Legislative Council

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Legislative Council Legislative Council Tuesday, 26 June 2007 THE PRESIDENT (Hon Nick Griffiths) took the chair at 3.30 pm, and read prayers. CLERK ASSISTANT (COMMITTEES) - MR PAUL GRANT Statement by President THE PRESIDENT (Hon Nick Griffiths): Honourable members, a selection process commenced in May this year to fill the vacant position of Clerk Assistant (Committees). I am delighted to announce that Mr Paul Grant has been appointed Clerk Assistant (Committees) for the Legislative Council. Paul is well regarded for his high level of professionalism, and brings with him seven years of parliamentary experience as an advisory officer (legal) in the Legislative Council Committee Office. I wish Paul all the best in his new role. Members: Hear, hear! HON MARGARET ROWE Apology for Absence from Legislative Council - Statement by President THE PRESIDENT (Hon Nick Griffiths): Honourable members, I advise the house that on Thursday, 21 June 2007, I received the following letter from Hon Margaret Rowe, MLC - Mr President I have received from the Deputy Clerk an order to attend to answer a question of why I have been absent for more than six sitting days. I wish to formally apologise to the house for my lack of attendance. Resignation from Legislative Council - Statement by President THE PRESIDENT (Hon Nick Griffiths): Honourable members, I advise the house that on Friday, 22 June 2007, I received the following letter from Hon Margaret Rowe, MLC - Mr President Due to ill health I have decided to resign as a member of the Legislative Council as of today. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - VACANCY Motion HON KIM CHANCE (Agricultural - Leader of the House) [3.34 pm]: Mr President, in light of your statement, I move without notice - That a vacancy in the membership of the Legislative Council is declared by reason of the resignation on Friday, 22 June 2007, of Ms Margaret-Anne Rowe, member for the Agricultural Region. Question put and passed. REGIONAL RESOURCE RECOVERY CENTRE - WASTE COMPOSTING FACILITY, CANNING VALE Petition HON SIMON O’BRIEN (South Metropolitan) [3.35 pm]: I present a petition containing 54 signatures, couched in the following terms - To the President and Members of the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We the undersigned residents of Western Australia are opposed to the continued operation of the Regional Resource Recovery Centre’s Waste Composting Facility in Canning Vale. This facility creates a noxious odour, affecting the health and lifestyle of the residents in surrounding suburbs. Your petitioners therefore respectfully request the Legislative Council to support residents and others affected by this Waste Composting Facility and recommend to the Government that the South Metropolitan Regional Council relocate the facility away from any residential area. And your petitioners as in duty bound, will ever pray. [See paper 2835.] 3592 [COUNCIL - Tuesday, 26 June 2007] MENTAL HEALTH - COMMUNITY SUPPORTED RESIDENTIAL UNITS Petition HON HELEN MORTON (East Metropolitan) [3.36 pm]: I present the following petition - To the President and Members of the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We the undersigned residents of Western Australia call on the Legislative Council to oppose the establishment of clusters of 25 or more community supported residential units (CSRU) on hospital sites throughout WA for people with a mental illness, and, seek the support of the Legislative Council to ensure that CSRU are established for no more than eight people in one cluster in normal homes in normal streets, and adequately resourced to ensure that residents successfully integrate within communities throughout Western Australia. Further, we the undersigned residents of Western Australia, call on the Minister for Health to provide balanced, truthful, and objective information to the public; genuine and honest consultation with the public; and transparency and accountability as it pertains to this matter. And your petitioners as in duty bound, will ever pray. The petition bears 68 signatures and I certify that it conforms to the standing orders of the Legislative Council. [See paper 2836.] GENETICALLY MODIFIED FREE ZONE - WESTERN AUSTRALIA Petition HON GIZ WATSON (North Metropolitan) [3.37 pm]: I present a petition containing 3 513 signatures, couched in the following terms - To the President and Members of the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled. We the undersigned residents of Western Australia say that Genetically Modified (GM) foods (and products from GM crops) pose a great risk to human health and the environment and are opposed to commercial growing of GM crops and the introduction of GM foods in this State. Your petitioners therefore respectfully request the Legislative Council to maintain Western Australia’s status as a Genetically Modified Food (and products from GM Crops) free State in perpetuity. And your petitioners as in duty bound, will ever pray. [See paper 2837.] STANDING COMMITTEE ON PROCEDURE AND PRIVILEGES Thirteenth Report - “Absence of a Member: Hon Margaret Rowe MLC” THE PRESIDENT (Hon Nick Griffiths) tabled the thirteenth report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and Privileges, in relation to the absence of a member. [See paper 2828.] HON GEORGE CASH (North Metropolitan) [3.38 pm]: I move - That the thirteenth report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and Privileges, “Absence of a Member: Hon Margaret Rowe MLC”, as tabled by the President, be printed and that the recommendation be adopted and agreed to. Mr President, for the benefit of members I indicate, pursuant to the order of the house, that on 21 June 2007, Hon Margaret Rowe was served with an order to attend before the Standing Committee on Procedure and Privileges at 1.00 pm on Tuesday, 26 June 2007 at the office of the President. On 21 June 2007, the President received a facsimile letter from the member dated 21 June 2007, apologising for her absence. On 22 June 2007, the President received a facsimile letter from the member, dated 22 June 2007, advising of her resignation as a member of the Legislative Council. The committee, pursuant to the order that the member was required to appear before the committee at 1.00 pm on Tuesday 26 June 2007, considered the issue, and in light of the member’s apology and resignation due to ill health, the member did not appear before the committee. The committee indicates in its report that although the member is noncompliant with the order, it considers, in view of all the circumstances, that no further action should be taken in relation to the contempt of the member pursuant to standing order 57. The committee recommends that no further action be taken in relation to the contempt of Hon Margaret Rowe MLC, pursuant to standing order 57. Question put and passed. [COUNCIL - Tuesday, 26 June 2007] 3593 PAPERS TABLED Papers were tabled and ordered to lie upon the table of the house. STANDING COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION Criminal Law and Evidence Amendment Bill 2006 - Extension of Reporting Time Hon Graham Giffard presented a special report of the Standing Committee on Legislation, in relation to the Criminal Law and Evidence Amendment Bill 2006, seeking an extension of time in which to report from Tuesday, 7 August 2007 to Thursday, 16 August 2007, and on his motion it was resolved - That the report do lie upon the table and be adopted and agreed to. [See paper 2839.] Eighth Report -“Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition (Western Australia) Bill 2005” Hon Graham Giffard presented the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Legislation, in relation to the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition (Western Australia) Bill 2005, and on his motion it was resolved - That the report do lie upon the table and be printed. [See paper 2838.] JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON THE CORRUPTION AND CRIME COMMISSION Twenty-seventh Report - “Hearing with the Parliamentary Inspector of the Corruption and Crime Commission on 9 May 2007” Hon Ray Halligan presented the twenty-seventh report of the Joint Standing Committee on the Corruption and Crime Commission, in relation to the hearing with the Parliamentary Inspector of the Corruption and Crime Commission on 9 May 2007, and on his motion it was resolved - That the report do lie upon the table and be printed. [See paper 2840.] SELECT COMMITTEE INTO PUBLIC OBSTETRIC SERVICES Extension of Reporting Time HON HELEN MORTON (East Metropolitan) [3.42 pm]: I am directed to report that the Select Committee into Public Obstetric Services has resolved that the time in which it has to report be extended from Thursday, 28 June 2007 to Thursday, 30 August 2007. The inquiry’s terms of reference require the committee to inquire into the adequacy of government decision making in relation to maternity services in Western Australia. The health department’s “Future Direction in Maternity Care” consultation and policy development process has been made public in stages that have essentially run parallel to this inquiry. Consequently, in order to give the current process due consideration, an extension of time to report is requested. I move - That the report do lie upon the table and be adopted and agreed to. Question put and passed. [See paper 2841.] FINANCE BROKERS CONTROL (GENERAL) AMENDMENT REGULATIONS (NO. 3) 2007 - DISALLOWANCE Notice of Motion Hon Ray Halligan gave notice that at the next sitting of the house he would move - That the Finance Brokers Control (General) Amendment Regulations (No. 3) 2007, published in the Government Gazette on 20 April 2007 and tabled in the Legislative Council on 3 May 2007 under the Finance Brokers Control Act 1975, be and are hereby disallowed. VEHICLE LICENSING OPERATIONS Urgency Motion THE PRESIDENT (Hon Nick Griffiths): Members, I have received a letter in these terms - Dear Mr President I hereby give notice that pursuant to Standing Order 72 I intend to move today: 3594 [COUNCIL - Tuesday, 26 June 2007] “That this house consider as a matter of urgency the Carpenter Government’s chaotic approach to vehicle licensing operations reflected in the mixed messages being sent to the motor trade industry and the public over the outsourcing of inspection services.
Recommended publications
  • Industrial Gazette PUBLISHED by AUTHORITY
    1869 Western Australian Industrial Gazette PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY Sub-Part 7 WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER, 2012 Vol. 92—Part 2 THE mode of citation of this volume of the Western Australian Industrial Gazette will be as follows:— 92 W.A.I.G. CUMULATIVE CONTENTS AND DIGEST APPEAR AT THE END OF THIS PUBLICATION FULL BENCH—Appeals against decision of Commission— 2012 WAIRC 00988 WESTERN AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION PARTIES TREVOR DAVID HOFFMAN APPELLANT -and- PERTH MOBILE GP SERVICES LTD ACN 129 336 803 RESPONDENT CORAM FULL BENCH THE HONOURABLE J H SMITH, ACTING PRESIDENT CHIEF COMMISSIONER A R BEECH COMMISSIONER S J KENNER DATE WEDNESDAY, 7 NOVEMBER 2012 FILE NO/S FBA 6 OF 2012 CITATION NO. 2012 WAIRC 00988 Result Discontinued by leave Order WHEREAS on 27 September 2012, the appellant filed a notice of appeal to the Full Bench; and WHEREAS on 31 October 2012, the appellant by email advised that he wished to discontinue the appeal; and WHEREAS on 2 November 2012, the respondent’s agent informed the Full Bench by email that the respondent consented to the appeal being discontinued; NOW THEREFORE, the Full Bench pursuant to the powers conferred on it under the Industrial Relations Act 1979 and the Industrial Relations Commission Regulations 2005 reg 103A, hereby orders — THAT the appeal be and is hereby discontinued by leave. By the Full Bench (Sgd.) J H SMITH, [L.S.] Acting President. 1870 WESTERN AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL GAZETTE 92 W.A.I.G. 2012 WAIRC 00966 APPEAL AGAINST A DECISION OF THE COMMISION GIVEN ON 30 MARCH 2012 IN MATTER NO B 195 OF 2010 WESTERN AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMISSION FULL BENCH CITATION : 2012 WAIRC 00966 CORAM : THE HONOURABLE J H SMITH, ACTING PRESIDENT ACTING SENIOR COMMISSIONER P E SCOTT COMMISSIONER S M MAYMAN HEARD : WEDNESDAY, 29 AUGUST 2012 DELIVERED : THURSDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2012 FILE NO.
    [Show full text]
  • Inaug Archer
    PARLIAMENT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA INAUGURAL SPEECH Hon Shelley Archer MLC (Member for Mining and Pastoral) Address-in-Reply Debate Legislative Council Wednesday, 25 May 2005 Reprinted from Hansard Legislative Council Wednesday, 25 May 2005 ____________ Inaugural Speech Hon Shelley Archer MLC (Member for Mining and Pastoral) ADDRESS-IN-REPLY Motion HON SHELLEY ARCHER (Mining and Pastoral) [4.21 pm]: I am very proud to stand in this chamber today as a new member for the Mining and Pastoral Region, and I look forward to working with my colleagues in this vast electorate. I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and recognise the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which we meet today and of the land encompassing the electorate of the Mining and Pastoral Region. I had the opportunity to meet with some of the local indigenous elders and community workers during the recent election campaign. I found that, against all odds, they continue to campaign and work for their people. They show perseverance in the face of much hardship. I commit today to helping them in my new role. I want to talk briefly about the Mining and Pastoral Region. This region is an area of vivid contrast. It has a natural beauty, with magnificent scenery - gorges, billabongs and tidal surges that are second to none. It has a magnificent coastline. People can enjoy a sea expedition into the stunningly beautiful Buccaneer Archipelago, camp under the stars on remote beaches, fish, collect oysters, bushwalk, bird watch or just dream. The region contains some of our state’s richest history, colourful characters, pristine and fragile environments and greatest wealth, but at the same time it has terrible poverty and appalling living conditions.
    [Show full text]
  • Political Chronicles Commonwealth of Australia
    Australian Journal of Politics and History: Volume 53, Number 4, 2007, pp. 614-667. Political Chronicles Commonwealth of Australia January to June 2007 JOHN WANNA The Australian National University and Griffith University Shadow Dancing Towards the 2007 Election The election year began with Prime Minister John Howard facing the new Opposition leader, Kevin Rudd. Two developments were immediately apparent: as a younger fresher face Rudd played up his novelty value and quickly won public support; whereas Howard did not know how to handle his new “conservative” adversary. Rudd adopted the tactic of constantly calling himself the “alternative prime minister” while making national announcements and issuing invitations for summits as if he were running the government. He promised to reform federal-state relations, to work collaboratively with the states on matters such as health care, to invest in an “education revolution”, provide universal access to early childhood education, and to fast-track high-speed broadbanding at a cost of $4.7 billion. Rudd also began to stalk and shadow the prime minister around the country — a PM “Doppelgänger” — appearing in the same cities or at the same venues often on the same day (even going to the Sydney cricket test match together). Should his office receive word of the prime minister’s intended movements or scheduled policy announcements, Rudd would often appear at the location first or make upstaging announcements to take the wind from the PM’s sails. Politics was a tactical game like chess and Rudd wanted to be seen taking the initiative. He claimed he thought “it will be fun to play with his [John Howard’s] mind for a while” (Weekend Australian Magazine, 10-11 February 2007).
    [Show full text]
  • V-3-APR NOV 08 KERR PHILIPS WA Parliamentary Chronicle 10 …
    Western Australia Parliamentary Chronicle July 2007 to August 2008 Liz Kerr and Harry Phillips * The last fourteen months of the 37 th Parliament in Western Australia was marked by a level of controversy and the announcement of an early election to be held on 6 September 2008. Highlights included the findings of a number of parliamentary committees, the reports of the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) with some of its recommendations being questioned by the Parliamentary Inspector of the CCC. Once again the lobbying activities of former Labor Premier Brian Burke and Minister Julian Grill, together with former Liberal Party Senator Noel Crichton- Browne featured in the controversy, and in the 12 months to August 2008 there were three changes of leadership in the Opposition Liberal Party, as the party suffered from internal divisions and indiscretions. Meanwhile the State’s booming economy, which provided excellent indices in terms of growth, employment and investment, led observers to believe that the incumbent Labor Government would be returned to office. The major ‘one vote one value’ redistribution in 2007 contributed to this view as it gave more seats to metropolitan Perth in the Legislative Assembly which appeared to make it difficult for the Liberal and Nationals, historically the stronger parties in the country regions. The redistribution, however, gave rise to further tensions within the parties over pre-selections, leading to a spate of resignations and an increase in independent members, whose numbers had swelled from two to seven since the February 2005 election. A serious gas explosion on the North West shelf in early June 2008, high international oil prices and a bear stock market combined to further change the economic and political climate.
    [Show full text]
  • Political Chronicles
    Australian Journal of Politics and History: Volume 54, Number 2, 2008, pp. 289-341. Political Chronicles Commonwealth of Australia July to December 2007 JOHN WANNA The Australian National University and Griffith University The Stage, the Players and their Exits and Entrances […] All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; [William Shakespeare, As You Like It] In the months leading up to the 2007 general election, Prime Minister John Howard waited like Mr Micawber “in case anything turned up” that would restore the fortunes of the Coalition. The government’s attacks on the Opposition, and its new leader Kevin Rudd, had fallen flat, and a series of staged events designed to boost the government’s stocks had not translated into electoral support. So, as time went on and things did not improve, the Coalition government showed increasing signs of panic, desperation and abandonment. In July, John Howard had asked his party room “is it me” as he reflected on the low standing of the government (Australian, 17 July 2007). Labor held a commanding lead in opinion polls throughout most of 2007 — recording a primary support of between 47 and 51 per cent to the Coalition’s 39 to 42 per cent. The most remarkable feature of the polls was their consistency — regularly showing Labor holding a 15 percentage point lead on a two-party-preferred basis. Labor also seemed impervious to attack, and the government found it difficult to get traction on “its” core issues to narrow the gap.
    [Show full text]
  • Investigation of Alleged Public Sector Misconduct in Connection with the Activities of Lobbyists and Other Persons
    CORRUPTION AND CRIME COMMISSION REPORT ON THE INVESTIGATION OF ALLEGED PUBLIC SECTOR MISCONDUCT IN CONNECTION WITH THE ACTIVITIES OF LOBBYISTS AND OTHER PERSONS THE HON ANTHONY DAVID MCRAE MLA AND MR REWI EDWARD LYALL 21 November 2008 ISBN: 978 0 9805050 1 6 © 2008 Copyright in this work is held by the Corruption and Crime Commission. Division 3 of the Copyright Act 1968 (Commonwealth) recognises that limited further use of this material can occur for the purposes of “fair dealing”, for example, study, research or criticism. Should you wish to make use of this material other than as permitted by the Copyright Act 1968, please write to the Corruption and Crime Commission at the postal address below. This report and further information about the Corruption and Crime Commission can be found on the Commission Website at www.ccc.wa.gov.au. Corruption and Crime Commission Postal Address PO Box 7667 Cloisters Square PERTH WA 6850 Telephone (08) 9215 4888 1800 809 000 (Toll Free for callers outside the Perth metropolitan area.) Facsimile (08) 9215 4884 Email [email protected] Office Hours 8.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m., Monday to Friday CORRUPTION AND CRIME COMMISSION Hon Nicholas Griffiths MLC Hon Grant Woodhams MLA President of the Legislative Council Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Parliament House Parliament House Harvest Terrace Harvest Terrace PERTH WA 6000 PERTH WA 6000 Dear Mr President Dear Mr Speaker In accordance with sections 84 and 93(1) of the Corruption and Crime Commission Act 2003, the Commission presents the Corruption and Crime Commission Report on the Investigation of Alleged Public Sector Misconduct in Connection with the Activities of Lobbyists and Other Persons: The Hon Anthony David McRae MLA and Mr Rewi Edward Lyall.
    [Show full text]
  • 18-Phillips WA Election
    The 2008 Western Australian State Election: The Snap Poll Blunder * Harry Phillips ** Following the 6 September 2008 election in Western Australian, and a week of tense negotiations, the presence of ‘wall to wall’ Labor Governments across Australia was broken. In a significant moment in the evolution of the Western Australian Parliament an ‘alliance’ headed by Colin Barnett, the Liberal Party leader, formed government for the 38 th Parliament. Remarkably, Barnett had been reinstated to the party leadership a few days before the campaign ‘caretaker phase’. 1 The Liberal Party leadership had successively been in the hands of Matt Birney (to March 2006), Paul Omodie (to January 2008) and Troy Buswell, 2 each of whom had returned very poor poll readings. With the Liberal’s experiencing long term serious leadership problems, both the polls and pundits had been predicting a Labor return to office with Alan Carpenter to remain as Premier. However, Carpenter’s decision to call a snap election, the first since the passage of the ‘one vote one value’ legislation for the Legislative Assembly, nearly six months ahead of schedule broke a century of tradition in the State whereby governments served a full term. There were vital pieces of legislation lying on the table 3 and the scheduled regional sitting of the Legislative Assembly in the marginal seat of Bunbury in early * Thanks are due to Antony Green for the electoral aggregates, preference and swing calculations included in this article and to Judy Ballantyne, State Parliamentary Library Director in Western Australia for permission to use data included in the electoral analysis prepared by Antony Green for the Parliamentary Library 2009.
    [Show full text]
  • Shelley Frances Archer
    MAKING A DIFFERENCE—A FRONTIER OF FIRSTS WOMEN IN THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENT 1921–2012 David Black and Harry Phillips Parliamentary History Project Parliament of Western Australia 2012 Making a Difference—A Frontier of Firsts ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SHELLEY FRANCES ARCHER MLC Mining and Pastoral Region 22 May 2005–21 May 2009 (ALP; Independent from 2007). Member Standing Committee on Public Administration and Finance 2005; Joint Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation 2005–2007; Standing Committee on Estimates and Financial Operations 2005–2007. At the February 2005 state election Shelley Archer was one of the three Australian Labor Party members elected to the five-member Mining and Pastoral Region for the Legislative Council. She had been an ALP member since 1974, fulfilling a number of presidential and secretarial roles for several branches. Moreover, she had been a member of the ALP State Executive and a delegate to both state and national conferences. In her Inaugural Speech on 25 May 2005, just three days after being sworn as an MLC, she spoke with gratitude of the influence of her father Ted Archer, whom she described as: one of this state’s most distinguished unionists… [who] embodied the values of respect for others, tolerance, equity and fairness, social justice, help for others less fortunate in the world and the right of working people to freely organise into trade unions and to bargain for better living standards and social conditions’.1 Describing herself as a member of a large Catholic family she spoke of ‘mum and dad plus 16 kids and the odd foster child along the way, we could almost have made an Aussie Rules football team’.2 Her own birth date, in Perth, as the ninth child, was 15 October 1958.
    [Show full text]
  • 234 [ASSEMBLY - Thursday, 1 March 2007] Been Purchased
    234 [ASSEMBLY - Thursday, 1 March 2007] been purchased. It is important that we continue to have public housing in inner-city areas where people can access the services that are more likely to be situated in the inner city and where they have good access to transport, local hospitals and medical services and, of course, where they have an excellent member of Parliament. GEORGE ETRELEZIS - SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION 39. Ms K. HODSON-THOMAS to the Minister for Small Business: One of the state’s longest serving chief executive officers, George Etrelezis, was mysteriously sacked as head of the Small Business Development Corporation by disgraced former Minister for Small Business, Hon Norm Marlborough. Ms J.A. Radisich: Declare your personal interest. Ms K. HODSON-THOMAS: I have mentioned it twice in this place this week. (1) Will the minister conduct an immediate and public investigation into what deals took place; and, if not, why not? (2) Will the minister also investigate the links between Brian Burke and SBDC board member Eddy Lee, who retained the services of Brian Burke? Ms M.M. QUIRK replied: I thank the member for Carine for the question. (1) I made inquiries about the former managing director of the Small Business Development Corporation when I assumed the portfolio and was advised that the performance of Mr Etrelezis was unsatisfactory. Mr T. Buswell: Who gave you that advice? Ms M.M. QUIRK: Mr Wauchope, the Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, had had long discussions with Mr Etrelezis. I satisfied myself from that information and from other inquiries that the performance of Mr Etrelezis had not advanced the cause of SBDC.
    [Show full text]
  • Thursday 21 September 2006
    COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Official Committee Hansard JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON ELECTORAL MATTERS Reference: Civics and electoral education THURSDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2006 PERTH BY AUTHORITY OF THE PARLIAMENT INTERNET The Proof and Official Hansard transcripts of Senate committee hear- ings, some House of Representatives committee hearings and some joint committee hearings are available on the Internet. Some House of Representatives committees and some joint committees make avail- able only Official Hansard transcripts. The Internet address is: http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard To search the parliamentary database, go to: http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON ELECTORAL MATTERS Thursday, 21 September 2006 Members: Mr Lindsay (Chair), Mr Danby (Deputy Chair), Senators Brandis, Carr, Hogg, Mason and Murray and Mr Ciobo, Mr Griffin and Mrs Mirabella Members in attendance: Senators Brandis, Hogg and Murray and Mr Ciobo and Mr Lindsay Terms of reference for the inquiry: To inquire into and report on: The adequacy of electoral education focusing on but not limited to: the current status of young people’s knowledge of, and responsibilities under, the Australian electoral system; the nature of civics education and its links with electoral education; the content and adequacy of electoral education in government and non-government school programs of study, as well as in TAFE colleges and universities; the school age at which electoral education should begin; the potential to increase electoral knowledge through outside school programs;
    [Show full text]
  • 19A-Wa Election Article Good Edited Final
    The Western Australian Election of September 6, 2008: The First Chink in Labor’s Armour William Bowe * Introduction From a national perspective, the Western Australian state election of September 6, 2008 was remarkable as a break in continuity. The election of a minority Liberal government under the leadership of Colin Barnett was the first victory for the conservative side of politics in any Australian state or territory election since February 1998. However, from a local perspective, the defeat of a government approaching eight years in office seems like business as usual. Since John Tonkin’s tenuous one-term Labor government was defeated in 1974, changes of government have occurred with impressive regularity — in 1983, 1993, 2001 and now 2008. The record of the four governments over this period suggests the introduction of four-year terms in 1989 reduced the natural life-span of a Western Australian government from three terms of three years to two terms of four. In this case, the government’s period in office was truncated to seven-and-half years by Premier Alan Carpenter’s highly contentious decision to call the election six months early. Western Australia’s distinctiveness was further demonstrated by the central role assumed during and after the election campaign by a staunchly independent National Party. Not for the first time the party had found itself pondering its future at the national level in the wake of a federal election defeat. Advocates of a merger with the Liberals had achieved a breakthrough in July 2008 with the foundation of the Liberal National Party in Queensland.
    [Show full text]
  • Peak Oil Gas & Nuclear Power
    SMITHSON PLANNING 364 Middleton Road Albany WA 6330 www.smithsonplanning.com.au PO Box 5377 Albany WA 6332 [email protected] ΣΠ Tel : (08) 9842 9841 Fax : (08) 9842 9843 Mob : 0428 556 444 Peak Oil, Gas and Nuclear Power The Rainbow 2000© Project is a doctoral research & corporate investment program analysing the relationship between planning and politics in Economic Development in Australia, and more particularly a case study of Albany & the Great Southern Region of Western Australia – thesis : Is planning the antithesis of politics? As good as the Australian Planner (2006 Vol.43 #4) : Energy Planning special edition was : www.planning.org.au Don’t wait for oil drought – hope for best and prepare for worst : “Peak Oil is when the rate of global oil production changes from its increasing trend to the unavoidable downtrend as the world’s oil fields start their overall decline phase. We will not run out of oil, but there will be less available each year in future. Many of the world’s major oil regions are already in decline. The North Sea, Alaska, Kuwait’s Burgan and Mexico’s Cantarell supergiant fields are in clear decline. Australia’s Bass Strait reached peak production in 1985, and has been declining since.” “Australia’s oil production has been declining since 2000, and it is forecast to continue to decline quite quickly. New oil fields coming on-stream around the world are offsetting the declining old fields; but as the decline rates accelerate and new fields become smaller and scarcer, there will soon come the tipping point when overall global oil production will start to decline.
    [Show full text]