Dr J.M. WOOLLARD: [...] The fact that we are losing so many police officers is very sad, and we should not be asking them to work in conditions such as exist at Palmyra Police Station. I have begun discussing this matter with the Minister for Police because we need a new police centre in the south metropolitan area. I think the Minister for Police wants to interject!
Mr R.F. Johnson: I just want to let you know that we’re not losing police officers at the rate we were 12 months ago or two years ago; we are, in fact, to some extent inundated with local recruits wanting to join the police. We are not seeing the drain of experienced police officers that we saw a year or two ago.
Dr J.M. WOOLLARD: If that has been the pattern for a while, I guess the previous government needs to be congratulated as well as the current government.
Mr R.F. Johnson: No, it’s only happened in the past six to nine months. That’s the truth!
Dr J.M. WOOLLARD: If that is the case, I have to congratulate the Minister for Police! However, I must point out some of the conditions in which these police officers are working, particularly police officers at Palmyra Police Station in my electorate. They are not fit premises.
Mr T.R. Buswell: They are not thick premises?
Dr J.M. WOOLLARD: Fit premises. They are very thin officers!
I would like to take the Minister for Police there at some point and show him those facilities so that we can make sure —
Mr R.F. Johnson: Can we go now?
Dr J.M. WOOLLARD: Ha, ha!
Subject: Loan Bill 2009 [Legislative Assembly - Second Reading]
Date: 10 June 2009
Hansard reference: p. 4884 [online (pdf)]
Mr R.F. JOHNSON: [...] I am sorry; for everybody’s benefit, I indicate that somebody just fell over in the back of the chamber, but he is all right.
Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan: He fell asleep listening to you.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I thought it was the member for Armadale who was snoring. I am sorry. It was somebody else, was it? Goodness me.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Thank you, members.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON: We must not have any humour in this place. We get into trouble if we do that.
Subject: Private Members’ Business – Wednesday, 10 June 2009 [Legislative Assembly - Standing Orders Suspension -- Motion]
Date: 10 June 2009
Hansard reference: p. 4809 [online (pdf)]
Mr J.N. HYDE: [...] Another issue is that trade offices seem to have been put into the Premier’s department, whereas the very over-worked, but coping, Treasurer and Minister for Commerce seems to be dealing with a lot of the day-to-day activities of the trade offices. That includes the new trade office for Cape Town. Actually, will that office be in Cape Town or Johannesburg? There is nil comment from the Treasurer on that. Silence is as good as affirmation, I think.
Mr T.R. Buswell: I do not have responsibility for trade offices.
Mr J.N. HYDE: But the Treasurer has a keen interest, and he is funding them—or de-funding them.
Mr T.R. Buswell: I have a keen interest in funding every government activity, but I do not have responsibility for trade offices.
Mr J.N. HYDE: Except for library books in the 236 local government libraries. How many books are they short in Busselton?
Mr T.R. Buswell: They are not funded through the Department of Local Government.
Mr J.N. HYDE: No. They are funded through the Department of Culture and the Arts. If the Treasurer had asked me, I could have told him that. If I do get the correct supplementary information from the Minister for Culture and the Arts, I will be able to tell the Treasurer more about the 35 per cent of books that are not being —
Mr T.R. Buswell: Do you still want to take up my offer to come to the AC/DC concert with me?
Mr J.N. HYDE: I am considering the Treasurer’s very kind arts-inclusive offer.
Ms J.M. Freeman: My son would!
Mr B.S. Wyatt: Are there tickets going around?
The ACTING SPEAKER: Order, members! Can we get back to the member for Perth, please?
Mr T.R. Buswell: I would like to see the member for Kalamunda at an AC/DC concert! He would be right up at the front! He would probably wear a schoolboy outfit, like Angus!
Mr J.N. HYDE: He is mistaken for Angry Anderson on the odd occasion—the very odd occasion!
Subject: Appropriation (Consolidated Account) Recurrent 2009-10 Bill 2009 / Appropriation (Consolidated Account) Capital 2009-10 Bill 2009 [Legislative Assembly - Estimates Committee B Report -- Adoption]
Date: 11 June 2009
Hansard reference: pp. 4932 – 4933 [online (pdf)]
Mr J.H.D. DAY replied: [...] It is important that our major cultural institutions appeal to the wide range of population and age and various interests of people in Western Australia. There are two examples of how that is being achieved at the moment. One is at the Western Australian Museum in Perth, which is currently presenting Nick Cave: The Exhibition, which is obviously about the life, times and creativity of Nick Cave, who is a wonderful singer, as many members will know.
Mr D.A. Templeman: You’d make a great mime.
Mr J.H.D. DAY: I suggest that the member visit the exhibition because I am sure he would find it of interest.
Mr M. McGowan: Name one song.
Mr J.H.D. DAY: The Ship Song. The member should listen to it; he might enjoy it.
Mr M. McGowan: Name two songs.
Mr A.J. Carpenter: Into My Arms is the next one. It’s very good.
Mr J.H.D. DAY: That is good to hear. I will come back to that. I can see a developing interest in this exhibition.
[...]
The exhibition was put together by the Arts Centre in Melbourne. Its tour around some cities of Australia, not all, is supported by Visions of Australia, an Australian government program. I appreciate the contribution of the Australian government for funding that program.
Mr D.A. Templeman interjected.
The SPEAKER: Minister, I think we have some bad seeds. If the minister is able to finish his comments, I would appreciate it.
Mr J.H.D. DAY: You are well informed, Mr Speaker.
Subject: Cultural Events [Legislative Assembly - Questions Without Notice]
Date: 10 June 2009
Hansard reference: p. 4824 [online (pdf)]
Mr LANGBROEK (10.29 am): My first question without notice is to the Premier. I table the 57 official media releases and policy statements distributed by the Premier during the recent election campaign and I ask: where in any of these election statements did the Premier mention selling Queensland assets or imposing a new fuel tax?
Tabled paper: Bundle of documents titled ‘Labor Policy Announcements 2009 election’ [304].
Ms BLIGH: I thank the honourable member for the question. From some of the comments we have heard from those opposite in the last 24 hours—
Mr Johnson: And some of your own. Don’t leave them out.
Mr SPEAKER: Honourable member for Gregory, I thought we were going to get on better today.
Mr JOHNSON: You and I probably will, Mr Speaker, but I don’t know about the rest of them.
Subject: Sale of Public Assets; Fuel Subsidy [Legislative Assembly - Questions Without Notice]
Date: 3 June 2009
Hansard reference: pp. 681-682 [online (pdf)]
Mr McARDLE (Caloundra—LNP) (10.26 am): I table a report on the office expenses of the Office of the Leader of the Liberal Party for 1 July 2008 to 25 July 2008.
Tabled paper: Public report of office expenses, Office of the Leader of the Liberal Party, for the period 1 July 2008 to 25 July 2008 [294].
Mr Lucas: Sold off!
Mr McARDLE: Following your example, are we?
Ms Bligh: What’d you get for the Liberal Party?
Mr SPEAKER: That was the most sensational tabling of a report I have ever heard.
Subject: Office of the Leader of the Liberal Party [Legislative Assembly - Report]
Date: 2 June 2009
Hansard reference: p. 584 [online (pdf)]
Still waiting for Federal and Queensland proofs to clear (there’s some good material there, particularly the infamous Mr Squiggle reference), may try going elsewhere for material later this week…
Hon PETER COLLIER replied: [...] Just after I went to my first ministerial council meeting, it became evident to me that virtually every energy minister from across the nation scoffed at the notion that we would introduce a gross feed-in tariff. I puffed my chest out and said that that was what we were doing.
Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich: What chest?
Hon PETER COLLIER: That is not nice. I could say the same. Sorry, Mr President.
Hon Ken Travers: Are you sunburnt, minister?
Hon PETER COLLIER: Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich started it!
Subject: Electricity – Feed-In Tariff [Legislative Council - Questions Without Notice]
Date: 2 June 2009
Hansard reference: p. 4507 [online (pdf)]
HON SALLY TALBOT (South West) [11.33 am]: [...] On a slightly lighter note, honourable members will remember that some weeks ago we celebrated Conservation Week. I was one of several members from this place who went to the wind-up celebrations of that week at Kings Park. It was a beautiful night in the rotunda, which is a great location to celebrate something like Conservation Week. As well as a series of awards that went to some very worthwhile projects and individuals who have devoted a substantial part of their lives to the whole issue of environmental conservation, we had a real treat that night. That treat was a visit from “Sustainability Man”. “Sustainability Man” looked very spectacular as he bounded out of the shadows in Kings Park, because he happened to wear his underpants on the outside of his trousers, and he took the event by storm. I actually watched the expressions on the faces of the organisers very closely to make sure they had planned the arrival of “Sustainability Man”, and clearly they had.
Hon Simon O’Brien: What colour was the offending garment?
Hon SALLY TALBOT: I am terribly sorry, Hon Simon O’Brien, but I cannot remember.
Hon Simon O’Brien: Alas, the moment has gone, I think!
Hon SALLY TALBOT: The colour is not what is indelibly imprinted on my memory, I have to say, but I might be able to do a little research on that.
Hon Simon O’Brien: I hope you are not enduringly traumatised, anyway!
Hon SALLY TALBOT: No, it was not a traumatic experience at all. In fact, I am very pleased to be able to
share with the house some of the contribution that “Sustainability Man” made to that event.
Subject: Water Catchments – South West Recovery Program [Legislative Council - Motion]
Date: 4 June 2009
Hansard reference: p. 4616 [online (pdf)]
Hon LJILJANNA RAVLICH: [...] The other day I asked the minister why he has an allocation of only $11 million vis-a-vis training and technical and further education colleges, and he said, “What are you talking about? Are you on wacky baccy or something?” I thought, “What on earth is wacky baccy?”
Hon Peter Collier: No; I said, “Are you on weed?” and I repeat it.
Hon LJILJANNA RAVLICH: Maybe we can explore that tonight, given that we are exploring everything else; maybe we can have an exploration of what is wacky baccy.
Hon Peter Collier: I think you might be on it again tonight.
Subject: Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure [Legislative Council - Consideration of Tabled Papers]
Date: 3 June 2009
Hansard reference: p. 4584 [online (pdf)]
