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P425b-431A Ms Margaret Quirk; Ms E.L

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P425b-431A Ms Margaret Quirk; Ms E.L Extract from Hansard [ASSEMBLY — Tuesday, 11 May 2021] p425b-431a Ms Margaret Quirk; Ms E.L. Hamilton ADDRESS-IN-REPLY Motion Resumed from 6 May on the following motion moved by Ms L. Dalton — That the following Address-in-Reply to His Excellency’s speech be agreed to — To His Excellency the Honourable Kim Beazley, AC, Governor of the State of Western Australia. May it please Your Excellency — We, the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of the State of Western Australia in Parliament assembled, beg to express loyalty to our Most Gracious Sovereign, and to thank Your Excellency for the speech you have been pleased to address to Parliament. MS M.M. QUIRK (Landsdale) [7.05 pm]: I start by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today, the Whadjuk people of the great Noongar nation. I recognise their continuing connection to the land, water and community. I pay my respects to their elders, past, present and future, and I extend my respect to all the First Nations people throughout this great state. It is an enormous pleasure to also extend my welcome to the many new members in the chamber. That pleasure is magnified many times over, because those new members all belong to the WA Labor Party, and, even more of a bonus, there is a large number of women amongst this cohort. As Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the US, has famously said, “Maybe it takes a woman to clean house.” In their inaugural speeches, we heard an impressive array of life experiences from these new members. Their reasons varied for wanting to represent their local communities, but they shared a passion for working diligently in their electorates. They are part of history and I have no doubt that they will continue to make their own mark in the future. While speaking of history, I congratulate Premier McGowan on his leadership and unstinting hard work to secure what was an election victory of magnificent proportions. In government he will be ably assisted by his cabinet, and I extend my best wishes especially to those ministers newly appointed. It is a great honour and privilege to have the opportunity, and I am confident that all will fulfil their ministerial duties with distinction. I, too, join in congratulating you, Madam Speaker, in your new role. You have already had a distinguished career in this place, and you are what is quaintly termed the mother of the house, having served the longest in this place. It is well known that Madam Speaker and I are good friends of longstanding. For that reason, I have been asked by some what sort of Speaker you will make. At this point I need to digress slightly. I am not sure that Madam Speaker will resemble the first female Speaker of the House of Commons, Betty Boothroyd, who served in that role between 1992 and 2000. Boothroyd maintained strict order in the house. She was memorably described by one commentator as a mixture of headmistress, nanny and pub landlady. That said, it is surprising to learn that Boothroyd ejected only one MP during her time in the chair. That MP was Ian Paisley, who was suspended for 10 days after he accused a minister of lying. The story goes that Paisley went to visit Boothroyd sometime after in what she expected to be a clear-the-air meeting, but the Democratic Unionist Party leader, whom Boothroyd speaks of with great warmth and affection, was grateful. Excuse me, members, but I cannot do the Belfast accent. He said, “Madam Speaker, I’ve come to thank you for the gracious way you threw me out the other day. I got the front page of the Belfast Telegraph and you got page 3.” Boothroyd replied, “Step inside, Ian. You’re welcome. I’ve never been a page 3 girl before!” I do not expect such colourful exchanges in this Parliament. I am, however, confident, Madam Speaker, that you will perform your duties with aplomb and composure. You have an encyclopedic knowledge of standing orders, and I do not anticipate being able to get away with anything unparliamentary! The SPEAKER: Excellent! That is good to hear! Ms M.M. QUIRK: While we are on firsts, I am honoured to stand here as the first member for Landsdale. The new seat includes Alexander Heights, Darch, Hocking, Landsdale, Madeley, Pearsall and Wangara. These are areas facing the challenges of rapid growth. Community facilities and infrastructure are struggling to keep up with demand. This is especially so in road infrastructure, school capacity and sporting facilities at Kingsway Regional Sporting Complex. I am poised for the task. This afternoon, I was pleased to be able to attend the site of the new Southern Suburbs Library at Landsdale with Mayor Tracey Roberts from the City of Wanneroo. The state government has donated $3 million to that project for a youth innovation hub attached to the library, so I can say with some confidence that my 2017 election promise is being fulfilled. In taking on this new electorate, sadly, I lost Girrawheen, which was the only suburb I have continuously represented over 20 years. I will miss that diverse and lively area, but I know that the member for Mirrabooka will be a terrific advocate for and supporter of the good people of Girrawheen, and also Marangaroo, which I surrendered under the redistribution. [1] Extract from Hansard [ASSEMBLY — Tuesday, 11 May 2021] p425b-431a Ms Margaret Quirk; Ms E.L. Hamilton Before thanking those who have helped me in my endeavours not only during the campaign, but also over the last term, I want to make a few observations about the unique position in which we find ourselves. Although the word “unprecedented” has become a little hackneyed over the last year, it seems the most appropriate when we consider the vast majority in the Legislative Assembly and the comfortable and workable numbers in the Legislative Council. This scenario requires a change in approach—as they would say in Star Trek, “to boldly go where no man has gone before”. We need to consider what this rare opportunity affords us. We need to fast-track those laws that will materially improve people’s lives but keep dropping off the agenda. We must better integrate the recommendations of parliamentary committees into law reform and not just leave them gathering dust. We can no longer trot out the excuse that the lengthy parliamentary process and the likelihood of opposition resistance and recalcitrance makes the prospect of meaningful change remote. An example I give, but it is not a reflection on the new Minister for Commerce, who has only recently been briefed on the issue, is the need for amendments to the Retirement Villages Act. Recommendations of the Economics and Industry Standing Committee chaired by Hon Bob Kucera were tabled in 2008. That inquiry identified bullying of residents, non-completion of works promised in contracts, improper conduct and flouting of building approvals. This conduct had caused distress to many residents in many retirement homes over many years. In 2012, a first tranche of recommended laws was passed. That bill included the less contentious issues and another bill was foreshadowed at the time that would deal with the remainder of the committee’s recommendations. Since 2012, a series of consultation papers have been released, with a final one currently under consultation. We have the unique opportunity to expedite laws such as this. It is hard to imagine that stakeholders have not had ample opportunity to express their views and concerns by now. Likewise, a minor amendment to the equal opportunity laws was identified some years ago to protect parliamentary staff from unwelcome harassment and molestation. Maybe events in Canberra will focus minds sufficiently so that we can make these minor amendments with expedition. Next, I observe that not everything has to be accomplished with the aid of legislation. In recent years, for example, there has been much discussion about systemic racism. Examining where that is identified and changing administrative practices does not require legislative reform. A recently tabled report of the Inspector of Custodial Services, 2020 inspection of Bunbury Regional Prison, is germane in this context. Under his recommendation 10 at page 41, he notes — Aboriginal men were receiving lower gratuity levels Aboriginal prisoners were under-represented at the higher gratuity levels (levels 1 and 2), and over-represented at the lower levels (4, 5 and 6). Aboriginal prisoners made up 26 per cent of unit workers, and 19 per cent of those unemployed. And, as mentioned previously, Aboriginal prisoners made up 20 per cent of the prisoner population. The highest gratuity level (level 23) pays $90 per week. Only those prisoners who are approved to leave the prison for work (under section 95 of the Prisons Act 1981) are eligible for this level. There were no Aboriginal prisoners on level 23 gratuities. Only 10 per cent of employed prisoners receiving the next highest level … were Aboriginal, against 20 per cent of non-Aboriginal employed prisoners on a level 1 gratuity. Similarly, 17 per cent of Aboriginal prisoners were on level 2 while 25 per cent of non-Aboriginal prisoners were paid a level 2. And at the lower end of the gratuity levels (level 4, which paid $30 per week), Aboriginal prisoners made up 41 per cent of the group receiving this pay level, as opposed to non-Aboriginal prisoners who made up just 17 per cent of this cohort. Yet this recommendation, when addressed by the department, does not anywhere address the notion of systemic racism.
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