14 June 1988
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990 (egwtisatinr Aiwrmnbtg Tuesday, 14 June 1988 THE SPEAKER (Mr Barnett) took the Chair at 2.15 pm, and read prayers. PETITION Conservation - Shark Bay MR KASSELL (Cottesloe) [2.17 pm]: I present the following petition - To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We, the undersigned respectfully showech: That following the Hon. Minister for Planning's promises, made at the public meeting at Shark Bay on 24 March 1988, in which he said "if the local people do not want Heritage Listing of the Hamelin Pool then the State Government will not proceed to nom-inate it and will oppose that Listing. ...unequivocal terms that the State Government will oppose the total listing of Shark Bay for World Heritage at all ... , that the people of Shark Bay and other citizens are deeply concerned that the Government has agreed that further consideration is being given to World Heritage listing for Shark Bay, and (a) believe the special features of the region can be best protected through finalisation, of the Shark Bay Plan in consultation with local people, (b) do not want transfer of control of the area to the Commonwealth or overseas influences, (c) calls on the State Government to oppose and fight against any World Heritage listing. Your 'petitioners thereby humbly pray that you will give this matter earnest consideration and your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray. The petition bears 12 signatures. Mr Peter Dowding: It took you two weeks to get 12 signatures. Mr HASSELL: These are small but significant towns. Mr Pearce: You are making a joke of the sincerity of those people. Mr HAS SELL: I amn remiding the Miniister for Planning of his undertakings. Mr Pearce: I don't need reminding of them and I will stick by them. The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Cottesloe will continue with the presentation of this petition. Mr HASSELL. I certify that it conforms to the Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly. The SPEAKER: [ direct that the petition be brought to the Table of the House. [See petition No 28.] PETITION Radio Broadcasting - OPR MRS BEGGS (Whitford - Minister for Racing and Gaming) [2.22 pm]: I present the following petition - To The Honourable Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We, the undersigned, condemn the decision of the State Opposition to block the sale of 6PR to the TAB. By lodging an objection with the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Barry Macinnon, is using 6PR and the industry as a political football in a manner which has nothing to do with the industry. [Tuesday, 14 June 1988191 991 A radio station committed to comprehensive race broadcasts and general support of the racing industry is vital to the industry in Western Australia and this can only be guaranteed if' the sale of 6PR is allowed to proceed. If the Western Australian Trotting Association is forced to return the sale money and 6PR is sold to interests not sympathetic to the welfare of the racing industry, this would be a crippling blow to the racing industry and to those who depend on it. Both sides of the Parliament supported the Bill to permit the sale of 6PR to the TAB and we urge that Parliament condemn the stance of the Opposition and do everything possible to ensure the will of the Parliament is carried out. Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that you will give this matter your earnest consideration and your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray. The petition bears 141 signatures and I certify that it conforms to the Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly. The SPEAKER: I direct that the petition be brought to the Table of the House. [See petition No 29.J PETITION Hotels - Nedlands Park MR COURT (Nedlands - Deputy Leader of the Opposition) [2.24 pm]: I have a petition which reads as follows - To: The H-onourable, the Speaker, and members of the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Western Australia, in Parliament assembled. We, the undersigned, ask your intervention on our behalf on a decision of the Licensing Court of Western Australia to revoke the licence of the Nedlands Park Hotel for the following reasons: 1) To ease the stress of academic life, students require a place off-campus for relaxation and to develop interpersonal communication skills. Such a place has traditionally been the Nedlands; Park Hotel, affectionately known as "Steve's"*. 2) In the interests of road safety, it is vital that any recreational facility off campus for students be within walking distance of the university. The dangers associated with drinking and driving are well publicised and students are aware of them. 3) We further acknowledge that Steve's has been the students' traditional hotel since the University moved to Crawley in the 1930's and this is the place where future leaders of the country have met to solve "the problems of the world". Your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray that you will give this mat-ter consideration and your petitioners, duty bound will ever pray. The petition bears 1 002 signatures and I certify that it conforms to the Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly. The SPEAKER: I direct that the petition be brought to the Table of the House. [See petition No 30.J STANDING ORDERS SUSPENSION Bills - Introduction and Second Reading On motion by Mr Pearce (Leader of the House), resolved with an absolute majority - That so much of the Standing Orders be suspended as would prevent the following Bills being introduced without notice and taken to the stage that the motion for the second reading is moved on the same day, namely - Tailings Treatment (Kalgoorlie) Agreement Bill, and Silicon (Picton) Agreement Amendment B ill. 992 [ASSEMBLY] BILLS (2) - INTRODUCTION AND FIRST READING L. Tailings Treatment (Kalgoorlie) Agreement Bill. 2. Silicon (Picton) Agreement Amendment Bill. Bills introduced, on motions by Mr Parker (Minister for Economic Development and Trade), and read a first time. TREASURER'S ADVANCE AUTHORIZATION BILL Second Reading Debate resumed from 19 May. MR Mac KINNON (Murdoch - Leader of the Opposition) [2.32 pm]: Although the Opposition supports this legislation, I want to make several comments about a key part of it, namely, the matter referred to by the Leader of the House on behalf of the Treasurer in the second reading speech when he said - Clause 6 of the Bill seeks a $35 million increase in the monetary limit available in the financial year ending 30 June 1988. The need to supplement the limit is a result of a $35 million interest bearing advance to the Rural and Industries Bank of Western Australia to enable it to continue to meet the capital adequacy requirements established by the Reserve Bank, and other unavoidable commitments chargeable against the Consolidated Revenue Fund or General Loan arid Capital Works Fund. As I understand it, the $35 million was made available on 31 March of this year, That commitment highlights what we on this side of the House have been saying for a long time about the impact on the taxpayer of the Government's midsmanagement of the Teachers Credit Society issue. That has now been evidenced by that statement's being endorsed by this legislation. I want to talk about the Teachers Credit Society rescue from two aspects: First, the cost; secondly, the, inquiry into what has occurred. As I indicated earlier, the cost is very important. The Bill talks about $35 million, as does the answer to question 174 of Tuesday, 19 May which I put to the Treasurer about this matter. The Treasurer indicated that the capital injection of $35 million was to comply with the prudential requirements laid down by the Reserve Bank. The answer to question 174 also referred to an amount of $4.4 million paid by the Government to the Teachers Credit Society towards losses incurred. From those two Statements we Can conclude that, to date, two payments have been made: The $35 million to which I will refer again in a moment, and the $4.4 mnillion. A total of $39.4 million, or approximately $40 million has been paid to date. I put it to you, Mr Speaker, that that is but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the commitment that the taxpayers of the State will have to meet with respect to the Teachers Credit Society. It is scandalous that almost 12 months after the date when the Government became involved in the affair - it rescued the society in August last year - we still have not received from the Government an indication of what the cost to the taxpayer will be. I put it to you that it will be in excess of $10 million. I will quantify that for the House. The fonner Premier put out a Press statement on 15 January this year, which stated - The Premier said the R & I's five-month investigation of the Society's finances indicated an additional cost to the Government of about $4.4 million rising to an estimated $43.6 million as further losses, including operating losses to date, crystallise. That amount of $43.6 million is in addition to the $35 million capital injected. The total then becomes $78.6 million. However, that figure does not take into account any update on the commercial loan losses. We have asked questions about it, but to no avail. The Press statement to which I just referred spoke of further losses which would crystallise as time went on.