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Hon. Dr. Kim Hames KIM HAMES INTERVIEW PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND STATE LIBRARY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA Transcript of an interview with Hon. Dr. Kim Hames STATE LIBRARY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA - ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION DATE OF INTERVIEW: 2017 INTERVIEWER: Jennie Carter TRANSCRIBER: HANSARDS –PARLIAMENT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DURATION: 10 hours REFERENCE NUMBER: OH4378 COPYRIGHT: Parliament of Western Australia and the State Library of Western Australia. KIM HAMES INTERVIEW NOTE TO READER Readers of this oral history memoir should bear in mind that it is a verbatim transcript of the spoken word and reflects the informal, conversational style that is inherent in such historical sources. The Parliament and the State Library are not responsible for the factual accuracy of the memoir, nor for the views expressed therein; these are for the reader to judge. Bold type face indicates a difference between transcript and recording, as a result of corrections made to the transcript only, usually at the request of the person interviewed. FULL CAPITALS in the text indicate a word or words emphasised by the person interviewed. Square brackets [ ] are used for insertions not in the original tape. KIM HAMES INTERVIEW CONTENTS Introduction Interview -1 1 - 23 Early life; parents; lived in Derby; father – stockman (Napier and Kimberley Downs stations); born KEMH; memories of Derby; siblings; grandparents-Liberals; father employed on Kimberley Downs station; father studied medicine; effect of sisters death; school memories – Guildford Grammer; parents separating; mother supporting household; relationship with father; University -studied medicine. Interview - 2 24 - 55 University - vacation employment (mining - Kalgoorlie, Koolan Island, Cockatoo Island); graduating; marriage; residency -Royal Perth Hospital; Fremantle Hospital; GP training; Bunbury medical practice; father’s medical practice; own medical practice; children; running for local council; Councillor - Baywater Council - John D’Orazio, Adele Farina; Council programs and developments - Galleria shopping centre, library, recreational centre, garden programs, recycling bins; joining local Dianella Liberal Party Branch; Father Brian projects. Interview - 3 56 - 74 Decision to run for State politics; Noranda Branch Liberal Party; preselection- Midland; Dianella Seat; Perth Seat; disunity between Hendy Cowan and Bill Hassell; Young Liberals; Keith Wilson; winning Dianella 1993; relationship with Court and colleagues; Noel Crichton- Browne faction; Fred Chaney faction; Richard Court; 1993 Election; Graham Keirath and Workers Compensation Legislation; 1997 – Minister; new seat – Yokine; Balga re-development; Homeswest Housing; Aboriginal Affairs- Cedric Wyatt Interview – 4 75 - 106 Ministerial period 1997 -2001; Committee work - Science & Technology Committee, Recycling & Waste Management Committee; factional politics; desalination plant; Aboriginal Affairs management and reforms – RAESP; Dimond Gorge; Housing programs and changes to Homeswest; loosing government -Doug Shave/ Bloffwitch & Kingstream, Save the Forest campaign, One Nation Vote; Geoff Gallop; Bob Kucera; Aboriginal Heritage work; loosing 2001 Election; Dawesville Electorate; Deputy Opposition leader; Matt Birney; Paul Omodei; Troy Buswell. Interview - 5 107- 134 Period out of Office; association with Mandurah; Shadow Minister for Health; 2005-2008 period; Matt Birney – Leader of the Opposition; state of health system; Jim McGinty; ambulance ramping and bed blockage; Roger Cook; period in Opposition – change of leaders; Troy Buswell; elected Deputy Leader; Neal Fong; Geoff Gallop Premiership; KIM HAMES INTERVIEW Alan Carpenter government; John D’Orazio sacking; Diedre Willmott; Colin Barnett elected leader; 2008 Election ; Brendon Grylls - National Party declare independence from Liberals; Royalties for Regions; Minister for Health new policies – 4 hour rule; Aboriginal issues. Interview – 6 135 - 156 Troy Buswell; Abortion Debate; Colin Barnett government; Minister for Health and Tourism; building of new hospitals; Royal Perth Hospital; Reid Review; new hospitals; hospital boards; 2012 –health workers wages and conditions agreement; relationship with AMA; part privatisation of hospitals – Fiona Stanley, Peel, Royal Perth, Joondalup Hospitals; 2008-12 achievements. Interview -7 157 - 187 Royalties for Regions program; relationship with Nationals; revitalising country health; Royalties for Regions program spending; success of program; Brendon Grylls – policy to increase mining royalties; Apology to Mothers; 2012 Election – impact of Rudd/Gillard government; loss of Tourism portfolio; Minister for Training and Workforce – TAFE funding cuts; budget – debt and deficit problems; GST; health budget and wages; difficulties with hospital building program; appointment of SERCO; Healthway Program; Tourism WA – Gourmet Escape, negotiating with Chinese; Rottnest Island developments; Interview – 8 188 -204 2012-17 Parliamentary career – role of leader; return of Yagan’s head – Ken Colbung; relationship with colleagues – Rob Johnson; Chair of Public Accounts Committee; retirement - farm Donnybrook, medical practice. II KIM HAMES INTERVIEW INTRODUCTION Dr Kim Desmond Hames, MLA, was elected to the Legislative Assembly to represent the State electorate of Dianellai in 1993 for the Liberal Party, Western Australia. When Dianella was abolished in the 1994 redistribution, Kim successfully contested the newly formed electorate of Yokine in 1996, but lost it in 2001. In 2005, he was elected as the member for Dawesville,ii a position he held until his resignation from Parliament in 2017. He served as a minister under both Richard Court and Colin Barnett, and was Deputy Premier from 2008 to 2016. Kim was born at Subiaco on 24 March 1953 and is the son of Reginald and Eunice (nee Jackson) Hames. He spent his early years in Derby where his father was working. When Kim was five years old, the family moved to Perth so that Kim’s father could study medicine. Reginald qualified as a doctor in 1964. The family first lived with Kim’s maternal grandparents in Bassendean and then moved to Dianella. Kim was educated at Bassendean, Victoria Park, Mandurah, and Dianella primary schools and completed his secondary education at Guildford Grammar School, where he matriculated in 1970. He graduated from the University of Western Australia’s School of Medicine in 1976 and became a General Practitioner. The following year Kim married Stephanie and in 1981 took over his father’s practice in Inglewood. The first of Kim’s and Stephanie’s six children – three sons and three daughters – was born in 1981. The family settled in Dianella where Kim became involved in community issues and was elected as a local government councillor for the City of Bayswater, serving from 1985 to 1993. On 6 February 1993 Kim defeated Labor's Keith Wilson to win the seat of Dianella. In 1997 Kim was made Minister for Housing, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and Minister for Water Resources in the Richard Court Liberal Government. In 2001 the Labor Party under Geoff Gallop formed government and Kim was defeated as the member for Dianella by Bob Kucera. Kim retained a life-long interest in Aboriginal issues and established the Hames Consultancy Group which undertook Aboriginal heritage surveys between 2001 and 2005. On the retirement of Liberal member, Arthur Marshall, Kim won preselection for the electorate of Dawesville and successfully contested the seat in 2005. Following a snap election held on 6 September 2008, the Liberal Party formed government KIM HAMES INTERVIEW under Colin Barnett and Kim was made Deputy Premier, Minister for Health, and Minister for Indigenous Affairs. In 2010 Kim relinquished Indigenous Affairs to take up the Tourism portfolio. Kim resigned as Minister for Tourism in 2013 and took on Training and Workforce Development. He reclaimed the tourism portfolio in a December 2014 reshuffle, but a year later announced his intention to resign as deputy leader of the Liberal Party (and thus also as deputy premier) with effect from February 2016. He retired from parliament on 30 January 2017. Kim talks about his early life, medical practice, marriage and family life with his wife Stephanie, his work in the community, as a local government councillor, and as a candidate for State Government. He discusses his role as a minister in the Liberal governments of Richard Court and Colin Barnett. Kim was the longest serving health minister in the state’s history, the longest serving Liberal Deputy Premier, and the fourth longest serving Deputy Premier. Some of Kim’s notable achievements and initiatives while in office were the establishment of WA’s first desalination plant in WA and the Aboriginal Swimming Pool scheme. While Health Minister he oversaw the planning and construction of Albany, Busselton, Fiona Stanley, Midland, Karratha, Newman, Onslow, and Warren hospitals as well as the new Children’s Hospital. He also delivered an apology to mothers whose children were adopted under coercive practices common in the years up to the 1970s. In Tourism, he championed the Rottnest Island upgrade. Dr Kim Hames was interviewed by Jennie Carter over the period 5 July 2017 to 23 November 2017 for the Oral History Program of the Parliament of Western Australia and the State Library of Western Australia -J S Battye Library of West Australian History. Total 10 hours of recorded interview. In consultation with Dr Hames, this transcript has been edited for consistency, accuracy, and readability _______________________
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