly asthmatic or have a bad rash and we do not know what it is, it is critical to have that local point to which we can take them. I believe we are at a stage now when the government needs to rethink its country health program. It has tried to make big regional hospitals the hub and spoke system. I realise that we cannot have every service everywhere, but some hospitals now need to be upgraded. I am talking about middle-sized towns such as Wagin or Kojonup that used to deliver theatre and maternity services etc. I am not saying they should provide the exact services they provided in the past, but I think with the population starting to grow out there again we must target some of these towns and upgrade their hospitals, as they are so very important. I turn now to education. I was really pleased when the former Minister for Education and Training appointed me as deputy chair of the Rural and Remote Education Advisory Council, which is operating under the chairmanship of upper house member Hon Matt Benson-Lidholm. I have faith that the committee will deliver sound advice to the Minister for Education and Training. The committee will present the minister with some recommendations at our next meeting. There are many issues in education, which is such an important area. I remember that the then Premier stated at the start of this term of government that the key issue over the next four years would be education. It had to be the key issue, because it is so very important. I congratulate the Minister for Education and Training on a couple of decisions he has made. His decision about outcomes-based education showed leadership and courage; indeed, it has won great support. I also congratulate him on his decision last week not to move year 7 students into middle school. That could be done, but it should not be compulsory. Such a move would work in the metropolitan area and in the big centres like Bunbury and Geraldton. However, in my region it would have a catastrophic result. Many kids in our area already have to leave home to attend high school; we should not force them to leave home at the end of year 6. I went to boarding school at the end of year 5. I loved boarding school because of the sporting opportunities it offered. However, if they had their time over again, I do not think my parents would have sent me away at that age. If we lose year 7 students, we might lose some of the little schools that continue to play an important role in country areas. As the Minister for Education and Training said - I agree with him - education is the right of every person. One thing that the committee is considering - this is an important issue to me - is the fantastic role played by district high schools. Some smaller district high schools are under pressure and I do not want to see them close. However, if it reaches a point at which the critical mass is not delivering to our kids what they should be getting - and the parents of those kids agree - I would not have a problem with those schools closing. The raising of the school leaving age has meant that we should be utilising our district high schools, because they have many unutilised facilities. They should be utilised for vocational education and for traineeships and apprenticeships wherever possible. For example, Darkan District High School could be utilised right now. That idea is something that I will continue to push. No-one can deny that Western Australia is experiencing a teacher shortage. Indeed, even the Minister for Education and Training cannot deny it. I will not harp on about it. However, in November last year we warned the government about a teacher shortage and told it that it needed to do something about it. I have the press release that refers to the teacher shortage and to subsequent comments that were made about the matter in Parliament. We must look to the future. Teachers need incentives. The Minister for Education and Training is on the right track, even if the federal Minister for Education, Science and Training does not agree. I like the idea of the incentive that involves the waiving of higher education contribution scheme fees. [Member’s time extended.] Mr T.K. WALDRON: That would be a good incentive. I have no doubt that we need to provide teachers with incentives so that good teachers choose to teach at our rural and regional schools. My daughter taught at Port Hedland for two years, one of the very schools at which there is a shortage. I jokingly blame her for causing the shortage, because she requested a transfer to Albany. She had a wonderful time in Port Hedland. It was a great experience for her. She did a terrific job teaching and she learnt a heck of a lot about life, about the way other people live and about some of the issues confronted by the people in that town. She applied to move thinking that the transfer would not happen for another year. She was happy to get the transfer, but she said that she would not have minded one more year at Port Hedland. Mr Speaker, our agricultural colleges do a fantastic job. They are meeting some of the need caused by labour shortages. I recently talked with Principal Andrew Castle from Narrogin Agricultural College about the lack of Western Power linesmen. Perhaps agricultural colleges could hold a linesman course in conjunction with Western Power that would allow students to obtain a job with

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 67

Western Power in the country. That would be a natural progression, and it is a very important role to fill. Peter Browne conducted a review of the agricultural colleges. It was suggested that a position of director of ag colleges be created that was similar to the position of district director of education. That position has never come to fruition, and I think it should. I will question the minister about that when I get the opportunity. There are differences between the ag colleges and the usual educational colleges. Someone with a particular focus on ag colleges could deliver great benefits. Mr D.A. Templeman: You would have a few in your electorate. Mr T.K. WALDRON: There is only the one ag college in my electorate in Narrogin, but I have been closely associated with the Denmark, Harvey, Morawa and Cunderdin colleges over the years. They all do a great job. The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Hon Kim Chance, has been involved with a plan to enable the students at Narrogin Agricultural College and in the Lake Grace region to get an education at what was the research station at Newdegate. There is some resistance to that idea from the hierarchy of the Department of Education because of the cost, but it would be a great thing. We have been talking about labour shortages. A great opportunity exists to provide training there. The agricultural industry is vitally important in my electorate because it underpins almost all the businesses in my region. People in the agricultural industry had a very tough year last year but they are a pretty optimistic lot. Most of them got through the past year okay, although some suffered a fair bit of pain. A good season is needed this year. Commodity prices are pretty good. If we get a reasonable season, my electorate will be very productive and will provide benefits to the people in my electorate and the state. Obviously, grain marketing has been a big issue. I went to the wheat meeting in Katanning the other day and heard the different views on the single-desk policy and deregulation etc. There is no doubt that probably 80 per cent of people in my electorate support the single-desk system. I congratulate the committee on the way the meeting was run because it was handled well. The farmers and others showed a lot of respect for each other and presented their side of the argument well, which was good to see. I will not comment on a case that is currently before the courts regarding live sheep exports. However, the live sheep export industry is critical to this state. Western Australia is the biggest live exporter in Australia. I understand the argument regarding cruelty to animals; however, the industry has lifted its game a lot, although it must ensure that it keeps the bar set very high. If we lost that industry, it would go somewhere else where the standard of looking after the animals would be nowhere near as high as it is in Western Australia. Although members of animal liberation groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals think they are doing a good thing, I think they might be doing the opposite. However, we must make sure that we keep the industry, and ensure that the standard of looking after the animals is kept at the highest possible level. If some firms are not meeting the highest standards, the industry should take action against those firms. There has been a big locust plague this season. I congratulate the Department of Agriculture and Food. I wrote letters to people in the department, particularly to John Glauert, who heads the ag department in Katanning. It was a huge job. The department is still spraying the south coast. If it had not been for that spraying, the problem would have been a heck of a lot worse. The department managed to dissipate the plague so that it did not cause as much damage as otherwise would have been the case. The starlings are getting out of control on the south coast and we are losing that battle. I know that Minister Chance has increased the allocation of resources, but more people are needed there right now. Another matter that is holding back agriculture is red tape and regulation. We must have regulations, particularly for safety etc, but we have gone over the top. In the area of transport, for example, a truck driver must take video footage of a bridge and send it to Main Roads before he can drive his truck over the bridge, which is absolutely ridiculous. That is what is happening at the moment. I will touch briefly on daylight saving. We will debate that if we can get our bill up. I am open about the issue of daylight saving because a person’s view on daylight saving depends on what he does. At a meeting in Kojonup recently I mentioned that I loved daylight saving when I played cricket as a young kid. It suited me because I could go to training and still have plenty of time for a beer afterwards. It does not suit my lifestyle now, but I do not want to get into any arguments about daylight saving, other than to say that National Party members have been overwhelmed by the community-driven response from our electorates. Earlier today I spoke about members listening to their electorates. If I did not present petitions and argue the case in this place, I would not be doing my job as a member of Parliament. I went to a women’s bowls day in Kojonup. There were about 160 bowlers from the region and I got absolutely hammered on that day about daylight saving. That is typical of what has been going on in our electorates. If members go to the Wagin Woolorama, I am sure that they will see it alive and well. I ask members to consider the bill and to remember that they are in this place to represent their electorates. The bill seeks only to bring the referendum forward to this year so that the people can have their say. The Premier mentioned road safety. It is a huge issue for me. Last year I ran my road safety forum, which I think was very successful. Some shires have picked up on that idea and are running their own road safety

68 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] committees and are involving the people in their towns. That is fantastic. It is only a small thing, but I think it will help. I know that the member for Avon will probably run a forum in his area. It enlightens people and alerts them to what is going on. The WA Road Safety Council needs to provide more support at a local level. I believe the Road Safety Council needs to have meetings in small country venues this year. It needs to spend a couple of days in the different areas and talk to people. That may open its members’ eyes. I congratulate the Road Safety Council because I know that what it is aiming to do is good; it wants to fix the problem, but sometimes it gets a little cut off and does not listen to what people are saying. There are other methods that should be investigated. The labour shortage, particularly of meat workers in our abattoirs, has been a big issue in my electorate, and that raises the issue of the 457 visas. I understand that we must have control over those visas, but we also must make sure that we speed up the process so that vital industries can keep ticking over. This argument has gone on for quite a while. A couple of abattoirs in my area are struggling to keep their production going. The oil mallee plant at Narrogin proved its value. However, it is now lying dormant. I know that a report is due to be released soon. I congratulate the minister, because I think he supports the plant. He has said to me that he wants to get a five megawatt plant up and running. I hope that happens, because it is a fantastic plant. It has many benefits. Its environmental and salinity benefits are huge, and it produces activated carbon and eucalyptus oil. Mr M.W. Trenorden: My mail indicates that it has been dismantled. Mr T.K. WALDRON: Not yet. I hope it will not be, but the member might be right. I will briefly mention sport before I conclude my comments. Mr J.C. Kobelke: I wondered when you were going to get around to it. Mr T.K. WALDRON: Yes, I am running a bit late with sport. It is important. We undervalue sport in this state. People sometimes say that we place too much emphasis on it. I do not think we do. We talk about health, social wellbeing, leadership and young kids with self-esteem issues. Sport is a key issue in that area. Once the minister receives the report from Langoulant, a decision about the stadium will need to be made. At the end of the day it will be the government’s decision. I support all sports. Basically, I have been a cricket-football-tennis man. I think the management of the stadium will be the key to its success. Although I am not saying that the West Australian Football Commission should manage the stadium, we must remember that it will be one of the major users of the stadium. It generates money. Whatever structure is set up, we must not crucify football so that our two teams end up like North Melbourne, because that would have a huge effect on sport in this state. Members need look only at the effect that the Australian Football League’s community camps have on the community. I am not saying that the Football Commission should be given total control, but the minister must make sure that its right to an income is protected, so that the other levels of football are protected. Mr J.C. Kobelke: It is a key intention that football should be better off through the expenditure of public money, not worse off. Mr T.K. WALDRON: That is good. I will highlight how important sport is. We celebrated 100 years of Country Week Cricket. Country Week Cricket has been an institution, and many members in this place have probably taken part in it. A dinner was held at the Hyatt Regency Perth to celebrate it. I think the Western Australian Cricket Association got the biggest shock of its life. I went to the early meetings and some people wondered whether the Hyatt would be too big for the dinner. We had to hire two rooms because 770 people attended that dinner. It was great to see the Minister for Sport and Recreation there lending his support. It showed how important sport is to people in the country. It is not about just the sport; it is about the networks, the friendships and the role that sport plays within the community. Mr J.C. Kobelke: I know that your humility won’t allow you to put it on the record, but congratulations on being declared a legend of the game for country cricket. Mr T.K. WALDRON: I thank the minister for that. I congratulate the minister on the community sporting and recreation facilities fund grants. They are really important. I have had a couple of issues, one being at Dumbleyung. I went to see the people at the Department of Sport and Recreation about it last week. That is the only reason I went to see the minister’s lady representative there, who gave me some very good advice that I will follow up. Sport is very important. I will leave it there because I am running out of time. Bush change is still happening. There are a lot of positive things out there in country WA. People are moving there. The country really was not mentioned in the Premier’s Statement. The government should not forget about it. Quite often the government argues that the commonwealth is not giving Western Australia the amount of funding that the state has earned for Australia. I agree with that; I support the government on that. However, the government must remember that it must do the same thing for country WA. It cannot have it both ways and only say that Western Australia produces everything for the commonwealth but does not get anything back, when rural areas produce a heck of a lot for this state and do not get it back. The government must make sure that it also remembers our rural areas. Lastly, today has been a pretty tumultuous day. Let us all learn from it,

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 69 lift our game and make this Parliament the highly respected place that it should be. I look forward with great enthusiasm to the coming year. MR G.M. CASTRILLI (Bunbury) [9.36 pm]: I also congratulate the new member for Peel, Paul Papalia, on his success at the recent by-election. I am sure that, coming from good stock, he will make a fantastic contribution in this Parliament. I am glad that the Premier raised the issue of affordable housing. That is one of the main topics that I want to talk about tonight. I think it is a bit ironic that the Labor Party, which is supposedly in touch with the working man, has allowed Western Australia’s chronic shortage of affordable housing to continue. However, I note the government’s most recent move into this area with its First Start program. I reckon it is a good start, but it will have minimal impact on the housing crisis. A thousand people a year will benefit from it, but thousands of others will miss out. Recently, through a parliamentary internship program, I was able to gain the services of a student to research a report on the barriers to affordable housing and the opportunities for change. That report was compiled by Ms Caroline Parkinson. In my area of Bunbury, as in other areas of Western Australia, we are experiencing a crisis in housing affordability. Housing prices in the area have risen by some 40 per cent in the past year, and new land for development is scarce. My office receives new requests each week for assistance with finding housing. Just last week one woman came into my office, and she had been sleeping in her car for a year. She is a 62-year-old woman who suffers from arthritis. She has been on the Homeswest waiting list for two and a half years and simply cannot find any affordable private rental property, so she waits out her time living in her car with her ageing dog for both her companionship and her security. A further case is that of a 71-year-old woman who is the full-time carer for her wheelchair-bound 90-year-old mother, who is a stroke victim. This woman suffers from osteoporosis and has been forced to sleep on a folder bed in the dining room of their one-bedroom unit for the past 12 months while waiting for a Homeswest unit. A lot of members in this chamber would experience the same thing, but I find it a bit gut wrenching that I can do only so much to help people, and sometimes there is very little that I can do to help them. However, it is a situation that I am certainly not willing to accept as unsolvable. I have been a bit disturbed on a number of fronts about the interference and misguidance that have been occurring in my part of the state, and no doubt that is mirrored in other areas of the state. The first is the government’s program to sell off Homeswest housing. In Bunbury this has occurred, and continues to occur, in the Withers and Carey Park areas. I accept the desire to create more socially diverse neighbourhoods. However, there is a major flaw because no criteria are being applied to purchasers to enforce the owner-occupier status of the Homeswest housing. That is a major omission that has further exacerbated affordability in the housing crisis. Only a couple of years ago Bunbury was a relatively cheap place to buy property, and investors caught on to that fact. When the government started selling Homeswest housing, investors had a field day in picking up cheap housing. Speculators from the eastern states bought properties online. Many have never visited Bunbury or viewed their investments firsthand. Most of them have no commitment to Bunbury or the social fabric that is our community. The very people who needed housing were outbid by cashed-up investors. What did the investors do? They took advantage of the shortage in rental accommodation and significantly increased rents. They effectively forced families out of their homes as they could no longer afford the rents. They went on to Homeswest’s ever-increasing waiting list. The waiting list for Homeswest in Bunbury is now four years. Priority listing has now gone out to six months. How do people survive four years on a waiting list to qualify for Homeswest accommodation? Certainly, to fit the criteria people must have well below what is now required to afford or enter into the private rental market. I am aware of a major housing project that was planned for a suburb-sized space next to the Bunbury Village Holiday Park, which is off Bussell Highway on Washington Avenue. A developer had been negotiating to obtain the large tract of land from the government for over two years. Contracts had been going backwards and forwards when, suddenly, the government withdrew the land from sale. I have been advised that there will be no development on that site for at least five years. The land is owned by the government and was subject to negotiations to sell so that a range of housing could be built. After two years of protracted negotiations and contracts, it was decided to suddenly withdraw it from the market. The state’s inability to release enough land to meet Western Australia’s needs has been raised repeatedly in the media. This is another case in which the government is failing to recognise a critical need and could take steps to alleviate the problem. As Ms Parkinson points out in her report, the Labor government recognised in its own reports that the supply of housing needs to increase by 56 per cent by 2026 to meet growing demand. I have extracted a few points from her report. Overall, four per cent of Western Australia’s households are experiencing some degree of housing stress. The figure seems quite low but when it is converted into percentages for low income earners - that is, those who earn less than $539 a week - approximately 60 per cent of renters are paying over 30 per cent of their income in rent. That represents a huge affordability problem for those who can least afford it. Population and housing trends indicate that the problem is likely to get worse. Although the population is set to increase 32 per

70 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] cent by 2026, the number of homes needed to offset the additional population is expected to require a 56 per cent increase in new housing. The imbalance is due to changing household structures, with increases in one and two- person households occurring at the expense of two-parent families, which are expected to decrease from 34 per cent to 18 per cent by 2026. The ageing of the population, a trend that has received much attention from policymakers, is set to increase the demand for small-scale, manageable homes appropriate for single person, low-maintenance living. Since the 2001 census, housing affordability has deteriorated further in Western Australia. Over the past year to November 2006 rental prices have jumped by 23 per cent. The Hegney Property Group has predicted another 20 per cent rise by the end of 2008. Some real estate pundits are even predicting increases of 30 per cent or more by the end of this year. This figure is well above the rise in the annual wage price index, which reported a 4.6 per cent increase in the year to 30 June 2006. Rental vacancies are currently less than two per cent. That leaves many renters with almost no choice in their housing situation and them to pay increasingly high prices. The upshot is that despite the resource-led economic prosperity in this state, an increased number of people will be under housing stress. There has been a failure to address this problem. The funds to supply public housing have been shrinking while those available for rental assistance have been increasing. This is a concerning trend that is unsustainable and fails to address the cause. There is stagnation and even decline in public housing stocks at a time when they desperately need to increase. Many members would be surprised to hear that at least half the private rental market receives some form of rent assistance, equating to 10 per cent of the population. That is quite high. In 2003 the maximum rent assistance available to a single person with no family was $94.40 a fortnight, a level that does not reflect the reality of today’s rental market. As a result, 32 per cent of rental assistance recipients remain in housing stress. Mr D.A. Templeman: That’s why we need to push for the federal government to increase the cap, because they are the ones that are capping the rental assistance. Mr G.M. CASTRILLI: I am happy to push anybody because I think it is a grave problem. The Premier raised it today. It is one of the major problems confronting our society in Western Australia today. Funding for bandaid such as rent assistance does not address the real cause of the problem. It is clear that rental assistance in isolation is not the correct policy response. Potential solutions have been talked about but they have failed to be implemented. The state government must initiate programs that encourage and provide incentives for joint ventures between government agencies and private development. For this to be effective, it needs the cooperation of local governments, as it is their role to apply appropriate zoning mixes to allow for the creation of affordable housing to suit the changing needs of the market. Local government needs to make a clear commitment to affordable housing, so that developers can respond to a clear message to increase affordable housing. To develop a working social housing program requires incentive schemes. Incentive schemes can be incorporated into packages. They need to be flexible and innovative to cater for different types of development. The most common incentive to development of affordable housing is through bonus density. The state of California requires local government to provide 25 per cent density bonuses to developments that include a component of affordable housing. Ever since entering politics, and previously in my role as the Mayor of Bunbury, I have advocated reversing the government’s trend of aggregating all policy decisions in Perth. The Housing Advisory Committee is another example of policy driven from the metropolitan area and imposed on regional areas. A major company such as BHP has a chief executive on board, but long ago it realised that once it attained a certain size, it acquired a decision-making power that had to be delegated down to the managers on the ground to be effective. Western Australia is no different. Qualities that suit the metropolitan area do not automatically translate to being suitable for regional areas. Decision makers really need to be put back into regional areas so that local decision making will be based on what really works in those areas. The chief economist for AMP Ltd, Shane Oliver, recently said that Western Australia will benefit from the booming Chinese economy for the next 30 years. If real action is not taken now to address the affordable housing situation in Western Australia, a large number of good people will simply suffer because they do not have access to high incomes. Another area I want to touch on is the Yarragadee aquifer. I was delighted to read recently in The West Australian that Premier Carpenter had given his promise that the Yarragadee project would not proceed if it would do damage to the environment. Given that promise, I call on the Premier to announce today that the Water Corporation’s proposal to take 45 gigalitres a year from the Yarragadee to be used in Perth will be scrapped. I am sure that the Premier’s advisers have had time to read the Environmental Protection Authority’s report into the Yarragadee proposal. The report contains sufficient uncertainty and concerns about the impact of the project on the environment of the south west to lead the Premier to make good his promise and scrap the project. Mr J.C. Kobelke: Are you going to acknowledge that that report gave approval to the project? Mr G.M. CASTRILLI: It did not give approval; it gave conditional approval, subject to a whole set of criteria. One area that needs to be raised again is the recharge rate of the Yarragadee. In October 2005, the peer review panel appointed by the state government made a submission on the Yarragadee. The panel used the “best

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 71 science available” - a term the Water Corporation loves to use - to make its determination that the net recharge rate for the Yarragadee is 374 gigalitres a year. A little over 12 months later, the recharge rate, again using the best available science, has been determined by the Environmental Protection Authority to be only 150 gigalitres a year. The difference between the two figures is quite astounding. The fall in the known recharge rate would in itself be sufficient for the Water Corporation to reconsider its proposal. The Yarragadee aquifer sustains a number of very important ecosystems in the south west through open discharge into river systems, such as the Blackwood River, and wetlands. The maintenance of the region’s watertable is very strongly influenced by the Yarragadee. Playing with the natural balance between recharge and discharge into the environment through direct recharge and maintenance of ground water levels is a looming environmental disaster, with the potential to dwarf any tragedy foisted on the environment since Federation. We need only consider the numbers to realise how fragile an environment the Yarragadee is. [Member’s time extended.] Mr G.M. CASTRILLI: It is reported to hold over one billion gigalitres of water, yet its net recharge is only 150 gigalitres a year. If the actions of the Water Corporation damage the aquifer, how long will it take to repair? Will it be one, two, three or 100 lifetimes? If this catastrophic event takes place, what does the Water Corporation intend to do about it? It intends to rape and pillage the already strained river systems of the south west. It cannot do this by tapping some of the larger and less utilised rivers of the south west, because they are already too polluted and high in salinity. Every year, in excess of 100 gigalitres of useable water pours out of Perth into the ocean. There has been a lot of talk about recycled water, and this has focused on the disagreeable thought of drinking our own waste. As we know, sewerage is known as black water. However, the 100 gigalitres of grey water that is currently being wasted deserves to be given attention. Many people would resist drinking recycled black water. However, there would be little resistance to drinking recycled grey water. We need to be more diverse in our thinking about water solutions. One solution would be to have multiple pipe systems, with one pipe to deliver drinking water and another pipe to deliver water for use in commercial businesses, gardens, sporting grounds and nature strips. The problem of restricting access to water sources will not vanish over the next few years or decades. We need to engage in long-term planning. However, we are not about to run out of water tomorrow. Our environment is too precious to this state and to Australia to make a misguided and pre-emptive move to further develop a water resource that we simply do not know enough about. Perhaps one day Yarragadee water will flow to Perth. However, that decision does not need to be made now. We have plenty of time in which to conduct a more in- depth study and to further improve the science and explore other alternatives. Mr J.C. Kobelke: Are you aware of how much research has been done over the past four years? Mr G.M. CASTRILLI: I am, minister. I have had discussions with departmental heads. The problem is that the people of the south west - the minister can talk to his members about this - do not believe the minister. Figures are being bandied around all over this state about recharge rates and how much water is available. The problem is that no-one believes them. Mr J.C. Kobelke: Perhaps that is because there has been too much science and everyone has become lost in it. Mr G.M. CASTRILLI: The minister should not make light of a very serious situation. Mr J.C. Kobelke: I am not. I am saying that is part of the problem. Mr G.M. CASTRILLI: I am saying that people do not believe the figures that are being bandied around. Those figures are changing every five minutes. The recent debate about whether the price of water should be increased has yet to run its course in the public arena. I believe a more logical approach can be taken to water management than simply increasing the price of water. That argument is similar to the argument that the price of sweets should be increased to prevent obesity. The price of water may well increase in this state. However, that should be because hard decisions have been made about how to utilise our existing water resources. The Yarragadee may be the cheapest option for the supply of water to the metropolitan area - even that is debateable - but that does not make it the best option. There are other options, such as processing the water in Wellington Dam. That has been mentioned today. Concerns have been expressed about the government’s claim that it will cost $850 million to process that water. I have yet to see why the cost will be so high. However, if that is the case, it will lead to a natural increase in water charges. That will mean that the people who are calling for water prices to be increased to reduce consumption will get their wish. It will mean also that we will be utilising a water source that is currently being wasted, and we will be removing the risk that the south west’s natural beauty will be destroyed. Debate adjourned, on motion by Mr J.C. Kobelke (Leader of the House). House adjourned at 9.58 pm ______

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QUESTIONS ON NOTICE

Questions and answers are as supplied to Hansard.

DAMPIER TO BUNBURY NATURAL GAS PIPELINE 1639. Dr S.C. Thomas to the Minister Assisting the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure (1) What environmental studies have been used to justify the proposed change of the route of the new Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline? (2) Will the Minister table those studies? (a) If not, why not? (3) Has the Department of Environment and Conservation vetoed or opposed the use of the existing pipeline route or expansion of that corridor? (a) If so, will the Minister table that advice? (4) Has the previous pipeline construction produced significant environmental damage? (a) If so, what damage? (5) Why is it appropriate to put the pipeline on farm land but apparently inappropriate to have it under pine plantations? (6) Is the Government’s policy generally to shift development off public land onto private land to minimise the impact on Government departments? Answer (1) Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline Corridor Widening - Kwinana to Bunbury Project Strategic Environmental Review Bowman Bishaw Gorham - Report No. G02153, March 2004 Dampier - Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline Corridor Review of the Kemerton Alignment Strategen - July 2006 Dampier-Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline Corridor Widening - Kwinana to Bunbury Project Advice to the Minister for the Environment under Section 16 (e) of the Environmental Protection Act, Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) - Bulletin 1153, 2004 and associated key References (Appendix 2) (2) The above documents are publicly available on the websites of the Department for Planning and Infrastructure (Strategen Report), the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA Bulletin) and the Information Centre of the Department of Environment and Conservation (Bowman Bishaw Gorham Report). (2)(a) N/A (3) The Department of Environment and Conservation has opposed the use of additional bushland in the Kemerton area outside the existing pipeline route for the purpose of corridor expansion. Additional pipelines have been previously approved in the existing corridor, but the corridor is now full to capacity. (3)(a) This information is contained in the Strategen Report referred to in the response to question 1. (4) and (4)(a) The Department of Environment and Conservation has advised that the pipeline corridor has contributed to environmental fragmentation in the Kemerton area, including the spread of weed species, diminished diversity of vegetation, some increase in predacity from foxes and spread of Phytophthora dieback. (5) The final draft alignment traverses both pine plantation and farmland. (6) No. FISHERIES - USE OF BEACH SEINE NETS IN BLOCK NO. 9601 1652. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister representing the Minister for Fisheries (1) How many licensed beach seine fishing teams operate in Fisheries Block Number 9601?

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(2) What is the annual catch tonnage caught in the zone for the years - (a) 2000; (b) 2001; (c) 2002; (d) 2003; (e) 2004; and (f) 2005? (3) What is the value per annum of this catch for each of the above years? (4) What are the species and numbers per species caught in Zone 9601 in the years - (a) 2000; (b) 2001; (c) 2002; (d) 2003; (e) 2004; and (f) 2005? Mr J.J.M. BOWLER replied: 1. There are fifteen fishing boat licence holders who have traditionally used beach seine nets in block 9601. Included in these fifteen fishing boat licence holders are nine South West Coast Salmon Manager Fishery licence holders who may operate beach seine nets in block number 9601 to take salmon. 2. a-f Table 1 CATCH BY BEACH SEINE/HAUL NETTING FOR BLOCK 96010 as of 09:38 Wednesday, December 13, 2006 YEARS 2000 TO 2005 LIVE (KGS) 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 FBL anchovy 69 . 100 120 . . bream, black 100 . . . 40 . bream, buffalo . . 4830 1580 1125 . bream, silver (tarwhine) 81 194 431 113 187 . crab, sand (blue manna) 80 . 56 3 13 . flathead, other 2 . . . . . flounder 6 . . . . . garfish, sea 2109 576 398 350 4300 100 herring, Australian 55300 70794 38252 69819 29470 37876 mullet, sea 12885 8062 13533 5961 4627 18629 mullet, yellow-eye 2426 50 . 9027 885 800 other fish varieties 400 . . . 1 648 pike, sea 8 26 5 . 15 . pilchard . . 100 700 . . salmon, Western Australian . 4392 6180 9454 10684 12992 smelt, hardy head . . . . 290 798 sprat blue 8997 7684 10138 6837 4833 5776 squid . 4 . 1 . . tailor 135 657 79 115 227 613 trevally, other (skippy) 281 228 67 88 55 600 whitebait 69678 75923 61599 38500 103429 70484 whiting, king george 257 . 13 8 21 . whiting, western sand 9065 11687 1998 3195 3687 3863 TOTAL 161879 180277 137779 145871 163889 153179 LEF salmon, Western Australian 217 175553 413216 266041 423517 430513 TOTAL 217 175553 413216 266041 423517 430513 NoA salmon, Western Australian . . . 580 . . TOTAL . . . 580 . . TOTAL 162096 355830 550995 412492 587406 583692

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3 & 4 a-f Table 2 CATCH VALUE BY BEACH SEINE/HAUL NETTING FOR BLOCK 96010 as of 09:38 Wednesday, December 13, 2006 YEARS 2000 TO 2005 EST VALUE $ 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 FBL anchovy 104 . 150 180 . . bream, black 472 . . . 189 . bream, buffalo . . 1932 632 450 . bream, silver (tarwhine) 226 468 1039 272 451 . crab, sand (blue manna) 350 . 238 13 55 . flathead, other 4 . . . . . flounder 30 . . . . . garfish, sea 7324 1941 1341 1180 14491 698 herring, Australian 22120 28318 15301 27928 11788 15150 mullet, sea 25422 16850 28235 10505 10179 40984 mullet, yellow-eye 2395 45 . 8034 788 712 other fish varieties 644 . . . 2 1510 pike, sea 13 43 8 . 25 . pilchard . . 90 630 . . salmon, Western Australian . 1581 2657 4065 4594 5587 smelt, hardy head . . . . 676 1859 sprat blue 17994 15368 20276 13674 9666 21248 squid . 15 . 4 . . tailor 408 1794 216 314 620 1673 trevally, other (skippy) 619 494 147 163 102 1110 white bait 146757 151846 123198 77000 206858 140968 whiting, king george 2173 . 110 68 178 . whiting, western sand 32181 41489 7511 14026 16186 16959 TOTAL 259237 260251 202451 158686 277297 248458 LEF salmon, Western Australian 109 63199 177683 114398 182112 185121 TOTAL 109 63199 177683 114398 182112 185121 noA salmon, Western Australian . . . 249 . . TOTAL . . . 249 . . TOTAL 259345 323450 380133 273333 459410 433579 FISHERIES - DEMERSAL GILLNET FISHING IN BLOCK NO. 9601 1653. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister representing the Minister for Fisheries In reference to the Demersal Gill net Fishery, I ask – (1) How many licensed shark net fishing boats operate in Block 33151, including Block 9601? (2) What is the total annual catch records in these blocks for shark and scale fish, in the years – (a) 2000; (b) 2001; (c) 2002; (d) 2003; (e) 2004; and (f) 2005? (3) What catches of both shark and scale fish have been recorded by the same operators using hand lines? (4) What is the maximum net length allowable at any one time? (5) If the maximum was used each set, how many days could the licensee operate in one season? Mr J.J.M. BOWLER replied: Much of the data requested by the Member cannot be provided due to the confidentiality provisions under Section 250 of the Fish Resources Management Act 1994. As all of the years requested (except 2000) contain

[ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 27 February 2007] 75 data from less than 5 vessels and from a very specific area, the information if released could lead to the identification of persons to whom the data relates. The protection of this information is vital because commercial fishers provide detailed catch and effort data that is crucial to the sustainable management of our fisheries. Section 250 provides the necessary assurance to the fishing industry that this information, which is otherwise commercial in confidence, will not be made publicly available. (1) Prior to the new management arrangements which came into place in June 2006, operators in the Joint Authority Southern Demersal Gillnet and Longline Managed Fishery were entitled to use either gillnets or longlines, and could nominate which month(s) the operator wished to use those units. The average number of boats that fished each year in blocks 33151 and 9601 between 2000 and 2005 is 3.3 (ranging between 6 and 1). (2a-f) The total shark (and ray) catches (to the nearest tonne live wt) over the 6 year period by the vessels fishing in blocks 33151 and 9601 is 180 tonnes. The total scalefish catch taken (to the nearest tonne live wt) over the 6 year period by the vessels fishing in blocks 33151 and 9601 is 56 tonnes. (3) The total shark, ray and scalefish catch taken by handline (to the nearest tonne live wt) over the 6 year period by the same vessels fishing in blocks 33151 and 9601 is 20 tonnes. (4) This fishery is unitised, whereby the units represent a measure of fishing effort and are based on a combination of net length and time. Under the new management arrangements for the fishery, each unit is equivalent to 270m of gillnet (or 90 hooks if using a longline) and are exhausted after 11 days of use (or after 19 days of use in Zone 2, which extends from near Walpole, east through to the WA/SA border). The maximum amount of gillnet that can be used at one time is 8,235m which is equivalent to 30.5 units. The total number of units available in Zone 1 of the Fishery, which includes Blocks 33151 and 9601, is 1116.5 units and these are shared among 24 licences that are held by 18 individual licensees. It is important to note that under previous management arrangements, each of these units could potentially have been used for a period of 1 month and the reduction to 11 days represents a significant reduction in fishing effort. (5) This completely depends on the number of units held by the operator. However, in the unlikely event that one operator was to purchase or lease all of the units in the fishery they would just have sufficient capacity to be able to fish the maximum gillnet entitlement for every day of the season (noting that there is a 2 month closure in place to protect pupping whiskery sharks from 16 August through to 15 October). In reality, this fishery (in particular Zone 1) is made up of a mixture of different types of fishing operations. There are two licensees with relatively large unit holdings that have historically fished very intensively throughout the year from large boats that are less restricted in poor weather. The remainder of the licensees in this zone, have moderate to very small unit holdings. FISHERIES - GEOGRAPHE BAY - TRAWLERS 1654. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister representing the Minister for Fisheries (1) How many trawlers have entitlements to trawl in the Geographe Bay (South of Lat. 33o13’)? (2) How many trawlers have been active in this area annually in the years - (a) 2000; (b) 2001; (c) 2002; (d) 2003; (e) 2004; and (f) 2005? (3) What are the per annum returns from this area using trawling for scallops and bi-catch, in the years - (a) 2000; (b) 2001; (c) 2002; (d) 2003; (e) 2004; and (f) 2005?

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(4) What is the maximum net head rope length allowable? (5) What is the allowable diameter size of the tickler chain? Mr J.J.M. BOWLER replied: For the Department of Fisheries: (1)-(3) There are 12 South West Trawl Managed Fishery licenses that are endorsed to trawl in Zone B of the fishery. Geographe Bay is a part of Zone B. In relation to the response to 2(a)-(f) and 3(a)- (f) much of the data requested by the Member cannot be provided due to the confidentiality provisions under Section 250 of the Fish Resources Management Act 1994. The protection of this information is vital because commercial fishers provide detailed catch and effort data that is crucial to the sustainable management of our fisheries. Section 250 provides the necessary assurance to the fishing industry that this information, which is otherwise commercial in confidence, will not be made publicly available. In relation to (2)(a)-(f) two vessels were active in Geographe Bay between 2000 and 2002, however, only one has fished in each of the years 2000, 2001 and 2002. No vessels have been recorded as trawling in Geographe Bay during 2003,2004 and 2005. (4) The maximum permitted head rope length for a vessel authorised to trawl in Geographe Bay is 29.25m. (5) The ground chain links must not exceed 10mm in diameter. KALGOORLIE BOULDER COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL 1659. Mr M.J. Birney to the Minister for Education and Training With reference to the Kalgoorlie Boulder Community High School (Middle School) can the Minister advise - (1) What was the total cost of all damage that occurred as a result of vandalism at the school for the years - (a) 2006; (b) 2005; (c) 2004; and (d) 2003? (2) How many incidents involving violence or verbal threats and abuse were recorded at the school for the years - (a) 2006; (b) 2005; (c) 2004; and (d) 2003? (3) How many incidents involving verbal threats or verbal abuse by students against teachers were recorded at the school for the years - (a) 2006; (b) 2005; (c) 2004; and (d) 2003? (4) How many incidents involving violence committed by a student against a teacher (please give details of each incident and the disciplinary action taken in each case) occurred for the years - (a) 2006; (b) 2005; (c) 2004; and (d) 2003? (5) How many students were suspended from the school for the years - (a) 2006; (b) 2005; (c) 2004; and (d) 2003? (6) How many students were expelled from the school for the years - (a) 2006; (b) 2005; (c) 2004; and (d) 2003?

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(7) Did the Minister or any of her staff either directly or indirectly at any time direct staff at the school or the district to keep all violence and abuse issues at the school "in house" by not discussing them with anybody outside of the school? (8) Did any employee of the District Office either directly or indirectly at any time direct staff or management at the school to keep all violence and abuse issues at the school "in house" by not discussing them with - (a) anybody outside of the school; (b) the Member for Kalgoorlie, Matt Birney; or (c) the Police? (9) Did any member of the management team at the school either directly or indirectly at any time direct staff to keep all violence and abuse issues at the school "in house" by not discussing them with - (a) anybody outside of the school; (b) the Member for Kalgoorlie, Matt Birney; or (c) the Police? (10) How many teachers at the school requested a transfer away from the school for the years - (a) 2006; (b) 2005; (c) 2004; and (d) 2003? (11) Of the teachers who requested a transfer away from the school in the below mentioned years, how many did so either in part or in full because of concerns about violence and abuse at the school for the years - (a) 2006; (b) 2005; (c) 2004; and (d) 2003? (12) How many teachers at the school received a transfer away from the school for the years - (a) 2006; (b) 2005; (c) 2004; and (d) 2003? (13) How many teachers at the school resigned for the years - (a) 2006; (b) 2005; (c) 2004; and (d) 2003? (14) Of the teachers that resigned from the school in the below mentioned years, how many did so in part or in full because of concerns regarding violence and abuse at the school for the years - (a) 2006; (b) 2005; (c) 2004; and (d) 2003? (15) How many different students were recorded truanting from the school at least once for the years - (a) 2006; (b) 2005; (c) 2004; and (d) 2003? (16) How many students currently attend the school? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1) 2006/2007 - $27,938 2005/2006 - $73,600 2004/2005 - not applicable 2003/2004 - not applicable

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(2) 2006 - 182 2003 - 2005 - not applicable (3) 2006 - 68 2003 - 2005 - not applicable (4) 2006 - 9 2003 - 2005 - not applicable Three of the incidents involved the student swearing or shouting at the teacher. Six of the incidents involved a teacher being physically assaulted. One of the above incidents was referred to the Community Circle of Elders’ panel. Three of the above incidents were referred to the police. On all occasions the student involved was suspended. On all occasions the parent/guardian of the student involved was called to the school to discuss the student’s behaviour. (5) 2006 - 114 2003 - 2005 - not applicable (6) 2006 - 0 2003 - 2005 - not applicable (7) No (8) (a)-(c) No (9) (a)-(c) No (10) 2006 - 1 2003 - 2005 - not applicable (11) 2006 -1 2003 - 2005 - not applicable (12) 2006 - 0 2003 - 2005 - not applicable (13) 2006 - 8 2003 - 2005 - not applicable (14) 2006 - 0 2003 - 2005 - not applicable (15) (a) 2006 - 174 (b)-(d) 2003 - 2005 - not applicable (16) 860 students currently attend WATER RESOURCES - STUDIES INTO DESALINATION AND THE YARRAGADEE AQUIFER 1660. Mr C.J. Barnett to the Minister for Water Resources (1) Please list all of the studies, including environmental impact studies that have been conducted since February 2001 into – (a) desalination; and (b) the Yarragadee Aquifer? (2) For each study mentioned, please provide the approximate cost of that study. Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) (a) Please refer to Attachment 1. (b) Please refer to Attachment 2. (2) Please refer to Attachments 1 and 2. [See paper 2297.] MUCHEA SALEYARDS - CONSTRUCTION 1664. Mr M.W. Trenorden to the Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Agriculture and Food I refer to question on notice 1613, and ask – (1) Has the saleyard project at Muchea been defined from the Capital Expenditure Budget?

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(2) Why was question on notice 1613 not reasonably answered? (3) Who was the individual who drafted the response? If the Minister will not supply the name of that individual, under what statute does the Minister withhold the name? (4) Is the figure of $32 Million as quoted in The West Australian newspaper on 29 November a reasonable estimate of current construction and associated costs? If not, has a recent costing been done and what was the latest estimate? (5) Has the Muchea Saleyard Project been affected by any Treasury statement? If so, will the Minister supply those statements? (6) Has the Minister announced any delay in the project? (7) Have any concerns been raised by any Council, agency or individual regarding surface or subterranean water problems? (8) Is the site on or adjacent to water tables of any public note? (9) Has a transport plan accessing problems been conducted? (10) What is the estimated number of sheep to be sold through the yards per annum? What is the estimated revenue for the sale of sheep per annum? (11) What is the estimated number of cattle to be sold through the yards per annum? What is the estimated revenue for the sale of cattle per annum? (12) What are the estimated running costs of the Muchea saleyards, including all associated costs such as interest? (13) Has the Minister or any of the Minister’s staff discussed the road access problems of the Town of Toodyay with the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure or the Minister’s staff? If not, why not? Mr M.P. WHITELY replied: 1. The Government has approved the Muchea Saleyard project funding from the return from sale of the current saleyard land at Midland. 2. Question on Notice 1613 was answered appropriately given that it was based on a false premise - that the Muchea Saleyard project had been terminated. As the Member is no doubt aware, no such decision has been taken. This Government consistently monitors and reviews performance of capital works projects such as the Midland Saleyard Relocation Project and I can assure the Member that stakeholders would be informed should any decision be made to terminate this project. 3. As the Member should understand, it is my responsibility to ensure answers given in this place are accurate and appropriate and all answers are approved by the Minister for Agriculture and Food. Answers are not the responsibility of any other individual. 4-5. As the project is about to go to tender and it is not appropriate at this time to provide cost estimates. 6. No delay has been announced as such but the Minister has acknowledged that the project has been delayed beyond its original scheduled conclusion of 2007. 7. All environmental issues have been considered. Works approval is currently being sought from the Department of Environment and Conservation. 8. Any potential impacts on any ground water systems will be addressed though the approvals process. 9. A traffic management plan has been prepared for the site and lead up roads. This will remove an existing black spot intersection at the junction of Brand Highway and Muchea East Road. In March 2002 the Department for Planning and Infrastructure DPI) prepared a Position Paper on the "Proposed Relocation of Midland Saleyard to Muchea". The report highlighted that largely the transport routes used to and from the Midland Saleyard will continue to be used with the Muchea location. The most significant transport issue for the Muchea site is the possibility that livestock trucks accessing the site from the east will seek to take a shorter route and deviate through Toodyay. Julimar Road from Toodyay to Muchea offers the greatest distance saving for transporters moving stock from some eastern areas. However, permit vehicles are not allowed to use routes such as Julimar Road, so only "as-of- right" stock vehicles should deviate through Toodyay Shire. The report suggested this could amount to an extra seven vehicles per day through Toodyay during peak stock movements. 10. It is expected that 800,000 sheep per annum will be handled through the Muchea facility. The State Government considers this information on revenue forecasts to be of a confidential commercial nature

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and have requested that this information is not made publicly available at this time. The Authority will continue to consult closely with industry and Treasury in relation to fee structures. 11. It is expected that 90,000 head of cattle will be handled through the Muchea facility. The State Government considers these income forecasts are of a confidential commercial nature. 12. This information is also not publicly available at this time as the Authority considers its projections are of a confidential commercial nature. The trading performance of the Midland Saleyard is currently provided in the Authority's annual report. The trading position of the Muchea facility will likewise be provided in future annual reports. 13. Yes. The Toodyay issues have however been considered as I outlined in my answer to question 9. The 2002 Planning and Infrastructure report identified that there should be a very small increase in the traffic impact on the Toodyay community. EDUCATION - IMPLEMENTATION OF LOCAL AREA EDUCATION PLANS 1665. Ms M.M. Quirk to the Minister for Education and Training Can the Minister list those areas currently subject to a Local Area Education Plan (LAEP), and in respect to each of those LAEPs advise the following - (a) what stage has the LAEP reached; (b) whether school closures are contemplated as a consequence of said LAEP - if so, what are the names of the schools earmarked for closure; (c) has implementation of each LAEP been accommodated in forward estimates; (d) are any schools in an area precluded or restricted from participation in any departmental schemes or programs as a consequence of the existence of a LAEP; (e) has school maintenance in a particular area been deferred, delayed or otherwise modified, as a consequence of the existence of a LAEP; (f) those LAEPs where public consultation has occurred; (g) what is the criteria deployed for prioritising implementation of LAEPs; and (h) whether the criteria used to allocate resources to the implementation of the LAEPs incorporate data relating to the Index of Social Disadvantage? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: The Minister has answered the Member’s question in relation to her electorate by way of correspondence. CULTURE AND THE ARTS - BUDGET FOR COUNTRY ARTS 1668. Mr M.W. Trenorden to the Minister for Culture and the Arts Given the very strong growth in population in many of the regions, can the Minister give an assurance that the budget for country arts will grow well beyond the inflation rate? Ms S.M. McHALE replied: Country Arts WA is a triennially funded arts organisation and receives and will continue to receive indexation on its base grant each year. REVIEW OF WA TRAINING SECTOR - MR GREG PHILLIP 1669. Mr J.H.D. Day to the Minister for Education and Training With reference to the Review of the WA Training Sector undertaken in 2001 - (1) What was the cost of the advice and assistance provided by Mr Greg Phillip (referred to on page 3 of the report)? (2) Was a tender process established for the provision of such advice and assistance; and (a) if so, what was the value of each tender? (b) if there was no tender process, why not? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1) $5498.90 including GST (2) No. A formal tender process was not required for this level of service.

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SPORT AND RECREATION - PERRY LAKES STADIUM REDEVELOPMENT 1670. Mr C.J. Barnett to the Minister for Sport and Recreation I refer to the Perry Lakes Stadium Redevelopment, and I ask - (1) Will the Minister confirm that the estimated cost of the new Perry Lakes Stadium sporting facilities is $55.8 million? (2) What is the estimated cost of building the rugby facilities on a separate site, given that an east-west flora corridor is to be retained on the new stadium site? (3) Will the Government fund any scope increases or cost escalations relating to the project? (4) Will the Minister provide a detailed breakdown of the final development budget prior to project commencement? (5) When will the Minister release this information to Town of Cambridge ratepayers? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) No. (2) The costs are not yet determined. (3) The impact of escalation will not be determined until tenders have been received. The State is committed to funding 48 per cent of the State Athletics Centre. (4) Yes. (5) At an appropriate time, following finalisation of costings. APPLECROSS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL - ACCESS OF DISABLED STUDENTS TO CLASSES 1672. Dr J.M. Woollard to the Minister for Education and Training In a letter from the Minister for Disability Services dated 8 November 2006, the Minister advised that the provision of accessible educational services ultimately lies with the Department of Education and Training. In light of this can the Minister please advise - (1) How many students at Applecross Senior High School are permanently or intermittently unable to access classes on the upper floor of the school because of their disability? (2) How many students attending the school in 2007 will be unable to access classes on the upper floor of the school due to a disability? (3) What facilities have been provided at the school to ensure that these students are not disadvantaged? (4) What facilities are planned to be provided at the school in 2007 to improve access for disabled students? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1) Applecross Senior High School has two students currently enrolled that are unable to access the upper levels of the school as they are in wheelchairs. (2) There will be two students as per 2006 who are unable to access the upper levels (3) The school has located all classes for these students on the ground floor to ensure that both students are not disadvantaged in anyway in their subject choices. (4) Currently the school has been able to accommodate students with physical disabilities by adjusting class placement on the ground floor. The school is consulting with the Centre for Inclusive Schooling to determine possible needs for 2008. KWINANA DESALINATION PLANT - DETAILS 1673. Mr J.H.D. Day to the Minister for Water Resources With reference to the Kwinana Desalination Plant, I ask - (1) What is the final capital cost? (2) What is the annual recurrent cost? (3) What is the current output of water per week? (4) When will the plant be operating at full capacity? (5) What will be the additional average per household cost of water as a result of the desalination plant being established when it is fully operational?

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Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) $387m. (2) Approximately $20m per year. (3) As at 15 December 2006, the Perth Seawater Desalination Plant output is 72 ML/day, which is 500 ML/week. (4) The end of January 2007. (5) Approximately $44 per year. WESTERN AUSTRALIAN TOURISM COMMISSION - SOFTWARE LICENCES 1674. Mr A.J. Simpson to the Minister for Tourism In regard to the $350,000 spent on Software licences by the Western Australian Tourism Commission in the 2005/06 financial year, can the Minister advise - (1) What software licences were specifically purchased with this money? (2) How much was individually spent on each licence? (3) From which vendors was each licence purchased? Ms S.M. McHALE replied: (1)-(2) Software License Product Cost (ex GST) Microsoft Desktop Professional $262,972.50 Microsoft Project $13,342.50 Microsoft Sharepoint Server $6,912.54 Microsoft SQL Server $49,575.42 Microsoft Visio $4,436.55 Microsoft Terminal Services $13,743.00 Total Cost $350,982.51 (3) The licenses were purchased as one complete set from Dimension Data under Whole of Government Common Use Agreement (CUA) 3605. MOSQUITO CONTROL IN SOUTH WEST OF STATE 1675. Dr S.C. Thomas to the Minister for Health (1) Is the Department of Health making funding available for mosquito control in the south west of Western Australia? (2) Is this funding contingent on the control of viruses including Ross River Virus or is mosquito control alone adequate to award funding? (3) Has virus control ever previously been contingent to gaining this funding? (4) When was this funding first introduced, and with what restrictions? (5) Are mosquito control funds available on an annual basis for shires in the south west and what restrictions are placed on these funds? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1) Yes. (2) The Department of Health (DOH) provides funding to Contiguous Local Authority Groups to assist with the management of populations of mosquitoes that are known or potential carriers of diseases. (3) Funding from the DOH has always been for health-driven mosquito control, rather than simply control of nuisance mosquito populations. (4) DOH funding assistance for health-driven mosquito control has been available to Local Governments since 1991. It is subject to the criteria outlined in a Cabinet-approved report by a State mosquito control task force, which include: • a demonstrated history of local activity of mosquito-borne diseases; • Local Governments combine (as Contiguous Local Authority Groups) to manage mosquito breeding sites that affect more than one jurisdiction; • funding is directed to programs that target larval mosquito stages rather than for adult mosquito control, as control of adults is generally less effective;

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• mosquito breeding habitat is clearly defined and mapped; • an appropriate mosquito management plan is developed and approved by the multi agency Mosquito Control Advisory Committee; and • pre- and post-treatment monitoring is undertaken and the results provided to DOH, particularly where funding is provided for aerial application of chemicals to control larval mosquitoes. (5) Funding for mosquito control is and has been available to all Local Governments in Western Australia, including those in the south-west, on an annual basis since 1991, subject to the criteria and conditions outlined in (4). OVERSEAS DENTISTS - SPONSORSHIP FOR EMPLOYMENT IN PRIVATE PRACTICE 1676. Dr S.C. Thomas to the Minister for Health (1) Why are public dental services able to employ overseas dentists while private regional dental clinics are unable to sponsor them? (2) Does the Australian Dental Council’s policy allow public sponsorship of dentists but preclude private sponsorship? If so, why? (3) Is there State-based legislation or guidelines that preclude sponsorship of overseas dentists into private practice? If so, what are they? (4) Do dentists come into consideration under the regional migration scheme? If not, why not? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1) Public dental services are able to employ overseas trained dentists with primary dental qualifications recognised by the Australian Dental Council under the Public Sector Dental Workforce Scheme. Private regional dental clinics are able to sponsor overseas dentists holding degrees recognised by the Dental Board of Western Australia. (2) Yes. The Australian Health Ministers' Conference approved the Public Sector Dental Workforce Scheme to help alleviate workforce shortages in the public sector, particularly in rural and remote areas. (3) There is State legislation which precludes some overseas dentists from registering with the Dental Board of Western Australia and therefore meeting Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs requirements. The Dental Act 1939 allows for overseas dentists with primary dental qualifications from any university of the United Kingdom, Ireland or New Zealand or have passed the examinations of the Australian Dental Council to register with the Dental Board of Western Australia. With registration confirmed, sponsorship can proceed if the person meets the requirements of the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs. (4) Yes. The scheme precludes the Perth metropolitan area. Employment must be full time for two years and the dentist must be eligible for full registration. WOODMAN POINT WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT 1677. Dr S.C. Thomas to the Minister for the Environment (1) What actions is the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) taking to ensure residents around the Woodman Point Wastewater Treatment Plant are not exposed to air pollution and odour problems? (2) Are residents in the “Urban Deferred Area” zone offered exactly the same protections (including buffers) as those in “residential” zoned areas? (3) Why has the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) recommended a four-year extension to the current buffers on the Urban Deferred Zone side of the plant? (4) Has the Community Reference Group sought documentation from the Minister for Water Resources about the plant in September or October 2006? (a) was this information provided; and (b) if not why not? (5) Will the Minister table the Independent Review of the draft odour management plan commissioned by the EPA? (6) If not, why not? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: The Department of Environment and Conservation advises the following;

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(1) Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) investigates all air pollution and odour problems associated with the Woodman Point Waste Water Treatment Plant to ensure that Water Corporation (WC) is minimising its off-site impact. Investigations in the past have confirmed that emissions have at times been excessive and DEC has taken action to ensure that WC reduces its odour emissions by 50% by October 2008. WC has committed up to $71.4 million to undertake odour control works to resolve the recognised odour issues associated with the Woodman Point facility. If investigations determine that excessive emissions are caused by negligence or a deliberate act, DEC will consider further enforcement action in accordance with its enforcement policy. (2) DEC responds to complaints and offers exactly the same protection to residents living in the "Urban Deferred Area" and the "residential" areas. (3) The EPA is aware from the odour modelling presented and the complaints/survey data that odours from the WWTP are impacting upon residential properties far beyond the boundary of the current proposed buffer. The EPA advised (Bulletin 1240, 2006) that the proponent has not met its stated aim for the most recent expansion of ensuring that a level of 5 odour units (OU) was not exceeded at odour sensitive premises. In addition it is also evident that the standard of odour controls at the Woodman Point WWTP falls short of those at Beenyup and Subiaco, and in comparison to world best practice. The EPA therefore has recommended that odour reduction measures be commenced immediately, with the aim of completing all three stages, or alternative measures to reduce odours, in the shortest time feasible. The EPA has recommended the urgent implementation of Stage 1 controls to achieve a reduction of fifty percent of the current odour levels as soon as possible, but no later than the end of 2008. Another recommendation stated that the current proposed buffer should be retained until after the implementation of Stage 1 measures, which are to achieve a fifty percent odour reduction, after which further emissions estimates, modelling and ground-truthing should be undertaken to determine the extent of odour impact and a long term buffer reconsidered. (4) This question should be directed to the Minister for the Water Resources. (5) The Independent Review of the draft odour management plan commissioned by the EPA is publicly available as an appendix to EPA Bulletin 1240. (6) Not applicable. GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES - CORPORATE BOX AT SUBIACO OVAL 1679. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Deputy Premier; Treasurer; Minister for State Development Do any departments, agencies, or taxpayer funded entities within the Deputy Premier’s portfolio have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval and, if so - (1) How much does the box cost to hire for the year? (2) What is the purpose of the box and benefit to Western Australian taxpayers? (3) Was the box in use on either of the two nights of the Robbie Williams concerts on 30 November and 1 December this year? (4) If yes to (3) - (a) who attended the box for each concert; (b) how much was spent to hire the box on each concert night; and (c) what was the total amount spent on food and alcohol on each night? (d) what financial contribution did each guest make to the cost of the hire of the box and consumables? Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: The Office of Shared Services: (1)-(4) Not applicable Department of Industry and Resources: No Department of Treasury and Finance: The Department of Treasury and Finance does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. (1)-(4) Not applicable.

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Economic Regulation Authority: (1) Nil (2)-(4) Not applicable Office of Native Title: (1)-(4) Not applicable Office of the Auditor General: The Office of the Auditor General does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. State Supply Commission: (1)-(4) Not applicable WA Treasury Corporation: (1)-(4) Not applicable GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES - CORPORATE BOX AT SUBIACO OVAL 1680. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Agriculture and Food; Forestry; the Mid West and Wheatbelt Do any departments, agencies, or taxpayer funded entities within the Minister’s portfolio have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval and, if so - (1) How much does the box cost to hire for the year? (2) What is the purpose of the box and benefit to Western Australian taxpayers? (3) Was the box in use on either of the two nights of the Robbie Williams concerts on 30 November and 1 December this year? (4) If yes to (3) - (a) who attended the box for each concert; (b) how much was spent to hire the box on each concert night; and (c) what was the total amount spent on food and alcohol on each night? (d) what financial contribution did each guest make to the cost of the hire of the box and consumables? Mr M.P. WHITELY replied: No. (1)-(4) Not applicable. GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES - CORPORATE BOX AT SUBIACO OVAL 1681. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Education and Training; South West Do any departments, agencies, or taxpayer funded entities within the Minister’s portfolio have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval and, if so - (1) How much does the box cost to hire for the year? (2) What is the purpose of the box and benefit to Western Australian taxpayers? (3) Was the box in use on either of the two nights of the Robbie Williams concerts on 30 November and 1 December this year? (4) If yes to (3) - (a) who attended the box for each concert; (b) how much was spent to hire the box on each concert night; and (c) what was the total amount spent on food and alcohol on each night? (d) what financial contribution did each guest make to the cost of the hire of the box and consumables? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: Curriculum Council; Department of Education and Training; Department of Education Services; South West Development Commission (1) No (2)-(4) Not applicable

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GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES - CORPORATE BOX AT SUBIACO OVAL 1682. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services; Community Safety; Water Resources; Sport and Recreation Do any departments, agencies, or taxpayer funded entities within the Minister’s portfolio have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval and, if so - (1) How much does the box cost to hire for the year? (2) What is the purpose of the box and benefit to Western Australian taxpayers? (3) Was the box in use on either of the two nights of the Robbie Williams concerts on 30 November and 1 December this year? (4) If yes to (3) - (a) who attended the box for each concert; (b) how much was spent to hire the box on each concert night; and (c) what was the total amount spent on food and alcohol on each night? (d) what financial contribution did each guest make to the cost of the hire of the box and consumables? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: Western Australia Police: The WA Police does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. Fire and Emergency Services Authority: The Fire and Emergency Services Authority does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. Fire and Emergency Services Superannuation Board: The Fire and Emergency Services Superannuation Board does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. Office of Crime Prevention: The Office of Crime Prevention does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. Office of Road Safety: The Office of Road Safety does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. Department of Water: The Department of Water does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. Water Corporation: The Water Corporation does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. Aqwest: Aqwest does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. Busselton Water Board: The Busselton Water Board does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. Department of Sport and Recreation: The Department of Sport and Recreation does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. WA Institute of Sport: The WA Institute of Sport does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. WA Sports Centre Trust: The WA Sports Centre Trust does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES - CORPORATE BOX AT SUBIACO OVAL 1683. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Attorney General; Health; Electoral Affairs Do any departments, agencies, or taxpayer funded entities within the Attorney General’s portfolio have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval and, if so - (1) How much does the box cost to hire for the year?

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(2) What is the purpose of the box and benefit to Western Australian taxpayers? (3) Was the box in use on either of the two nights of the Robbie Williams concerts on 30 November and 1 December this year? (4) If yes to (3) - (a) who attended the box for each concert; (b) how much was spent to hire the box on each concert night; and (c) what was the total amount spent on food and alcohol on each night? (d) what financial contribution did each guest make to the cost of the hire of the box and consumables? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: • DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL • DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH • DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS • EQUAL OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION • LAW REFORM COMMISSION • LEGAL AID WA • OFFICE OF THE INFORMATION COMMISSIONER • OFFICE OF HEALTH REVIEW • SOLICITOR GENERAL • W.A. ELECTORAL COMMISSION (1) No. (2) Not applicable. GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES - CORPORATE BOX AT SUBIACO OVAL 1684. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Housing and Works; Heritage; Indigenous Affairs; Land Information Do any departments, agencies, or taxpayer funded entities within the Minister’s portfolio have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval and, if so - (1) How much does the box cost to hire for the year? (2) What is the purpose of the box and benefit to Western Australian taxpayers? (3) Was the box in use on either of the two nights of the Robbie Williams concerts on 30 November and 1 December this year? (4) If yes to (3) - (a) who attended the box for each concert; (b) how much was spent to hire the box on each concert night; and (c) what was the total amount spent on food and alcohol on each night? (d) what financial contribution did each guest make to the cost of the hire of the box and consumables? Mrs M.H. ROBERTS replied: The Department of Housing and Works advises: (1)-(4) Not applicable. The Heritage Council of Western Australia advises: (1)-(4) Not applicable. The Department of Indigenous Affairs advises: (1)-(4) Not applicable.

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Landgate advises: (1)-(4) Not applicable. GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES - CORPORATE BOX AT SUBIACO OVAL 1686. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Tourism; Culture and the Arts; Consumer Protection Do any departments, agencies, or taxpayer funded entities within the Minister’s portfolio have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval and, if so - (1) How much does the box cost to hire for the year? (2) What is the purpose of the box and benefit to Western Australian taxpayers? (3) Was the box in use on either of the two nights of the Robbie Williams concerts on 30 November and 1 December this year? (4) If yes to (3) - (a) who attended the box for each concert; (b) how much was spent to hire the box on each concert night; and (c) what was the total amount spent on food and alcohol on each night? (d) what financial contribution did each guest make to the cost of the hire of the box and consumables? Ms S.M. McHALE replied: Tourism: No (1)-(4) Not applicable. Rottnest Island Authority: No (1)-(4) Not applicable. Culture and the Arts: No (1)-(4) Not applicable. Consumer Protection: No (1)-(4) Not applicable. GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES - CORPORATE BOX AT SUBIACO OVAL 1687. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for the Environment; Climate Change; Disability Services Do any departments, agencies, or taxpayer funded entities within the Minister’s portfolio have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval and, if so - (1) How much does the box cost to hire for the year? (2) What is the purpose of the box and benefit to Western Australian taxpayers? (3) Was the box in use on either of the two nights of the Robbie Williams concerts on 30 November and 1 December this year? (4) If yes to (3) - (a) who attended the box for each concert; (b) how much was spent to hire the box on each concert night; and (c) what was the total amount spent on food and alcohol on each night? (d) what financial contribution did each guest make to the cost of the hire of the box and consumables? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: The Department of Environment and Conservation advises the following: (1)-(4) Not applicable.

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The Disability Services Commission advises the following: (1)-(4) Not applicable. GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES - CORPORATE BOX AT SUBIACO OVAL 1688. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Energy; Resources; Industry and Enterprise Do any departments, agencies, or taxpayer funded entities within the Minister’s portfolio have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval and, if so - (1) How much does the box cost to hire for the year? (2) What is the purpose of the box and benefit to Western Australian taxpayers? (3) Was the box in use on either of the two nights of the Robbie Williams concerts on 30 November and 1 December this year? (4) If yes to (3) - (a) who attended the box for each concert; (b) how much was spent to hire the box on each concert night; and (c) what was the total amount spent on food and alcohol on each night? (d) what financial contribution did each guest make to the cost of the hire of the box and consumables? Mr F.M. LOGAN replied: The Minister for Energy; Resources; Industry and Enterprise has provided the following response: Department of Industry and Resources: (1)-(4) No. Not applicable. Minerals and Energy Research Institute of Western Australia: (1)-(4) No. Not applicable. Independent Market Operator: (1)-(4) No. Not applicable. Office of Energy: (1)-(4) No. Not applicable. Western Power Corporation; Western Power; Horizon Power; Verve Energy; Synergy (1) During 2006 the former Western Power Corporation paid the costs of a VIP Suite and a VIP Open Box at Subiaco Oval. These were paid for before disaggregation and upon disaggregation Western Power took carriage of the Suite and Open Box. Following disaggregation on 1 April 2006 all four new businesses (Western Power, Synergy, Horizon Power and Verve Energy) made use of both the Suite and the Open Box. Western Power charged the other businesses on a user pays basis. The total cost of the box paid for by the former Western Power Corporation for 2006 were: VIP Suite $77,370 (incl GST) VIP Open Box $53,940 (incl GST) A similar arrangement will take place in 2007. Western Power has paid for a VIP Open Box only, at a cost of $61,980 (incl GST). This box will be utilised by the corporations and each will pay according to usage. (2) The former Western Power Corporation and the four existing electricity corporations (Horizon Power, Synergy, Verve and Western Power) use the corporate boxes for a range of purposes including entertaining and conducting business with existing stakeholders, developing business with prospective stakeholders, networking with existing or future stakeholders and rewarding staff performance. (3) No. (4) Not applicable. GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES - CORPORATE BOX AT SUBIACO OVAL 1689. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Local Government; Employment Protection; Racing and Gaming; Goldfields-Esperance and Great Southern Do any departments, agencies, or taxpayer funded entities within the Minister’s portfolio have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval and, if so -

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(1) How much does the box cost to hire for the year? (2) What is the purpose of the box and benefit to Western Australian taxpayers? (3) Was the box in use on either of the two nights of the Robbie Williams concerts on 30 November and 1 December this year? (4) If yes to (3) - (a) who attended the box for each concert; (b) how much was spent to hire the box on each concert night; and (c) what was the total amount spent on food and alcohol on each night? (d) what financial contribution did each guest make to the cost of the hire of the box and consumables? Mr J.J.M. BOWLER replied: The Department of Local Government and Regional Development advises: No, the Department of Local Government and Regional Development does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. (1)-(4) Not applicable. Metropolitan Cemeteries Board advises: No. (1)-(4) N/A The Department of Consumer and Employment Protection advises: The Employment Protection division of the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection has no corporate box at Subiaco Oval. (1)-(4) Not applicable. WorkCover WA advises: No. (1)-(4) N/A Department of the Registrar (WA Industrial Relations Commission) advises: No. (1)-(4) N/A Construction Industry Long Service Leave Payments Board advise: No. (1)-(4) N/A The Department of Racing and Gaming; Liquor advise: (1)-(4) There are no departments, agencies, or tax payer funded entities within the racing and gaming port folio that have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. Racing and Wagering Western Australia (RWWA), which is a self-funded, non-public sector organisation, also does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. However, RWWA purchases reserved seating at West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers football games for the purpose of hosting its business clients. RWWA is responsible for making its own commercial decisions and any further questions about RWWA's commercial arrangements should be directed to RWWA. The Goldfields-Esperance Development Commission advises: No, GEDC does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. (1)-(4) N/A The Great Southern Development Commission advises: No, GSDC does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. (1)-(4) N/A

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GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES - CORPORATE BOX AT SUBIACO OVAL 1690. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Regional Development; Fisheries; the Kimberley, Pilbara and Gascoyne Do any departments, agencies, or taxpayer funded entities within the Minister’s portfolio have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval and, if so - (1) How much does the box cost to hire for the year? (2) What is the purpose of the box and benefit to Western Australian taxpayers? (3) Was the box in use on either of the two nights of the Robbie Williams concerts on 30 November and 1 December this year? (4) If yes to (3) - (a) who attended the box for each concert; (b) how much was spent to hire the box on each concert night; and (c) what was the total amount spent on food and alcohol on each night? (d) what financial contribution did each guest make to the cost of the hire of the box and consumables? Answer For all my Agencies and Departments (1)-(4) No. Not applicable. GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES - CORPORATE BOX AT SUBIACO OVAL 1691. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Corrective Services; Small Business; Women’s Interests; Minister Assisting the Minister for Federal-State Relations Do any departments, agencies, or taxpayer funded entities within the Minister’s portfolio have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval and, if so - (1) How much does the box cost to hire for the year? (2) What is the purpose of the box and benefit to Western Australian taxpayers? (3) Was the box in use on either of the two nights of the Robbie Williams concerts on 30 November and 1 December this year? (4) If yes to (3) - (a) who attended the box for each concert; (b) how much was spent to hire the box on each concert night; and (c) what was the total amount spent on food and alcohol on each night? (d) what financial contribution did each guest make to the cost of the hire of the box and consumables? Ms M.M. QUIRK replied: The Department of Corrective Services advises: No, the Department of Corrective Services does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. The Office of Women’s Policy advises: The Office of Women’s Policy does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. The Small Business Development Corporation advises: The Small Business Development Corporation does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES - CORPORATE BOX AT SUBIACO OVAL 1692. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Child Protection; Communities; Seniors and Volunteering; Peel Do any departments, agencies, or taxpayer funded entities within the Minister’s portfolio have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval and, if so - (1) How much does the box cost to hire for the year? (2) What is the purpose of the box and benefit to Western Australian taxpayers?

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(3) Was the box in use on either of the two nights of the Robbie Williams concerts on 30 November and 1 December this year? (4) If yes to (3) - (a) who attended the box for each concert; (b) how much was spent to hire the box on each concert night; and (c) what was the total amount spent on food and alcohol on each night? (d) what financial contribution did each guest make to the cost of the hire of the box and consumables? Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN replied: Department for Community Development: (1)-(4) The Department for Community Development does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. Office for Seniors Interests and Volunteering: (1)-(4) The Office for Seniors Interests and Volunteering does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. Peel Development Commission: (1)-(4) The Peel Development Commission does not have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval. GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES - CORPORATE BOX AT SUBIACO OVAL 1693. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister representing the Minister for Government Enterprises; Multicultural Interests and Citizenship; Youth; Minister Assisting the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure Do any departments, agencies, or taxpayer funded entities within the Minister’s portfolio have a corporate box at Subiaco Oval and, if so - (1) How much does the box cost to hire for the year? (2) What is the purpose of the box and benefit to Western Australian taxpayers? (3) Was the box in use on either of the two nights of the Robbie Williams concerts on 30 November and 1 December this year? (4) If yes to (3) - (a) who attended the box for each concert; (b) how much was spent to hire the box on each concert night; and (c) what was the total amount spent on food and alcohol on each night? (d) what financial contribution did each guest make to the cost of the hire of the box and consumables? Answer No; (1)-(4) not applicable KING EDWARD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN - FAMILY BIRTH CENTRE 1695. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Health (1) Do the current plans for the relocation and/or rebuilding of King Edward Memorial Hospital include plans for the relocation and/or rebuilding of the Family Birth Centre? If not, why not? (2) If yes to (1) - (a) where will the Family Birth Centre be located? (b) what will be the capacity of the Family Birth Centre? (c) how much money has been allocated for the relocation and/or rebuilding of the Family Birth Centre? (d) what facilities will be included in any relocated and/or rebuilt Family Birth Centre? (e) will the Family Birth Centre be provided with any additional resources or funding in the period until this relocation and/or rebuilding takes place? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1) Yes.

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(2) (a) The Family Birthing Centre will be included as part of the King Edward Memorial Hospital Replacement at the QEII Medical Centre site. (b) At the time of replacement the capacity of the Family Birthing Centre will be reviewed along with all other services to ensure it meets identified needs for the forseeable future. (c) Funding for the Family Birthing Centre will be included in the replacement cost for KEMH. (d) The design of the Family Birthing Centre will be to contemporary standards, at the time of rebuilding. (e) The Family Birthing Centre will continue to be funded at current levels, with funding reviewed annually, as occurs with all services. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIVE SERVICES - RELEASE INTO THE COMMUNITY OF PRISONERS JAILED FOR LIFE OR GIVEN INDEFINITE SENTENCES 1696. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Attorney General (1) What are the names of all criminals approved for release into the community since 1 March 2001 despite being jailed for life or given indefinite sentences – (a) what offences did each of these individuals commit; (b) what conditions have been placed on their release; (c) how long were they sentenced for; and (d) how long did they serve? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: In the six year period from February 1995 to January 2001 a total of 115 persons received a new sentence of Life or an Indeterminate sentence of imprisonment. During that period, 43 prisoners were released for the first time. Of those 43 prisoners released, 8 were returned to custody after Cancellation/Suspension of Parole during the six year period. A proportional average of the prisoners serving a Life or Indeterminate sentence who were released during this six year period is 4.38%. In the six year period from February 2001 to January 2007 a total number of 115 persons received a new sentence of Life or Indeterminate sentence of imprisonment. During that period, 59 prisoners were released to parole. Of those 59 prisoners released, 13 were returned to custody after Cancellation/Suspension of Parole. A proportional average of the prisoners serving a Life or Indeterminate sentence who were released during this six year period is 5.12%. The figures should be used whilst having regard to the following factors: • Improved recording and reporting procedures have been developed with improvements in technology in recent years. • Changes in legislation determining the classification of different categories of prisoners eg. prisoners held at the Governors Pleasure and indefinite/indeterminate sentences. • Two prisoners have been removed from the attached table in consideration of their personal safety (witness protection) and eleven where they are Mentally Impaired Accused. • Where the number of prisoners used for the statistics is so low, the percentage calculations will tend to vary greatly with the addition or subtraction of just one prisoner. As noted in the Statistical Report 2004 of the Crime Research Centre of Western Australia (released on 9 December 2005), of the entire prison population, 4% are serving a life or indefinite sentences. Of that 4% serving life or indefinite sentences, an average of 5% of those released on parole will re-offend but not in a violent manner. The Report indicates that 58% of the total prisoner population re-offend on release with 37% of those prisoners receiving a further prison sentence. (1) See Column 1 of the attached table (a) See column 2 of the attached table. (b) See column 3 of the attached table. (c) While in custody, the mean maximum sentence served by offenders has increased from 36.5% of the sentence imposed by the higher courts in 1996 to 52.9% of the sentence imposed in 2006. Overall, time actually served by offenders released from prison, increased 53.8% from 13 months, on average, to 20 months. Specifically, the mean minimum time to be served for wilful murder increased from 15.8 years to 21 years between 1996 and 2006.

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For murder, the increase was from 10.5 years to 12.6 years over the same period, again reflecting the impact of the tougher approach to sentencing for serious violent offences. The named prisoners were all sentenced to "life" or "indefinite" imprisonment. As set out in section 90 and section 91 of the Sentencing Act 1995, a court that sentences an offender to life imprisonment or strict security life imprisonment must set a minimum term an offender must serve before being eligible for release on parole. Section 18 of the Sentence Administration Act 2003 requires the Parole Board to report to the Minister, at specified times, about the prisoner. Where an offender is sentenced to life imprisonment for 'murder', the court must set a minimum period of at least 7 years and not more than 14 years that the offender must serve before being eligible for release on parole. Where an offender is sentenced to life imprisonment for 'wilful murder', the court must set a minimum period of at least 15 years and not more than 19 years that the offender must serve before being eligible for release on parole. Where there is a strict security life sentence, the court must set a minimum period of 20 years and not more than 30 years that the offender must serve before being eligible for release on parole. The court can make a determination that the person be imprisoned for the whole of the offender’s life - however that does not apply to any of these cases. Each of these cases involved minimum terms and in all cases the offender served at least that minimum term prior to being released. (d) See column 4 of the attached table. [See paper 2298.] POLICE - NUMBER OF OFFICERS 1713. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services (1) What percentage of all police stations and districts in Western Australia are operating below their authorised strength? (2) Can the Minister list each district and station and any surplus or shortfall? (3) What was the total strength of front-line police officers in each district at 1 December 2006? (4) What is the expected strength of front-line police officers in the northern and southern suburbs in 2006-07? What allowance has been made for attrition in the same period? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1)-(3) Authorised strength is a notional allocation which reflects the increasing strength of the Western Australia Police to achieve this Government's commitment to provide an extra 350 officers over 4 years. It is never taken to represent the operational strength at any given time. Frontline first has shifted officers from non-operational areas to frontline positions, providing increased numbers that are not reflected in the figures. Attachment 1 shows the Approved and Actual FTEs for Police Officers and Aboriginal Police Liaison Officers as at 30 November 2006 for each District. WA Police advises that due to operational sensitivities specific information relating to staffing levels at individual police stations will not be provided. District Superintendents deploy available resources within their Districts to provide the best possible policing service to meet the varying needs of the community. In addition there are currently 203 FTE at the WA Police Academy undergoing training before deployment. [See paper 2299.] (4) The Metropolitan Regions will receive additional FTE from the 90 additional Police Officers that are to be recruited during 2006-07 as part of the 350 program. District allocations are constantly reviewed and amended to address policing requirements. For 2006-07 the WA Police has plans in place to recruit an additional 90 Police Officers (above attrition) as part of the 350 program. EDUCATION AND TRAINING - STATE SUPPLY COMMISSION INVESTIGATION INTO AWARDING OF CONTRACTS 1714. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Treasurer In reference to the investigation being undertaken by the State Supply Commission into contracts awarded in the training section of the Education and Training portfolio, as revealed by the Treasurer on 28 November 2006, I ask -

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(1) When did the Minister for Education and Training first express concerns with the Treasurer regarding the awarding of contracts in her portfolio? (2) When did the Treasurer receive the letter from the Minister for Education and Training requesting that the State Supply Commission investigate these contracts? (3) Will the Treasurer table this letter? If not, why not? (4) When did the Treasurer first request that the State Supply Commission investigate this issue? (5) When did the State Supply Commission’s investigation commence? (6) When is the State Supply Commission’s investigation due to be completed? (7) When is the Treasurer going to receive the findings of the State Supply Commission’s investigation? Will the Treasurer make these findings public? (8) What are the terms of reference of the State Supply Commission’s investigation? (a) If no terms of reference exist, what is the scope of the investigation? (b) Who is conducting the investigation? (9) What power does the State Supply Commission have to request documents and question individuals as part of its investigation? (10) Why did the Minister fail to reveal that an investigation was taking place into these contracts prior to the Minister being questioned in Parliament on 28 November 2006? Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: (1) 2 November 2006 (2) 2 November 2006 (3) Yes (4) 7 November 2006 for the overall investigation of Education and Training Procurement Practices and Processes. 29 November 2006 for specific Huntly Consulting Group and Miles Morgan Australia Pty Ltd Contracts. (5) 29 November 2006 (6) The investigation into the Huntly Consulting Group and Miles Morgan Australia Pty Ltd contracts has been completed however the overall investigation is ongoing. (7) The findings with regards to Huntly Consulting Group and Miles Morgan Australia Pty Ltd were received 25 January 2006. The report was undertaken for and at the request of the Minister for Education and Training and therefore it would be appropriate to ask this question to that Minister. (8) The State Supply Commission was initially requested to determine a suitable degree of investigation and recommend the most appropriate course of action. However, as the specific issue of Huntly Consultant Group and Miles Morgan Australia Pty Ltd was raised, a request to make investigation of these contracts a priority was made to the State Supply Commission by my office. (9) The State Supply Commission does have statutory powers to require agencies and/or individuals to produce documents. In any State Supply Commission investigation, agencies and/or individuals are given every opportunity to provide relevant documents before reports are finalised. (10) The Minister for Education and Training had requested that all procurement processes be investigated to ensure that all guidelines and regulations were being rigorously applied. It was not considered and is still not considered that this type of request should be reported to Parliament. EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING - INDUSTRY BROKERAGE TEAM INITIATIVE 1715. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Education and Training In reference to the Industry Brokerage Team initiative announced on 5 August 2005, I ask - (1) What are the names of each of the industry training brokers employed through this scheme? (2) From what date were these brokers employed, and when do their contracts expire? (3) What are the corresponding areas of responsibility for each of these brokers? (4) What is the corresponding pay level for each of these brokers? (5) What additional taxpayer funded benefits are provided to each of these brokers (including but not limited to details on taxpayer funded motor vehicles, phones, computer access and any other form of remuneration, financial or otherwise)?

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(6) What formalised performance indicators are in place to measure the effectiveness of the brokers? (7) If there are no formalised performance indicators, why not? (8) If there are formalised performance indicators, what have the outcomes been? (9) Who oversees the operations of the training brokers? (10) What has been the total cost of the program to date? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: 1. Kim Young Peter Ebell Jenny Harwood Steve Dix Leanne Drummond (February 2006 to October 2006) Lindsay Kerr (replaced Leanne Drummond) 2. They were employed for the following terms: Kim Young from February 2006 to January 2008 Peter Ebell from February 2006 to January 2008 Jenny Harwood from February 2006 to January 2008 Steve Dix from February 2006 to January 2007 Leeanne Drummond from February 2006 to October 2006 Lindsay Kerr from October 2006 to January 2008 3. The role of the brokers is to work with Small and Medium Enterprises to identify their current and emerging skill requirements and to broker training solutions in the industry areas of: Kim Young - Building & Construction Peter Ebell - Metals Jenny Harwood - Automotive Lindsay Kerr - Hospitality Steve Dix - South West region in all of the above industry areas 4. Public Servant Level 7 - Year 1 ($79,064 per annum). 5. Government plated car, laptop & printer/fax/photocopier, mobile phone, parking expenses. 6. Key performance indicators include number of industry advisory visits, the extent of training brokered and number of training referrals. A survey of employers that have accessed the broker service has also been undertaken and indicated a high level of satisfaction. 7. N/A 8. During the first 8 months, the brokers achieved the following outcomes: • 503 Small to Medium Enterprises (SME) have been contacted by the brokers; • 134 SMEs were provided with follow-up visits at which they advised of 228 apprenticeship and 46 traineeship vacancies and 491 vacancies for various personnel, including professional and semi- skilled workers. Of the 228 apprenticeship vacancies identified, 19 were filled through referral to the suspended apprenticeship list. • 80 of the 134 firms identified up-skilling to be an essential requirement for 374 of their employees. In many instances, this training has been successfully brokered or is currently in progress. • More than 43 workers were assisted in the skills recognition process. • Approximately 90 TAFEWA profile delivery and 25 fee for service placements have been brokered. • Approximately 25 persons have been referred or signed up as Fast Track apprentices. • 10 School Apprenticeship Link placements were brokered. Specific training gaps and competencies were identified for a considerable number of firms. Solutions brokered to increase up-skilling, training or recognition numbers include: • Consultations with the metals firm Vinidex resulted in the design of an enterprise specific training program in Plastics Extruder operations for 30 of the firm's workers. This innovative model for a new extrusion stream is currently being finalised and delivery is anticipated to commence early 2007.

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• WesTrac traditionally employs apprentices as their only training pathway. Discussions held with the firm informed on the diversity of the traineeships offered in automotive that recognise current skills levels and allow trade and non-trade employees the opportunity of gaining a national qualification. This has resulted in the commitment to adopt this training concept in the Sales and Warehousing areas. To date, 70 employees have been identified and are currently being assessed for a Certificate II in Automotive Warehousing/Distribution Operations traineeship program. Additionally, all new employees in these areas will be taken on as trainees. • Collaboration with The RSL Club (Anzac House) and Swan TAFE will see hospitality students given access to on the job training and work experience at this commercial venue in the heart of the city. Hospitality students will commence in first semester 2007. • Contact with the building and construction firm of Wylie & Skene resulted in the brokering of additional safety awareness training for their Northwest personnel and tilt up construction safety training for their concrete workers in Perth. • Consultations with five metals companies in the South West, that have a particular emphasis on servicing and maintenance of hydraulic systems for fixed and mobile plant, led to the identification of appropriate competency units required for higher level studies. Consequently, a customised training course for experienced tradespeople wishing to up-skill in this area is under development. 9. Charlie Reynolds Manager, VET Planning and Infrastructure manages the team of training brokers. 10. $444 741 to 21 December 2006 EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING - INDUSTRY BROKERAGE TEAM INITIATIVE 1716. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Education and Training In reference to the Industry Brokerage Team initiative announced on 5 August 2005, I ask - (1) From where do the brokers operate? (2) Are any of these brokers provided resources through any industry training advisory bodies, and if so - (a) which brokers are involved; (b) which industry training advisory bodies are involved; and (c) what is the nature and value of resources involved? (3) Are any industry training advisory bodies provided with resources, financial or otherwise, to house any of these brokers, and if so - (a) which brokers are involved; (b) which industry training advisory bodies are involved; and (c) what is the nature and value of resources involved? (d) which Department or Agency provides these resources? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: 1 The brokers operate from offices leased through the respective Industry Training Advisory Bodies (ITABs) and from home offices. 2 Yes. a) Kim Young Peter Ebell Jenny Harwood Lindsay Kerr. b) Building & Construction ITAB Metals and Engineering Services ITAB Automotive ITAB Hospitality & Tourism ITAB c) Office space, parking and telephones to the value of $6000 p.a. per ITAB 3(a-c) As stated in 2 a), b), c) above. 3(d) The Department of Education and Training.

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OFFICE OF MULTICULTURAL INTERESTS - INCLUSION AND INTEGRATION GRANTS PROGRAM 1717. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Interests (1) How many grant applications did the Office of Multicultural Interests receive for its ‘Inclusion and Integration Grants Program’? (2) How many applications did the Office of Multicultural Interests recommend for the Minister’s approval, and - (a) who were the recommended recipients; and (b) for what purpose were the grants recommended? (3) How many of those applications in (2) did the Minister approve - (a) who were the recipients; and (b) for what purpose were the grants provided? (4) How many of the applications for the ‘Inclusion and Integration Grants Program’ did the Office of Multicultural Interests not recommend to the Minister? (5) Did the Minister approve any of the applications not recommended to him in (4), and if so - (a) who were the recipients; (b) for what purpose were the grants provided; and (c) what were the Minister’s reasons for approving these applications? Answer (1) 60 (2)(a) and (b), (3)(a) and (b) and (4) None. An independent panel was established to consider the applications and make recommendations to the then Minister for approval, in accordance with the three funding categories set out in the IIGP Guidelines, being Community Based Initiatives, Promoting Interaction and Communication, and Youth Leadership. The then Minister approved nine recommendations and publicly announced the successful grants via media statements on 20 and 21 November 2006. The Minister also made a Ministerial statement to the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday 21 November 2006. Given the confidential nature of the application and assessment process, it is not considered appropriate to release details of applications that were not successful (5)(a)-(c) No. Not applicable. WOODMAN POINT WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT 1718. Mr J.H.D. Day to the Minister for Water Resources With reference to the Woodman Point Wastewater treatment plant, I ask - (1) Is the Minister aware of the concerns of Mr and Mrs M. O’Brien regarding the impact of the extended buffer zone? (2) What action is being taken to address the concerns which have been expressed? (3) Has the Environmental Protection Agency completed a report on the issue? (4) If so, what recommendations were made and will the Minister table a copy of the report? If not, why not? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) Yes. (2) The Government proposes to invest $53.5m in the Woodman Point Wastewater Treatment Plant by November 2008 to reduce odour emissions by 52 per cent as part of a staged approach to odour control. (3) Yes. (4) Please see attachment. [See paper 2300.]

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BUNBURY HOSPITAL - SURGERY LISTS 1720. Dr S.C. Thomas to the Minister for Health (1) What was the total number of general surgery lists given to the four general surgeons operating in Bunbury Regional Hospital in 1995? (2) What was the total number of surgery lists given to the five general surgeons operating in Bunbury Regional Hospital in 1997? (3) What was the total number of surgery lists given to the four general surgeons operating in Bunbury Regional Hospital in 2004? (4) If the total number of surgery lists in (3) was decreased, why was this so? (5) When the number of general surgeons operating in Bunbury Regional Hospital decreased in 2003 from five to four was the total number of surgery lists redistributed to the remaining four general surgeons, or was one fifth of surgery lists removed from the total roster? If one fifth of surgery lists was removed, why? (6) What was the total number of operating lists for general surgery given to surgeons in Bunbury Regional Hospital in 2005 and 2006? (7) What is the total number of general surgery lists planned to be given to general surgeons at Bunbury Regional Hospital in 2007? (8) Why is the Country Health Service implementing “low activity days” in South West hospital surgical theatres in 2007? (9) What impact will low activity days have on total surgery list numbers in all South West Hospitals in 2007? (10) To which hospitals will low activity days in operating theatres be implemented? (11) How many general surgeons are in on-call rosters in public hospitals in the Perth metropolitan region? (12) How many general surgeons are in on-call rosters in the region covered by the Country Health Service? (13) With the appointment of a fifth general surgeon to commence in January 2007 at Bunbury Regional Hospital, will the apparently unused list allocation from the previous fifth general surgeon be allocated to him, or will the Minister’s department cut the lists of the four current general surgeons and redistribute that already used allocation to him? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1) In 1995 the information was only kept in a paper format. This information is archived and it cannot be retrieved and analysed to meet the requested timeline. (2) In 1997 the information was only kept in a paper format. This information is archived and it cannot be retrieved and analysed to meet the requested timeline. (3) In 2004 there were 264 operating theatre sessions and 154 endoscopy sessions at Bunbury Hospital. (4) See responses to (1) and (2). (5) The vacated sessions were held open pending appointment of a replacement surgeon. On occasion the remaining four general surgeons utilised some of the sessions for additional work. (6) In 2005 there were 264 operating lists and 154 endoscopy lists. In 2006 there were 252 operating lists and 147 endoscopy lists. (7) In 2007 there will be planned 336 operating lists and 201 planned endoscopy lists. (8) The hospital's management and Clinical Staff Association has reached an agreement to reduce the length of the closure of elective surgery to two weeks plus 10 low activity days throughout the year instead of closing the theatre for six weeks as was the case in 2006. This will result in an increase of the number of elective surgery operating days available in 2007 compared with 2006. Emergency surgery is provided where required on low activity days. (9) There will be an additional seven elective surgery operating days in 2007 compared to 2006. (10) Bunbury Hospital is the only site within the WA Country Health Service (WACHS) that will have low activity days in the operating theatres. (11) The number of general surgeons in on-call rosters in public hospitals in the Perth metropolitan region are:

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Swan District Hospital 3 Kalamunda Hospital Nil Joondalup Health Campus 4 Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital 12 Osborne Park Hospital Nil Royal Perth Hospital 10 Armadale Health Service 2 * 1 Peel Health Campus Nil Bentley Hospital Nil Rockingham/Kwinana Hospital Nil Princess Margaret Hospital Nil King Edward Memorial Hospital ** Nil * Fremantle Hospital has one general surgeon on call on any given day. Eight surgeons currently participate in this roster. ** KEMH does not employ general surgeons. 12. WACHS has seven regions. The details for each are listed below: South West There are currently four general surgeons on the on-call roster at Bunbury Hospital. With the appointment of an additional general surgeon in 2007 this will increase to five general surgeons. Great Southern There are three general surgeons on the on-call roster at Albany Hospital. Wheatbelt There are no general surgeons on an on-call roster. There is a general surgeon in private practice in Narrogin but he is not on any after-hours roster. Any patient requiring any more than minor emergency surgery is referred / transferred to a suitable hospital in Perth. Goldfields Two general surgeons share the on-call roster at Kalgoorlie Hospital. Midwest Three general surgeons share the on-call roster at Geraldton Hospital. Pilbara A salaried general surgeon at Port Hedland Hospital works three weeks on, one week off. A locum surgeon relieves him during his week off. The salaried surgeon does all of the on-call. The Pilbara has been advertising for a second salaried general surgeon. Kimberley Two salaried general surgeons share the on-call roster, one based at Broome Hospital and the other at Derby Hospital. Patients are referred to the hospital that has the specialist on-call on the day. 13. In 2007 there will be 336 operating lists and 201 endoscopy lists allocated to the five general surgeons. There will be as close as possible even distribution to all the general surgeons. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT - HOMEMAKER PROGRAMS FOR INDIGENOUS FAMILIES 1721. Dr E. Constable to the Minister for Community Development With respect to Homemaker Programs for Indigenous families, I ask – (1) What was the budget for these programs in each year since they began? (2) How many staff members are currently employed to deliver these programs? (3) How many families have benefited from these programs in each year since they began? Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN replied: (1) The total Annual Funding Levels for each year for two non government Practical In-Home Support Services for Aboriginal families funded by the Department for Community Development are: 2003-04: $150,000 2004-05: $154,650

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2005-06: $160,089 2006-07: $165,532. (2) Each service has 1 full time coordinator position. (3) The total number of families using the two services are: January-June 2004: 40 July-December 2004: 51 January-June 2005: 57 July-December 2005: 51. WESTERN POWER - EXPENDITURE ON SOUTH WEST INTERCONNECTED SYSTEM 1722. Mr J.H.D. Day to the Minister for Energy What has been or will be the expenditure by Western Power in the South West Integrated System on – (a) new transmission and distribution infrastructure; and (b) maintenance of transmission and distribution infrastructure, for each of the years ended - (i) 30 June 2001; (ii) 30 June 2002; (iii) 30 June 2003; (iv) 30 June 2004; (v) 30 June 2005; (vi) 30 June 2006; (vii) 30 June 2007; (viii) 30 June 2008; and (ix) 30 June 2009? Mr F.M. LOGAN replied: The Minister for Energy has provided the following response: The past and proposed expenditure on Transmission and Distribution new infrastructure and maintenance works are as follows. [See paper 2321.] The 06/07-08/09 figures are those submitted in the Western Power Access Arrangement to the Economic Regulatory Authority. APPLECROSS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL - AIRCONDITIONING 1723. Dr J.M. Woollard to the Minister for Education and Training In regard to the safety concerns raised about the installation of the room airconditioning systems at Applecross Senior High School, which the Education Department was advised about on 14 July 2006, could the Minister please advise - (1) Who installed the individual room air-conditioners at the school and when was the work done? (2) Was the installation work carried out according to Australian Standard Specification 3000 guidelines? (a) if yes, who certified that the work met the required guidelines; and (b) if not, why not? (3) Has a full audit been undertaken at Applecross Senior High School to ensure that all room air- conditioners have been properly installed to this Standard? (a) if so, when was that audit undertaken and what was the result? (b) if not, why not? (4) Is the Minister aware that although the on-off switches have been repositioned, the control knobs on the air-conditioning units cannot be operated without a person standing on a chair or a desk to reach the unit? (5) What safety instructions have been issued to school staff on how to operate the room air-conditioners that have been installed out of reach? (6) Does the Minister condone the current practice of staff climbing onto desks to make adjustments to the air-conditioning settings on the units that have been installed out of reach? (a) if no, what instructions have been issued to staff on how they should safely make these adjustments?

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(7) What Occupational Health and Safety training has been provided to the staff at the school? (8) Has a survey been undertaken to establish if there are any other State schools where room air- conditioners have been installed out of reach in breach of this Standard? (a) If so, what were the results of that survey and when was it completed? (b) If not, when will the Education Department undertake a survey? (9) What precautions has the Government put in place in the meantime to ensure the safety of staff at schools where the room air-conditioners have been installed out of reach? (10) What has the Minister done to ensure that the installation of room air-conditioners in State schools meet all of the necessary guidelines? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: The problem with the air conditioners at Applecross Senior High School was brought to the attention of the Department of Education and Training in mid 2006. Whilst corrective action has already been taken at this school, the matter is still being investigated to determine the extent to which this problem exists in other schools. As schools are closed until late January 2007 a comprehensive response cannot be provided until the end of February 2007. FIMISTON TAILINGS DAMS - CONTAINMENT OF SEEPAGE 1724. Mr M.J. Birney to the Minister for the Environment With reference to a letter dated 28 September 1999 signed by Trevor Naughton for Fred Tromp from the Department of Environment (DoE) addressed to KCGM concerning the Fimiston I and Fimiston II tailings dams, I ask – (1) Is it correct that the letter dated 28 September 1999 in part states that groundwater chemistry has been affected up to 500 metres from the walls of the tailings storage facilities (TSFs) that while it is acknowledged that seepage from the TSFs is inevitable, they need to ensure that it is contained within the seepage recovery system? (2) If no to (1), will the Minister release the full text of this letter? (3) Can the Minister explain why the DoE was asking KCGM to ensure that seepage was contained within the seepage recovery system? If not, why not? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: The Department of Environment and Conservation advises the following; (1) Yes, though the remainder of the paragraph also indicates that recovery systems need review and improvement as necessary. (2) Not applicable. (3) It is noted that other portions of the letter highlight the need to stabilise and then reverse rising water levels in the area. Containing seepage, as far as practicable, within the seepage recovery system would increase seepage recovery and thereby assist in stabilising water levels in the area. FIMISTON TAILINGS DAMS - STRESS ON VEGETATION AS A RESULT OF SEEPAGE 1725. Mr M.J. Birney to the Minister for the Environment With reference to a letter dated 17 July 2006 from the Minister for the Environment, reference 220 of 2005 addressed to Mr J Smith, I ask – (1) Can the Minister state and identify all the instances from 1989 to 2005 where there has been, as stated, some indication in the past of stress on vegetation as a result of seepage from the Fimiston TSFs? If not, why not? (2) Will the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) require KCGM to maintain groundwater levels at a depth of greater than 20 metres below the surface given that appellants, as stated, submitted numerous publications and scientific papers relating to certain plant species (not necessarily for the Southern Goldfields) with root systems that extended to depths greater than 20 metres? If not, why not? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: The Department of Environment and Conservation advises the following; (1) The letter relates to an appeal decision that noted there 'may' have been some indication of stress to vegetation due to the Fimiston TSF in the past but that there was no evidence to suggest that this is

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currently the case. The question refers to a period of sixteen years and I do not support the use of Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) resources to collect and collate what information may exist. The key issue is that KCGM is required to manage seepage from the TSF such that risk of vegetation stress is minimised. (2) The appeal decision required that DEC review the information provided by appellants regarding plant root systems, and include this in future considerations of KCGM's Seepage and Groundwater Management Plan. DEC will review this and other relevant information for the 2007 audit of KCGM’s Seepage and Groundwater Management Plan. KALTAILS TAILINGS DAM - CONTAINMENT OF SEEPAGE 1726. Mr M.J. Birney to the Minister for the Environment With reference to the Kaltails Tailings dam, I ask - (1) Is it correct that the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) allowed 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 or prosecution action? (a) If yes, can the Minister explain why? (b) If no, what is correct? (2) Is it correct that the operator of the Kaltails tailings dam had a license condition in 1991/92 which stated that matter containing saline, alkaline or cyanide constituents shall be retained within impervious holding facilities, such that there is no discernible impairment of surface or underground waters? If not, why not? (3) Is it correct that the DEC considers that a permeability of 10-9 metres per second, which equates to about a water seepage rate of three centimeters per year, as being impervious for their purpose? If not, why not? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: The Department of Environment and Conservation advises the following; (1) The Kaltails Tailings facility has not been actively deposited to for some years, and the records associated with its activity are in archive. The period in question is over seven years ago and I do not support the use of Department of Environment and Conservation resources to locate and retrieve these files, particularly when there is no evidence to suggest that vegetation is currently under stress or dying as a result of this facility. There are no active investigations into Newmont Kaltails with respect to seepage, and/or vegetation stress or death surrounding the Kaltails tailings storage facilities. (2) Yes, this was applied in 1991/92. (3) The DEC considers 10-9 metres per second to be an extremely low permeability which effectively restricts seepage. FIMISTON TAILINGS DAMS - EFFECT OF SEEPAGE ON PROSPECTING LICENCE 26/3126 1727. Mr M.J. Birney to the Minister for the Environment With reference to Prospecting Licence 26/3126 and a letter dated 17 July 2006 with enclosures from the Minister for the Environment, reference 220 of 2005 addressed to Mr J Smith, I ask - (1) Has the Minister received advice that the previous Minister for the Environment’s appeal was legally enforceable? (2) Will the holder of Prospecting Licence 26/3126 and the environment contained within it have to suffer from unnaturally high ground water levels of approximately four metres below the surface) caused by toxic seepage emissions entering the tenement for the next 10 years or more until the mine closes? (3) If yes to (2) can the Minister explain why? (4) If no to (2) will the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) immediately direct KCGM to reduce groundwater levels within the confines of Prospecting Licence 26/3126 back to historical levels? (5) Can the Minister state what are the estimated historic groundwater levels below the surface on P26/3126 prior to the construction and operation of the Fimiston 1 tailings dam? (6) Can the Minister explain why toxic seepage emissions from the Fimiston I tailings dam below 4 metres ground level on P26/3126 cannot be considered environmental harm under the Environmental Protection Act 1986? (a) If not, why not?

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Mr M. McGOWAN replied: The Department of Environment and Conservation advises the following; (1) No (2)-(4) The Environmental Protection Act 1986 is designed for the "prevention, control and abatement of pollution and environmental harm". A significant portion of the Act is intended to prevent, control and abate emissions so that they do not cause pollution or environmental harm (serious or material). In this case, the seepage from the tailings dam which is causing the elevated groundwater levels has not been found to be causing environmental harm. However DEC also acknowledges that it needs to have due regard to the minimisation of emissions where practicable and is taking actions in this regard. If persons conducting mining operations are inconvenienced by seepage from KCGM's operations this should be addressed under the Mining Act 1978 which has provisions relating to inconvenience from mine waste water. (5) Further to the information provided in the answers to Question on Notice 3409 in the Legislative Council of 2 May 2006, KCGM provided a further revision of the assessment of historical groundwater levels to DEC in December 2006. DEC has obtained comments from the Department of Water on this revision and is also seeking comments from parties who had commented previously. Once this is complete, DEC will advise on its acceptance of the historical groundwater level assessment. KCGM is also amending the Seepage and Groundwater Management Plan accordingly. (6) The environmental value of the hypersaline groundwater in the vicinity of KCGM's operations is defined in the Goldfields Groundwater Area Management Plan as mining and mineral processing. The seepage associated with KCGM's tailings facilities has not been detrimental to this environmental value and is therefore not considered to have caused environmental harm. In regard to the native vegetation in this part of the Goldfields, keeping the hypersaline groundwater below the influence of the root zone of trees minimises the risk of stress or destruction of the vegetation and thereby minimises the risk of environmental harm. GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES SUPERANNUATION BOARD 1728. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Government Enterprises (1) Will the Minister provide a list of Government Employees Superannuation Board staff and fund members who benefited from the so-called loophole which allowed them to “switch” frequently to gain an unfair financial advantage at the expense of other members? If not, why not? (2) Were any of the fund members who benefited from taking advantage of the so-called loophole family relatives to the staff members involved in the scheme? (3) Which Government agencies did the fund members who benefited from the scheme work for? (4) What disciplinary action has been taken by the GESB against staff members who participated in the scheme? (5) Will any disciplinary action be taken against fund members who participated in the scheme? (6) Why are all State Government employees forced to join the GESB fund, when most other employees in Australia are able to elect to join the superannuation fund of their choice? Answer (1), (2) and (3) It is not appropriate for GESB to release personal information relating to its members or information which may identify them. (4) and (5) GESB, in close liaison with relevant authorities, is taking appropriate disciplinary action in relation to GESB employees who were identified as frequently switching. Legal advice from the State Solicitor's Office has confirmed that it is not open to take disciplinary action against fund members, other than GESB employees. (6) Current Government policy is that compulsory employer superannuation contributions for public sector employees are paid to GESB unless an exemption is granted. BURGLARY AND ROBBERY OFFENCES - STATISTICS 1729. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Attorney General For the years 2004-2005 to 2005-2006, I ask -

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(1) How many adults were convicted for burglary offences? (2) How many adults were sentenced to a term of imprisonment where burglary was the most serious offence? (3) How many adults were convicted for robbery offences? (4) How many adults were sentenced to a term of imprisonment where robbery was the most serious offence? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: The following numbers were extracted from the Courts case management systems. A burglary offence was considered to be any offence with an Australian Standard Offence Classification (ASOC) code of 0711 (Unlawful Entry with Intent/Burglary, Break and Enter). A robbery offence was considered to be any offence with an ASOC code of either 0611 (Aggravated Robbery) or 0612 (Non-Aggravated Robbery). Seriousness was based on the ABS Seriousness Indicator. (1) For the year 2004-2005: 1849 For the year 2005-2006: 1600 (2) For the year 2004-2005: 936 (of which 246 were suspended) For the year 2005-2006: 838 (of which 212 were suspended) (3) For the year 2004-2005: 218 For the year 2005-2006: 238 (4) For the year 2004-2005: 160 (of which 32 were suspended) For the year 2005-2006: 200 (of which 31 were suspended) SCHOOLS - NUMBER LOCATED WITHIN AIR COOLING ZONE 1730. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Education and Training (1) Could the Minister provide a list of all Government schools located within the Air Cooling Zone? (a) If not, why not? (2) Are all Government schools in this zone air-conditioned? (3) How frequently is the list of Government schools located within the Air Cooling Zone reviewed? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1) Yes. [See paper 2301.] (2) Yes. (3) The Department of Education and Training views schools eligibility when amendments are made to the air cooling zone by the Bureau of Meteorology. EDUCATION - FEDERAL “INVESTING IN OUR SCHOOLS” PROGRAM 1731. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Education and Training (1) How much has been provided to WA schools under the Federal Investing in Our School Program? (2) How much has been taken by the Education Department for “administration” of grants provided under the Federal Investing in Our School Program? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: 1. Funding provided to public schools in Western Australia under the Investing in Our Schools Program is as follows: Round one: (2005) - $8.8 million Round two: (2005) - $25.6 million Round three: (2006) - $31.7 million During the same period, being 2004/05 and 2005/06, the State Government allocated $ 416.781 million for capital works in schools and colleges. 2. The Department of Education and Training takes no funds for the "administration" of the grants. However, a project management fee is payable with each project either to a private sector facilities manager for schools located in the Perth metropolitan area or to the Department of Housing and Works for schools located in the country. For schools located in the Perth metropolitan area, the project management fee is 11-12% of the project cost. The corresponding fee for schools located in the country is 17.5% of the project cost.

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WA POLICE - COMPUTER AIDED DISPATCH COMMUNICATIONS (CADCOM) PROJECT 1732. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services (1) How much to date has been spent on the implementation the CADCOM project? (2) How far is the project currently off from its initial estimates and targets? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) The CADCOM project comprises the following: • Planning cost of $4.5m. • Stages 1A and 1B, the purchase of a new voice management and computer aided dispatch system, has been completed with a total cost of $17.6m. • Stage 1C, the new Perth Metropolitan Radio Network, (with an estimated total cost of $59.4m), $33.296m has been spent as at the end of November 2006. (2) The CADCOM project is on track for a successful full implementation during 2007 within its approved budget of $80.2m. Also an amount of $1.2m has been applied to the project from internal resources. This amount represents staff salaries associated with the Project. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIVE SERVICES - ALLON LACCO 1733. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services (1) Is Allon Lacco included on the ANCOR register? (2) Is Allon Lacco currently imprisoned? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) The Western Australia Police is prohibited by law from releasing this information. (2) This does not fall under the portfolio responsibility of the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. HOMESWEST PROPERTIES - CONVICTED SEX OFFENDERS AS TENANTS 1734. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Corrective Services (1) How many convicted sex offenders have been located into Homeswest properties in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006? (2) What suburbs have these offenders been located in? (3) How many convicted child sex offenders have been located into Homeswest properties in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006? (4) What suburbs have these offenders been located in? Ms M.M. QUIRK replied: This Government introduced the Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2004 legislation to maintain knowledge of the whereabouts of child sex offenders in the community. This register (Australian National Child Offender Register) is maintained by the WA Police Service, not the Department of Corrective Services. The Department of Corrective Services does not specifically record whether sex offenders live in Homeswest accommodation. (1) The Department of Corrective Services does not record this information specific to Homeswest accommodation (2)-(4) Refer to 1. HOMESWEST - WAITING LIST 1736. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Housing and Works (1) What was the Homeswest waiting list as at 15 December 2006 (or nearest possible date)? (2) What groups comprised these waiting lists? (3) What were the numbers in each of the groups? (4) What was the shortest, longest and average waiting time for those on the waiting lists? (5) Is there any particular group that is more difficult than others to place? (6) If so, which group and why?

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Mrs M.H. ROBERTS replied: (1)-(6) The Department of Housing and Works advises that as at 22 December 2006 the wait list for public housing was 14,980 applicants. In May last year, for the first time in ten years, the Government increased the income eligibility limits for public housing which has made more people eligible for public housing and impacted upon the waiting list. Another factor that has increased the demand for public housing is the inadequate level of Commonwealth Rental Assistance, which has failed to keep pace with increasing private rents, making private rentals an unaffordable housing option for many West Australians. Western Australia's unprecedented housing market conditions, particularly higher private rents and lower vacancy rates, have reduced turnover in public housing and also increased demand. The waiting list is grouped into the following categories: Category Number 2 bedroom family 4166 3 bedroom family 3051 4 bedroom family 926 5 bedroom family 214 6 bedroom family & larger families 39 Seniors singles (over 55 years of age) 2082 Seniors Couples (over 55 years of age) 431 1 bedroom applicants (under 55 years of age) 3909 2 bedroom applicants (under 55 years of age) 152 3 bedroom applicants (under 55 years of age) 10 19.3 percent of applicants are housed within 1 month, 33.6 per cent are housed within a year and 63.3 per cent are housed within three years. The median waiting time is 45.9 weeks. One-bedroom applicants under the age of 55 years continue to be more difficult to house than others. This group continues to be targeted in the public housing construction and spot purchase programmes. The Government's focus has been on improving the quality, type and location of public housing. The Government has funded a significant replacement program to turnover unsuitable public housing stock, which has been replaced with more appropriate stock, for example we now have more four-bedroom homes, more five bedroom homes and more home units suitable for seniors and singles. Through programs like New Living, old style public housing suburbs have been transformed and home ownership opportunities created. Since July 2001 more than 1, 900 refurbished properties have been sold under the program throughout the State, a further 1,936properties have been refurbished for public rental housing; and 766vacant lots have also been sold. Suburbs like Karawara, Kwinana, Langford, Coolbellup, Koongamia, and Midvale have been transformed and investment continues in the "New North" (Balga, Koondoola, Girrawheen, Westminster), "Phoenix Rise" at Hamilton Hill, "Quattro" in Queens Park and the South Hedland New Living projects. Having transformed much of Western Australia's public housing, the Government is committed to growing public housing and community housing stock. GOVERNMENT PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS - STUDENT TO TEACHER RATIOS 1737. Mr T.R. Buswell to the Minister for Education and Training (1) What are the ten lowest ranking - (a) primary schools; and (b) high schools in terms of their student to teacher ratios and the corresponding ratio? (2) What are the ten highest ranking - (a) primary schools; and (b) high schools in terms of their student to teacher ratios and the corresponding ratio? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: 1(a) Sandstone Primary School - 3.2 Wubin Primary School - 3.9

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Rottnest Island Primary School - 4.4 Tincurrin Primary School - 4.4 Salmon Gums Primary School - 4.6 Port Hedland School Of The Air - 4.8 Carnarvon School Of The Air - 5.4 Kalgoorlie School Of The Air - 5.8 Woodanilling Primary School - 5.9 Kimberley School Of The Air - 5.9 1(b) Central Midlands Senior High School - 9.8 Broome Senior High School - 9.8 Carnarvon Senior High School - 10.1 Tom Price Senior High School - 10.5 Merredin Senior High School - 11.0 Balga Senior High School - 11.1 Newman Senior High School - 11.2 Bridgetown High School - 11.2 Lockridge Senior High School - 11.4 Belmont City College - 11.7 2(a) Secret Harbour Primary School - 22.6 Safety Bay Primary School - 21.9 Riverton Primary School - 21.9 Warnbro Primary School - 21.8 Claremont Primary School - 21.8 Rockingham Beach Primary School - 21.7 Heathridge Primary School - 21.6 Willetton Primary School - 21.6 Glengarry Primary School - 21.6 Mount Pleasant Primary School - 21.3 2(b) Como Secondary College - 18.2 Carine Senior High School - 17.5 Ocean Senior High School - 17.3 Newton Moore Senior High School - 17.2 Lesmurdie Senior High School - 17.0 Morley Senior High School - 16.9 Margaret River Senior High School - 16.9 Comet Bay College - 16.9 Halls Head Community College - 16.5 Woodvale Senior High School - 16.3 SCHOOL REGISTRARS - RECLASSIFICATION 1738. Dr J.M. Woollard to the Minister for Education and Training With regard to the Classification Review of School Support Staff Positions 2005, can the Minister please advise - (1) What benchmarks and external factors were taken into consideration? (2) How many school registrars are there in Western Australia? (3) How many school registrar positions did the “New Review Panel” approve for reclassification? (4) How many additional school registrar positions have been approved for reclassification following the Union Disputes Committee’s discussions with the Education Department’s Director Human Resources and the Director General? (5) Are there any school registrars that have not been reclassified and if so, how many and why? (6) When will those remaining school registrars be reclassified? (7) Were student numbers considered in the reclassification process and if so, what part of the reclassification process were those numbers used? (8) What were the minimum, average and maximum student numbers at the schools where registrars were reclassified to Level 3? (9) What were the minimum, average and maximum student numbers at the schools where registrars were reclassified to Level 4?

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(10) What were the minimum, average and maximum student numbers at the schools where registrars were reclassified to Level 5? (11) What duties do the registrars of smaller schools perform that are different to the registrars based at larger schools? (12) At which schools will principals be required to undertake higher-level 4/5 duties where the registrar’s position has not been reclassified to that level? Mr M. McGOWAN replied: (1) The benchmarks and external factors used in the classification review process for School Support Staff, applied by independent Panels, during the different phases of the project, to claims submitted on behalf of registrars included: That the officer demonstrated having been engaged with "higher" duties for 67% of more of their paid hours. That the "higher" duties had been a regular and on-going component of their duties for at least 6 month period. It was a requirement that each of the claims relating to these elements was endorsed by the principal. Factors such as the Level of authority to make decisions, size of budget, and the number of staff managed were also considered. Consultants also accessed DET's School Profile data base to gain contextual information about each school. The consultants contacted the school principal (by phone or face-to-face) to establish the veracity of the information provided on the survey document by the respondent. . The Panels ascertained the extent to which the work value of the duties claimed by the respondent aligned with work value of those duties when ascribed to other positions. Following the completion of Phase 2 an additional set of variables were applied to the requests that had not been supported. The additional variables were: • Socio Economic Index • Nature of student population • Education Support Unit on site The Department of Education and Training and the Civil Service association agreed that registrars in schools having a student population 201+ be granted Level 4 status. (2) 818 registrars (3) 44 registrars (4) 170 registrars (5) 217 have not been reclassified. Requests not approved by Classification Review Panel and/or New Review Panel and not appealed - 121 Classification review not requested, or registrars who deferred their application and whose intentions are unknown - 84 Incomplete requests - various reasons, such as the officer having left DET, Workers' Compensation, etc. - 11. Request being assessed by consultant - 1 (6) Officers seeking to have the classification Level of their position reviewed will make application to DET's Classification Review Committee in keeping with a regular process. (7) 201+ student enrolment. Note: Only those registrars who submitted a request for an upgrade were eligible to an upgrade in accordance with this condition. (8) Minimum - 7; Average - 405; Maximum - 803 (9) Minimum - 11; Average - 570; Maximum -1120

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(10) Minimum - 57; Average - 940; Maximum - 1820 (11) While the general duties of registrars are similar, factors such as the number of staff supervised and the scope of the activities influence the level of classification ascribed to a position. (12) None. PUBLIC HOSPITALS - BED NUMBERS 1739. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Health (1) How many un-staffed beds are currently in public hospitals throughout Western Australia? (2) Of those beds in (1) how many are solely at - (a) Royal Perth Hospital; (b) Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital; and (c) Fremantle Hospital? (3) How many staffed beds are there in public hospitals throughout Western Australia? (4) Of those beds in (3), how many are solely at – (a) Royal Perth Hospital; (b) Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital; and (c) Fremantle Hospital? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1) There are a total of 436 available inactive beds in public hospitals in Western Australia (includes Joondalup and Peel public facilities). NOTE: 'Staffed' and 'unstaffed' are terms no longer used to describe beds since they are misleading. More accurate descriptors are 'available active' and 'available inactive' beds. Available inactive beds are beds in ward areas into which patients cannot currently be allocated, i.e. are closed for any number of operational management issues such as infection control, staffing, clinical, demand management, ward maintenance etc. (2) (a) Nil available inactive beds. (b) 19 available inactive beds. (c) 46 available inactive beds. (3) There are a total of 5,471 available active beds in public hospitals in Western Australia (includes Joondalup and Peel public facilities). NOTE: Available active beds are those beds that are immediately available to be used by an admitted patient or resident if required. (4) (a) 574 available active beds. (b) 626 available active beds. (c) 434 available active beds. PUBLIC HOSPITALS - WAITING TIMES FOR ADMISSION AND NUMBER OF FTE DOCTORS AND NURSES 1741. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Health (1) What is the monthly chart from Royal Perth, Sir Charles Gairdner, Fremantle and Princess Margaret Hospitals of daily average percentage 8-hour waits for admission? (2) What is the current number of FTE doctors at - (a) Royal Perth Hospital; (b) Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital; (c) Fremantle Hospital; and (d) Princess Margaret Hospital?

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(3) How does this compare to 2004-2005 and 2003-2004? (4) What is the current number of FTE nurses at - (a) Royal Perth Hospital; (b) Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital; (c) Fremantle Hospital; and (d) Princess Margaret Hospital? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1) The data below is for the 2005/06 financial year. Jul 05 Aug 05 Sep 05 Oct 05 Nov 05 Dec 05 Jan 06 Feb 06 Mar 06 Apr 06 May 06 Jun 06 RPH 40.3% 38.5% 35.9% 35.4% 31.4% 27.2% 37.7% 36.7% 32.9% 35.4% 41.2% 42.8% SCGH 39.6% 27.8% 27.1% 37.6% 27.4% 26.0% 29.5% 38.0% 42.7% 39.3% 42.3% 42.0% FH 50.2% 47.1% 50.1% 47.1% 45.4% 40.0% 49.5% 48.8% 57.0% 53.3% 51.8% 49.8% PMH 5.2% 4.5% 3.3% 5.9% 2.1% 1.6% 1.0% 2.3% 4.8% 2.6% 3.9% 5.1% Note: 1) The data exclude patients in ED observation wards. 2) The data are calculated by taking the ratio of admitted patients waiting in excess of eight hours, over the total number of patients who were either admitted, transferred or deceased. Source: EDIS (Extract date December 2006) (2) & (3) FTE doctors: 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 Nov Nov Nov Nov (a) Royal Perth Hospital 521 489 546 547 (b) Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital 522 537 556 597 (c) Fremantle Hospital 291 312 335 344 (d) PMH 206 210 222 234 Note: 1) Excludes dentists and agency doctors. 2) Royal Perth Hospital excludes Shenton Park Campus. (4) FTE nurses: 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 Nov Nov Nov Nov (a) Royal Perth Hospital 1,185 1,292 1,324 1,390 (b) Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital 1,169 1,252 1,275 1,308 (c) Fremantle Hospital 949 1,026 1,055 1,041 (d) PMH 520 531 531 538 Note: 1) Excludes registered dental nurses, dental clinic assistants and agency nurses. 2) Royal Perth Hospital excludes Shenton Park Campus. NURSES - STATISTICS ON RESIGNATIONS, EMPLOYMENT AND VACANCIES 1742. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Health (1) How many nurses resigned in - (a) 2005-2006; (b) 2004-2005; and (c) 2003-2004? (2) How many nursing staff were employed and retained over this same time? (3) What is the current number of nursing positions required, but not filled, for - (a) Royal Perth Hospital;

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(b) Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital; (c) Fremantle Hospital; and (d) Princess Margaret Hospital? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1) and (2) Period Number of Number of Number of Total number of nursing nursing staff staff who nursing staff resignations engaged have been (head count) during period retained employed as at (head count) (head count) 30 June (a) (b) (c) (d) 2005-06 1,930 2,391 2,117 12,609 2004-05 2,182 2,453 1,829 12,720 2003-04 2,051 2,603 1,645 11,976 During this time, the average financial year full-time equivalent (FTE) has increased : 2003-04 9,309 FTE 2004-05 9,725 FTE 2005-06 9,985 FTE NOTE: Column (a): Only nursing staff that have a termination reason of 'resigned' have been included in the figures provided. Staff that complete a fixed term contract with the Department do not form part of the response. Column (b) represents the total number of nursing staff that were employed during the survey periods. Column (c) represents the total number of staff that were engaged (hired) during the survey period and who are still employed (retained). Column (d) represents the total number of nurses that were working across the entire department of health as at the 30 June for each of the survey periods. All figures are based on a head count method of calculation. The head count method of calculation is based on a unique count of employees paid in the last pay period in June. The count excludes staff that are still active on the payroll but were not engaged in the delivery of a service (at that particular point in time). (3) On any given day, nursing shifts are ordinarily filled to the required "nursing hour per patient day model" staffing levels. Permanent positions not filled on a permanent basis are filled through the use of overtime, extra hours for part-time staff, casual pool or temporary staff, or Nursewest or agency staff. On an irregular basis, a small number of required shifts are not filled. Where this occurs, patient allocation is redistributed ensuring a safe level of patient care. Vacant Positions as at 19 December 2006 Site Vacant Positions (Full-Time Equivalents) (a) Royal Perth Hospital 3.0 (b) Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital 0.6 (c) Fremantle Hospital 3.9 (d) Princess Margaret Hospital 4.0 DOCTORS EMPLOYED IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS - NUMBER, RATIO TO POPULATION AND VACANCIES 1743. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Health (1) How many doctors are employed in Western Australia public hospitals? (2) What is the ratio of doctors to population in Western Australian public hospitals and how does this compare to other State and Territories? (3) How many medical staff (doctors and nurses) are working at each of Western Australia’s public hospitals?

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(4) What is the current number of doctors’ positions required but not filled for - (a) Royal Perth Hospital; (b) Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital; (c) Fremantle Hospital; and (d) Princess Margaret Hospital? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1) 2,517 FTE as at November 2006 (excludes dentists and agency staff). (2) The number of public hospital full time equivalent salaried medical officers per 100,000 population in Western Australia and in other States and Territories are as follows: State & Territory Rate 1 NSW 107 Vic 111 Qld 96 SA 110 WA 99 Tas 91 NT 130 ACT 115 Australia 105 1 Per 100,000 population. Source data from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). Medical Labour Force 2004. AIHW cat. no. HWL 39. Canberra: AIHW National Health Labour Series no. 38, p20. Report released 20 December 2006. (3) See attached Table 1. [See paper 2302.] (4) Vacant positions as at 19 December 2006: Site Vacant positions (FTE) (a) Royal Perth Hospital 13.3 (b) Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital 7.0 (c) Fremantle Hospital 17.0 (d) Princess Margaret Hospital 3.0 DENTAL TREATMENT - WAITING LISTS IN PUBLIC SYSTEM 1744. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Health (1) How many people are waiting for dental work through the public system? (2) How many of these people have been waiting - (a) up to 3 months; (b) up to 6 months; (c) up to 12 months; and (d) more than 12 months? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1) On 30 November 2006, 12,017 people were on the public dental services waiting list. After the Howard Government ceased the Commonwealth Dental Health Program in December 1996, public dental waiting lists grew from about 7,000 with a three month average wait time to about 25,000 with a 17.3 month average wait time in January 2004, even though State governments had maintained funding levels to State dental programs. Additional State Government funding of $2.3 million for January 2004 through to 30 June 2005 and a further four year commitment of $1 million per financial year ending 30 June 2009 has been put in place. This has seen the waiting list at about 12,000 (8.5 months average wait time) as at 30 November 2006. (2) (a) People waiting up to three months: 3,987 in 2004 4,003 in 2005 3,728 in 2006.

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(b) People waiting three to six months: 4,571 in 2004 3,263 in 2005 2,926 in 2006. (c) People waiting six to 12 months: 4,061 people in 2004 1,892 people in 2005 2,473 people in 2006. (d) People waiting more than 12 months: Not known in 2004 2,930 people in 2005 2,890 people in 2006. There is an international shortage of dentists. Advertising for dentists in Western Australia is occurring internationally and nationally. Recruitment of dentists to Geraldton, Bunbury, Busselton and Albany will rapidly resolve waiting lists of greater than 12 months. A dentist has been recruited for Geraldton and is expected to commence in April 2007. The current dental clinic in Bunbury has six chairs. A new 10 chair dental clinic at Bunbury is under construction, with an expected completion date of October 2007. Increased levels of care are being obtained from the private sector through the metropolitan patients’ dental subsidy scheme and the country patients' dental subsidy scheme. SOUTH METROPOLITAN AREA HEALTH SERVICE - REFURBISHMENTS 1746. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Health (1) When will refurbishments for the South Metropolitan Area Health Service begin and at what location (address)? (2) What will the refurbishment involve? (3) When will it be undertaken? (4) How much will the refurbishment and fit-out cost? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: 1. There will be no refurbishment of the South Metropolitan Area Health Service former office at Mt Pleasant. The Mt Pleasant office will house staff working on the Fiona Stanley Hospital development. 2-4. Not applicable. CHILD ABUSE - SUBSTANTIATION RATE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA 1747. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Community Development According to National Research Centre for Prevention of Child Abuse, WA has the lowest substantiation rate for child abuse allegations in Australia, with only two cases per 1,000 allegations of abuse being substantiated. This compared to Queensland’s rate of 14.1 per 1,000. Will the Minister please advise - (1) Why are substantiation rates for child abuse allegations so low in Western Australia? (2) Is it true that the appallingly low number of abuse allegations able to be confirmed by the DCD is a result of the poor resourcing and operation of the child protection system under your watch, and if not, why not? Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN replied: (1) The "Child Protection Australia" reports (the source for the National Research Centre for Prevention of Child Abuse) show that the average rate of 2.2 children per 1000 children in the WA community aged 0-16 years who were the subjects of substantiated investigations of child maltreatment has not changed since 1996-97. The authors of the "Child Protection Australia" report note that data from States and Territories should not be compared because of different: • definitions of “child abuse”, “substantiation” and “notification” • policies and procedures for the recording of data • policy based and legislated approaches to notification of suspicion of child abuse • legislation guiding statutory intervention.

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WA undertakes a further screening process than other States, designed to differentiate between reports about harm and/or maltreatment of children and child and family concerns. This reduces the number of notifications reported for national data purposes in that only reports about child harm and/or maltreatment are provided. (2) No. Ensuring that the child protection system is properly equipped to keep our children safe has been and remains of the highest priority for the Carpenter Government, and our record stands for itself. This Government has built on the achievements of the Gallop Government in this area, which included the most significant overhaul of child protection laws in over half a century. For example, in the 2006-07 state budget the Carpenter Government allocated an extra $140 million to the Department for Community Development, the single biggest increase in its history; and in September 2006 a further $50 million was provided to employ 133 extra workers, including 87 caseworkers in this financial year. Prior to September the Government, since 2001, had already provided the funding needed to employ an additional 216 workers in the area of caring and protecting children. Total funding for the Department for Community Development had also increased by more than 40 percent in the same period. However, as a result of public debate following the 2006-07 budget the Government recognised that these further additional resources were needed to meet the rapidly increasing needs of vulnerable children and families at risk and moved quickly to provide the additional funding. The Carpenter Government's major reform of the child protection system in WA has also led to two vital reviews, most recently a major structural review of the Department for Community Development. The review will ensure the department's primary focus is on the protection of children. The review is examining cultural and structural issues within the department and ways of ensuring that money is being spent in the key area of child protection. This structural review followed a review which commenced in August 2006 into cases in which serious concerns about children's safety had been raised by family members and their advocates. The creation of the first Child Protection portfolio in the history of the Western Australian Government in December 2006 will ensure that the clear focus on this area continues. As the first Minister with responsibility for this portfolio I am committed to redressing the effects of years of neglect by the Coalition Government in this area and ensuring that workers in my department are equipped for the important role of keeping our children safe. WORKING WITH CHILDREN SCREENING CHECKS 1748. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Community Development In relation to the Working with Children screening checks, I ask - (1) How many applications have been received since 1 January 2006? (2) How many screenings have been completed? (3) How many people have been issued with a negative notice? (4) What were the reasons for each of the negative notices? (5) Were any of the people who received a negative notice listed on the Australian National Child Offender Register or any other register? (6) For those people issued with a negative notice, what positions were they working in where they had contact with children? (7) Are any of these people currently working with children? (8) How many have been issued with interim negative notices? Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN replied: (1) On 19/02/2007 the Working with Children Screening Unit had received approximately 30,600 (rounded figures) applications for WWC Checks since 01/01/2006 (2) Of the above over 28 500 screenings had been completed with the balance in process . (3) Twelve finalised Negative Notices have been issued. (4) Ten of the Negative Notices were for scheduled offences (9 sexual and one violence) - including convictions, pending and non-conviction charges. Two were non-scheduled convictions assessed to be of relevance to child-related work. (5) One of the twelve persons with Negative Notices is currently registered on ANCOR.

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(6) 2 self employed 6 employees 4 volunteers (7) Persons with Negative Notices and Interim Negative Notices are prohibited from child-related work and there is a penalty of up to five years and $60 000 for breaching this. Employers are advised if a person has a Negative or Interim Negative Notice and that they are also prohibited from employing such persons in a paid or voluntary capacity. (8) Five Interim Negative Notices have been issued CHILD DEATH REVIEW COMMITTEE REPORT 1749. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Community Development (1) On what date did the Minister receive the latest Child Death Review Committee report? (2) When will the Minister make the document publicly available? (3) What is the reason for the delay? Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN replied: (1) The Minister's office received the report on 28 November, 2006. (2) The report was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on 12 December, 2006. (3) The report was tabled in parliament after the Minister had read and considered it. The Leader of the Opposition is advised that the Minister was paired from parliament during the week 28-30 November. SAFECARE - REVIEW 1750. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Community Development (1) Has a review or audit of Safecare been undertaken, as previously committed to by the former Minister for Community Development? If so, has it been completed? (2) Will the Minister provide a copy of the Document, and if not, why not? Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN replied: (1) Yes. An independent evaluation of the funded Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Services (CSATS) was conducted in 2006. This evaluation examined both the overall CSATS program and the individual services funded under the program. Three of these services are provided by SafeCare. (2) I have asked the Department to prepare the report for release. CHILD DEATH REVIEW COMMITTEE - REVIEW OF CASES BY THIRD PARTY ORGANISATIONS 1751. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Community Development (1) Have any third party organisations been appointed to review cases before the Child Death Review Committee? (2) If so, why has this occurred? (3) Are there any concerns in having a third party organisation review sensitive cases? (4) What is the name of the organisation or organisations which have been contracted to help the Child Death Review Committee? (5) When and by whom was the committee authorised to put out these contracts and how much was or will be paid to each individual contractor? Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN replied: (1) I refer the member to the response to Parliamentary Question on notice 1582. No third party organisations have been appointed. (2)-(5) Not applicable. I refer the Leader of the Opposition to the Child Death Review Committee Annual Report tabled on 12 December, 2006. PERIWINKLES LEARNING AND CHILD CARE CENTRE, HUNTINGDALE 1752. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Community Development (1) Has the Department for Community Development conducted any investigation into operations at Periwinkles Day Care, Huntingdale?

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(2) If so, what form did this take? (3) What was the result of the investigation? (4) Will the Minister provide documentation relating to this investigation, including any reports? Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN replied: (1) Yes. (2) There are two Periwinkles Day Care Centres in Huntingdale. Since August 2003 Licensing Officers from the Department for Community Development have undertaken five licensing visits to assess complaints at one of the Periwinkles Centres and two licensing visits to the other. (3) After investigating each of the complaints the Department was unable to substantiate breaches of the relevant child care regulations - Children and Community Services (Child Care) Regulations 2006 since 1 March 2006 and Community Services (Child Care) Regulations 1988 prior to March 2006. (4) The specific details of each investigation will not be made available to preserve the confidentiality of each complainant and children concerned. MANDATORY REPORTING OF CHILD ABUSE 1753. Mr P.D. Omodei to the Minister for Community Development (1) Does the Minister and the Government support mandatory reporting of child abuse? (2) If not, why not? (3) Will this position be reconsidered or changed in the near future? Mr D.A. TEMPLEMAN replied: (1)-(2) The Government is open to all ideas which will contribute to the protection of children. There is targeted mandated reporting in Western Australia. Under the Western Australian Family Court Act 1997, court personnel, counsellors and mediators must report child abuse and may also report suspicions of child abuse in Family Court cases to the Department for Community Development. The child care regulations of the Children and Community Services Act 2004 requires early childhood, family day care and outside school hours care providers to report abuse in a child care service to the Department for Community Development. The Health Act 1911 requires that medical practitioners, nurse practitioners, and pathology laboratories report sexually transmitted infections, including those in children, to the Department of Health. Furthermore, through policy based-protocols between the Department of Health, the Department for Community Development and the WA Police, all children under 14 years of age with a STI, and children between the ages of 14-16 with an STI acquired through abuse, must be reported. Reciprocal Child Protection Procedures are in place between Department for Community Development and key Government agencies and the Joondalup Health Campus to support workers in these agencies to make reports. High risk and high need cases must be reported and there is no evidence that people do not report them. For those other cases where there are concerns for the wellbeing of children we must ensure that those people, professionals and agencies who are engaged with the family and are a source of support and protection to the child are acknowledged and supported in the work they do. There is no evidence that broad based legislative approaches in other States have better protected children. (3) The Government is continually considering the outcomes of research and the evidence from other States and jurisdictions. ______