Parliamentary Debates (HANSARD) FORTIETH PARLIAMENT FIRST SESSION 2019 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Tuesday, 12 March 2019 Legislative Council Tuesday, 12 March 2019 THE PRESIDENT (Hon Kate Doust) took the chair at 2.00 pm, read prayers and acknowledged country. BILLS Assent Message from the Governor received and read notifying assent to the following bills — 1. Ports Legislation Amendment Bill 2017. 2. Residential Tenancies Legislation Amendment (Family Violence) Bill 2018. 3. Criminal Law Amendment (Intimate Images) Bill 2018. USHER OF THE BLACK ROD AND ADVISORY OFFICER (PROCEDURE) Statement by President THE PRESIDENT (Hon Kate Doust) [2.02 pm]: As members may have noticed, today I was announced by John Seal-Pollard rather than Grant Hitchcock. The positions of Usher of the Black Rod and Advisory Officer (Procedure) are structured in such a way that they rotate from time to time for staff development purposes. These positions have been occupied by Grant Hitchcock and John Seal-Pollard respectively for over three years. I am pleased to announce that these staff members have swapped roles. Grant Hitchcock is now Advisory Officer (Procedure), and John Seal-Pollard will serve as the Council’s eighteenth Usher of the Black Rod since the establishment of responsible government in 1890. Under our Parliament’s inherited privileges, the Usher retains the power of arrest and serves as the personal attendant to the Governor when on the parliamentary precincts. The Advisory Officer (Procedure) is involved in preparing business documents for the chamber, maintaining procedural precedents, serving as a clerk at the table and contributing to the valuable work of our committees. On behalf of all members, I congratulate Grant and John on their new appointments and wish them every success in their roles. Members: Hear, hear! HANNA EMMA-LEA HITCHCOCK Statement by President THE PRESIDENT (Hon Kate Doust) [2.03 pm]: I also want to advise members that Grant Hitchcock, as they would have noticed, is not in the chamber. On behalf of the Legislative Council, I want to pass on our congratulations to Grant and his wife, Michelle, who, on 7 March, welcomed a new addition to their family— a baby girl, Hanna Emma-Lea Hitchcock, who is a lovely young sister to her siblings, Ethan and Ava. I am sure we all congratulate both of them on their new arrival. Members: Hear, hear! LOCAL GOVERNMENT — COMPLAINTS HANDLING Petition HON PIERRE YANG (South Metropolitan) [2.04 pm]: I present a petition containing 28 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 support Mr McLerie’s serious concerns about the Office of the Information Commissioner, the Public Sector Commission and the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administrative Investigations (Ombudsman), collectively the Oversight Bodies, and their individual and collective failures to properly address multiple complaints about the City of Melville over an extended period. It is possible that had the Oversight Bodies been coordinated and properly addressed the complaints, the current Department of Local Government Sports and Culture Authorised Inquiry may not have been necessary to address the community’s ongoing concerns into the lack of transparency, accountability, governance and performance of the City of Melville. Your petitioners therefore respectfully request the Legislative Council inquire into the legislative framework and the performance of the Oversight Bodies in relation to their handling of complaints and other submissions put to them in respect of Local Government, particularly the City of Melville. And your petitioners as in duty bound, will ever pray. [See paper 2454.] 798 [COUNCIL — Tuesday, 12 March 2019] ALBANY WAVE ENERGY PROJECT — CARNEGIE CLEAN ENERGY — FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE Statement by Minister for Regional Development HON ALANNAH MacTIERNAN (North Metropolitan — Minister for Regional Development) [2.05 pm]: Last night, our government terminated its financial assistance agreement with Carnegie Clean Energy to deliver the Albany wave energy technology development project, following an assessment of the company’s financial capability to deliver the project. In October 2018, the state government exercised its power under the agreement to require Carnegie to provide a comprehensive and detailed funding plan for its $25.6 million contribution to the project. That followed concerns about the company’s finances, driven by uncertainty surrounding the future of federal research and development tax concessions, losses from other operations, and asset writedowns. The plan was submitted on 15 February 2019. The state government has assessed that the company is unlikely to be able to deliver the project in a reasonable time and has, with regret, terminated the funding agreement. The $13.125 million in the budget for this project will be directed towards delivering radiotherapy services in Albany. The state government investment in the University of Western Australia’s Wave Energy Research Centre will continue, focusing on marine renewable energy and initiatives to support enhanced coastal safety, ports and shipping operations, and marine aquaculture. Work completed by Carnegie with state government funding, such as geophysical and other surveys and mathematical models on wave conditions in Albany, will be made available to UWA and other interested parties. Research and development projects always carry risk, and our government will not apologise for supporting local renewable energy R&D. We are committed to diversifying regional economies, and this project was just one in a suite of initiatives to drive new job opportunities in the regions. The unexpected proposal to change the federal R&D tax concessions created an environment of uncertainty that destabilised the company’s finances. Carnegie’s finances were in good order when the contract was signed, but these circumstances changed over the last 12 months. Our government remains committed to research and development to ensure that WA is a technology maker, not a technology taker. The University of Western Australia will continue its research work in Albany, which has already attracted scientists to the region. We understand the disappointment of the Carnegie team and hope that its technology finds a sustainable investor into the future. IAN KING — TRIBUTE Statement by Minister for Ports HON ALANNAH MacTIERNAN (North Metropolitan — Minister for Ports) [2.08 pm]: During the break, we saw the passing of Mr Ian King. Ian chaired Geraldton’s Mid West Ports Authority for some 15 years, which was a very significant slice of the port’s 50-year history. Ian brought both strong commercial and logistics capability and natural people leadership skills to the task. During his time at the port, tonnages grew from 2.5 million to nearly 16 million. The port enhancement project, which he so ably managed, saw off the double loading of grain and enabled the kickstart of an iron ore industry in the midwest. Ian built staff morale and great community relations. He loved his opportunity for public service. Our sincerest condolences to Dell, Michael, Margot and Jordan. PAPERS TABLED Papers were tabled and ordered to lie upon the table of the house. STANDING COMMITTEE ON UNIFORM LEGISLATION AND STATUTES REVIEW 121st Report — “Child Support (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2018” — Tabling HON MICHAEL MISCHIN (North Metropolitan — Deputy Leader of the Opposition) [2.12 pm]: I am directed to present the 121st report of the Standing Committee on Uniform Legislation and Statutes Review titled “Child Support (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2018”. [See paper 2455.] Hon MICHAEL MISCHIN: The report that I have just tabled advises the house of the committee’s findings and recommendation regarding the Child Support (Commonwealth Powers) Bill 2018. The commonwealth child support scheme was established in 1988 with the object of ensuring that separated parents shared equitably in the financial cost of supporting their children. The scheme operates under two commonwealth acts, which together are known as the commonwealth child support laws. The commonwealth Parliament can only legislate with respect to children of a marriage, as opposed to exnuptial children. All other states have referred power in relation to child custody, guardianship, access and maintenance of exnuptial children to the commonwealth Parliament. Western Australia is the only state that has not referred to the commonwealth its power to make laws about children whose parents are not married. Instead, Western Australia adopted the commonwealth child support laws in the form they existed at the time of the adoption by enacting the Child Support (Adoption of Laws) Act 1990. [COUNCIL — Tuesday, 12 March 2019] 799 Amendments to the commonwealth child support laws do not apply in the case of exnuptial children in Western Australia until they are adopted by the Western Australian Parliament. There is often a delay between amendments to the commonwealth child support laws and adoption of those amendments by the Western Australian Parliament. As a result, during this period two versions of the commonwealth child support laws apply in Western Australia—the amended version, which applies to children of a marriage, and the pre-amended version, which continues to apply only to exnuptial children. The government has advised that this misalignment of laws can disadvantage exnuptial children, especially financially. Historically,