Legislative Assembly Tuesday, 13 October 2009 THE SPEAKER (Mr G.A. Woodhams) took the chair at 2.00 pm, and read prayers. MEMBER FOR WILLAGEE Resignation — Statement by Speaker THE SPEAKER (Mr G.A. Woodhams): Members, I advise that I have received advice from His Excellency the Governor that he had received a letter from Hon Alan John Carpenter, MLA, on Friday, 2 October 2009 at 4.00 pm submitting his resignation from his position as the member for the electoral district of Willagee in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly in the following terms — Your Excellency, I hereby resign from the Parliament of Western Australia as Member of the Legislative Assembly seat of Willagee in accordance with Section 25 of the Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1899. Yours faithfully Alan Carpenter Member for Willagee 2 October 2009 ELECTORAL DISTRICT OF WILLAGEE Declared Vacant — Motion MR C.J. BARNETT (Cottesloe — Premier) [2.02 pm] — without notice: I move — That the seat for the electoral district of Willagee be and is hereby declared vacant by reason of the resignation of Alan John Carpenter. MR E.S. RIPPER (Belmont — Leader of the Opposition) [2.03 pm]: Mr Speaker, I have said things in the media about the record of the former member for Willagee, Alan Carpenter, and I have said things to the state Parliamentary Labor Party, but I would just like to place on the record our appreciation for his contribution to the Labor Party, to public life and to the people of Western Australia. As education minister he was responsible virtually single-handedly for raising the school leaving age, he was responsible for a huge boost to computer numbers in schools and a better way of providing computer services in schools, and he was responsible for thousands of extra teachers and education assistants in classrooms. As Minister for State Development, he negotiated an end to concessional iron ore royalties for new projects under state agreement acts. Regrettably the current government has not concluded the final stages of that agreement making, and so perhaps that major benefit to the finances of the state will not be delivered as he intended it to be. However, more importantly, he presided over the Pluto project—an $11 billion project. Don Voelte, the head of Woodside, described our approvals process for that Pluto project as world class. Point of Order Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Mr Speaker, the question before the house is simply to declare the seat vacant. The member who has left us had an opportunity to make a valedictory speech if he wished to. I do not think it is the responsibility of this Parliament to allow the Leader of the Opposition to give a valedictory speech in his absence. Mr M. McGOWAN: Mr Speaker — The SPEAKER: Before you respond to the point of order, I shall respond to the Leader of the House. I am going to give the Leader of the Opposition the opportunity to speak; I am sure he is not making a valedictory speech and that he will conclude his remarks very shortly. I give the call to the Leader of the Opposition. Debate Resumed Mr E.S. RIPPER: I thank Mr Speaker for that indulgence. I do hope that the house has the grace to accept a few positive remarks. I did not intend to make a long or, indeed, excessively partisan speech, but I do want to place on record my appreciation and that of the Labor Party for the work of Alan Carpenter, former MLA. As Premier, he presided over record growth in the state’s economy, record employment figures, a record low unemployment rate, and record investment in the state’s future. He was responsible for a huge infrastructure program—Building Western Australia—which was a visionary program for the future of the state. Additionally, he tackled the issue [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 13 October 2009] 7819 of child protection services by pouring 500 additional staff and hundreds of millions of dollars into child protection services. He also had to make some necessary, but very tough, decisions to uphold standards in our public life. Those decisions that he made, which were very tough decisions both inside the Labor Party and publicly, will stand our public life in very good stead for the future. Finally, when I was the minister responsible for native title, Alan Carpenter was always a very strong supporter of Indigenous rights and a very strong backer of mine in that important role that I had in the previous government. I place on record our appreciation and our thanks to Alan Carpenter for his contribution to the state, and our best wishes for his life post politics. Question put and passed. By-election — Statement by Speaker THE SPEAKER (Mr G.A. Woodhams): Members, following the passing of the motion moved by the Premier, I advise that it is my intention to issue a writ directing the Electoral Commissioner to conduct a by-election for the Willagee electoral district on 28 November 2009. ASSEMBLY CHAMBER Seating Arrangements — Statement by Speaker THE SPEAKER (Mr G.A. Woodhams): Members, consequent to the resignation of the member for Willagee, I have approved a revised opposition seating plan. Members will note that the member for Maylands is now occupying the seat formerly occupied by the member for Willagee. BELLS IN PARLIAMENT HOUSE New Council Tone — Statement by Speaker THE SPEAKER (Mr G.A. Woodhams): Members, I provide further information about the bells in Parliament. I have received advice from the President of the Legislative Council that the tone for the Legislative Council bells has changed to a two-tone sound; apparently, some members of the other place had experienced difficulties with the previous bell sound. The single-tone bell sound for the Legislative Assembly remains the same. BUNBURY REGIONAL PARLIAMENT Proclamation — Statement by Speaker THE SPEAKER (Mr G.A. Woodhams): Finally, I advise members that on 6 October 2009 His Excellency the Governor issued a proclamation fixing the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre as the venue for the sitting of the Legislative Assembly next week, 20 and 21 October 2009. GNANGARA MOUND — ABSTRACTION REDUCTION Statement by Minister for Water DR G.G. JACOBS (Eyre — Minister for Water) [2.09 pm]: I rise to inform the house that the Water Corporation will substantially reduce its abstraction from the Gnangara Mound this year, which is welcome news as it will go a long way towards reducing the stress on the most significant water resource in Perth. In previous years the abstraction has been as high as 168 gigalitres; this year it will be in the vicinity of 115 gigalitres, which is 22 gigalitres less than 2009-10, when it was 137 gigalitres. To put this in perspective, imagine the Subiaco Oval filled with water to the top of the goalposts and times that by 22; that is the saving that we are witnessing this year. It should be noted that the 115-gigalitre draw is very close to the recommended volume, which is set to ensure that the Gnangara system is a sustainable and long-term option as a major contributor to Perth’s high-quality scheme water. The Gnangara system has historically provided 60 per cent of our water needs. This has dropped to 50 per cent in recent years due to the first desalination plant coming online in 2007. The abstraction from the mound is expected to drop further when the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant comes online in the summer of 2011-12. However, we cannot rely on desalination alone. The desalination of our sea water provides us with a, if we like, water baseload, which assists in the provision of fresh drinking water to the community, but it should not be seen as the answer in isolation. I believe that we in Western Australia are all conscious of this fact. I would therefore again like to take this opportunity to congratulate the community for its support in turning off its sprinklers during the winter months and then keeping them off during the cool spring that we are experiencing. These water savings have definitely contributed to reducing the stress on the mound. That said, however, it is not now the time to relax our attitude to water use as the position could easily change. If the 2010 winter was very dry or if consumption levels unexpectedly increased, we would find ourselves in a very different situation. 7820 [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 13 October 2009] I urge the community and my parliamentary colleagues to continue their vigilance in saving our most precious resource and to utilise commonsense when it comes to keeping water consumption to a minimum, even though the sprinkler bans stopped at the end of August. We must not forget that we are still experiencing a variable climate trend that has lasted for more than 30 years. NGALA ONLINE Statement by Minister for Regional Development MR B.J. GRYLLS (Central Wheatbelt — Minister for Regional Development) [2.12 pm]: I take the opportunity to inform the house about the launch of the Ngala online project, which I had the pleasure of attending last Wednesday, along with the Minister for Child Protection, Hon Robyn McSweeney, and also the member for South Perth, John McGrath, who is a very strong supporter of Ngala in his electorate. Ngala is a Western Australian not-for-profit provider of early parenting services to families with babies and young children and it also extends its reach to families in rural and remote locations. I am pleased to announce that Ngala online was successful in receiving funding of $80 000 through the royalties for regions’ regional grant scheme across four regional development commissions.