❓ Mr. Marmion questions the Minister for Health, Mr. Cook, regarding conflicting statements about knowledge of the 'dead leg' issue at Perth Children's Hospital. Mr. Cook deflects, blaming the previous government for mismanagement and delays.
AnsweredQoN 70Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PERTH CHILDREN'S
HOSPITAL
70. Mr W.R. MARMION to the Minister for Health:
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I appreciate
it very much.
I refer to the minister's
comments on Radio 6PR to Gareth Parker on 23 April 2017, and I quote —
I was the shadow Minister for Health.
I was talking about the dead leg and the ring main as being a possible source
of the lead contamination. We asked and made that point in Parliament.
I refer also to the minister's
conflicting statement in this house on 18 May 2017, which I also quote —
I found out on the day I got my first
briefing and I said to the department, ''Now, what about this dead leg
that has been talked about so much?''
Which of those two statements is
correct?
HOSPITAL
70. Mr W.R. MARMION to the Minister for Health:
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I appreciate
it very much.
I refer to the minister's
comments on Radio 6PR to Gareth Parker on 23 April 2017, and I quote —
I was the shadow Minister for Health.
I was talking about the dead leg and the ring main as being a possible source
of the lead contamination. We asked and made that point in Parliament.
I refer also to the minister's
conflicting statement in this house on 18 May 2017, which I also quote —
I found out on the day I got my first
briefing and I said to the department, ''Now, what about this dead leg
that has been talked about so much?''
Which of those two statements is
correct?
AnswerView source ↗
Mr Speaker —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr D.A. Templeman interjected.
The SPEAKER : Leader of the
House!
Mr R.H. COOK : I cannot help
the member for Nedlands too much on this particular issue, but I can remind the
member for Nedlands that what we are trying to do at the Perth Children's
Hospital is clean up the absolute mess left behind by this incompetent mob over
there. What we are trying to do is actually bring a hospital which is now 18 months
overdue, over budget —
Mr A. Krsticevic interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Carine!
Mr R.H. COOK : — and
costing the Western Australian taxpayers $6 million every blooming month this
hospital is not open. We are trying to fix that mess. The other mess we are
trying to fix is the half a million dollars we pay every month to a privatised
company for the 300 car bays for a car park with no cars—half a million
dollars a month! That is what we are trying to do at that hospital, member for
Nedlands. We are trying to fix up the previous government's absolute
mess. We are also trying to highlight the fact that one of two things was
happening last year. One is that the minister who had oversight for this
particular construction was either not doing his job, not reading the briefing
documents —
Point of Order
Mr A. KRSTICEVIC : The
minister is giving us a history lesson when really we just want to know whether
the answer is one or two. Which one of his statements is a correct statement?
The SPEAKER : That is not a point
of order.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr R.H. COOK : The previous
minister responsible for this project was negligent with the information
provided to him, because at that time he would have seen the evidence given to
him that the dead leg was being addressed in September last year. As I said on
the radio, even though the minister himself at the time said he did not know
anything about it, I, as the shadow Minister for Health, knew that there was an
issue around the dead leg. I asked the government, upon coming in, whether
there were any issues with the dead leg. The answer was, ''No, minister.
That was resolved back in September last year.''
Dr M.D. Nahan : You misled
Parliament!
Mr R.H. COOK : On the
contrary. When I first got my briefing, they said, ''No, this issue was
resolved. There is no issue around the dead leg. We are struggling to deal with
the lead at that hospital, newly minted minister, and now it's your
problem. You have to deal with the mess left behind by the previous minister
and the absolute incompetence on this side to deliver a hospital for the sick
kids of Western Australia.'' We will go on and continue to clean up the
previous government's mess, but the previous minister should not
pretend that he did not know that there were issues there, or he should admit
that he was incompetent and could not even read his own briefing documents.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr D.A. Templeman interjected.
The SPEAKER : Leader of the
House!
Mr R.H. COOK : I cannot help
the member for Nedlands too much on this particular issue, but I can remind the
member for Nedlands that what we are trying to do at the Perth Children's
Hospital is clean up the absolute mess left behind by this incompetent mob over
there. What we are trying to do is actually bring a hospital which is now 18 months
overdue, over budget —
Mr A. Krsticevic interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Carine!
Mr R.H. COOK : — and
costing the Western Australian taxpayers $6 million every blooming month this
hospital is not open. We are trying to fix that mess. The other mess we are
trying to fix is the half a million dollars we pay every month to a privatised
company for the 300 car bays for a car park with no cars—half a million
dollars a month! That is what we are trying to do at that hospital, member for
Nedlands. We are trying to fix up the previous government's absolute
mess. We are also trying to highlight the fact that one of two things was
happening last year. One is that the minister who had oversight for this
particular construction was either not doing his job, not reading the briefing
documents —
Point of Order
Mr A. KRSTICEVIC : The
minister is giving us a history lesson when really we just want to know whether
the answer is one or two. Which one of his statements is a correct statement?
The SPEAKER : That is not a point
of order.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr R.H. COOK : The previous
minister responsible for this project was negligent with the information
provided to him, because at that time he would have seen the evidence given to
him that the dead leg was being addressed in September last year. As I said on
the radio, even though the minister himself at the time said he did not know
anything about it, I, as the shadow Minister for Health, knew that there was an
issue around the dead leg. I asked the government, upon coming in, whether
there were any issues with the dead leg. The answer was, ''No, minister.
That was resolved back in September last year.''
Dr M.D. Nahan : You misled
Parliament!
Mr R.H. COOK : On the
contrary. When I first got my briefing, they said, ''No, this issue was
resolved. There is no issue around the dead leg. We are struggling to deal with
the lead at that hospital, newly minted minister, and now it's your
problem. You have to deal with the mess left behind by the previous minister
and the absolute incompetence on this side to deliver a hospital for the sick
kids of Western Australia.'' We will go on and continue to clean up the
previous government's mess, but the previous minister should not
pretend that he did not know that there were issues there, or he should admit
that he was incompetent and could not even read his own briefing documents.
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