❓ Mrs. Roberts questions the Minister for Tourism regarding insurance policies for the Kimberley Ultramarathon and ex gratia payments for injured participants. The Minister confirms the department demanded the policies and that ex gratia payments are under consideration.
AnsweredQoN 485Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
KIMBERLEY ULTRAMARATHON — INSURANCE
POLICIES, AND EX GRATIA PAYMENTS
485. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the Minister for Tourism:
I refer to the Kimberly Ultramarathon.
(1) Noting
that RacingThePlanet declined to provide the Economics and Industry Standing
Committee with full copies of its insurance policies, and given that Tourism
Western Australia still has a valid contract with RacingThePlanet that has not
been cancelled, why has Tourism WA not demanded the full insurance policies as
it is entitled to do under the terms of the contract?
(2) With
respect to the Economics and Industry Standing Committee's
recommendation regarding ex gratia payments for Turia Pitt and Kate Sanderson,
why has the government been able to make a decision about a multimillion-dollar
propaganda program, but unable to make a decision about an ex gratia payment
for the two girls?
POLICIES, AND EX GRATIA PAYMENTS
485. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the Minister for Tourism:
I refer to the Kimberly Ultramarathon.
(1) Noting
that RacingThePlanet declined to provide the Economics and Industry Standing
Committee with full copies of its insurance policies, and given that Tourism
Western Australia still has a valid contract with RacingThePlanet that has not
been cancelled, why has Tourism WA not demanded the full insurance policies as
it is entitled to do under the terms of the contract?
(2) With
respect to the Economics and Industry Standing Committee's
recommendation regarding ex gratia payments for Turia Pitt and Kate Sanderson,
why has the government been able to make a decision about a multimillion-dollar
propaganda program, but unable to make a decision about an ex gratia payment
for the two girls?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2)
The first part of the question is excellent; the second part certainly needs a
response. The answer is that it has. The department has made a demand, as the
member suggested.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
When did it do that—recently?
Dr K.D. HAMES :
Yes, in the last two weeks. It made a demand for those insurance policies but
without success, I have to say. For the member's information, I do not
know what correspondence she has had from RacingThePlanet, but everybody with
whom I have spoken has received a legal letter from RacingThePlanet saying that
if any statement is made against RacingThePlanet in any way in a public forum,
it will take legal action.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
I'm not aware of having received any such letter.
Dr K.D. HAMES : I
am telling the member. I have had such a letter, particularly in response to my
comments outside this house when I said that RacingThePlanet had a great deal to
answer for in line with the member's comments.
Mr M. McGowan : You're
not frightened by that?
Dr K.D. HAMES : No,
I am not frightened by that. I am happy to stand and make it public that that
occurred. A number of government departments listed in the committee's
report have also received letters, including the shire. It, too, received a
letter from the lawyers of RacingThePlanet warning it to not make any public
statements whatsoever. That is a disgrace. RacingThePlanet should be condemned
for that.
The ex gratia payments are progressing and are under active
consideration. We have three months from the day of the release of the
committee's report to hand down the government's response. I do
not plan to take that long to form a response to the ex gratia issue. But, at
the end of the day, the matter has to go through evaluation and presentation to
cabinet before a decision can be made. I cannot tell the member when that will
be.
The first part of the question is excellent; the second part certainly needs a
response. The answer is that it has. The department has made a demand, as the
member suggested.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
When did it do that—recently?
Dr K.D. HAMES :
Yes, in the last two weeks. It made a demand for those insurance policies but
without success, I have to say. For the member's information, I do not
know what correspondence she has had from RacingThePlanet, but everybody with
whom I have spoken has received a legal letter from RacingThePlanet saying that
if any statement is made against RacingThePlanet in any way in a public forum,
it will take legal action.
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
I'm not aware of having received any such letter.
Dr K.D. HAMES : I
am telling the member. I have had such a letter, particularly in response to my
comments outside this house when I said that RacingThePlanet had a great deal to
answer for in line with the member's comments.
Mr M. McGowan : You're
not frightened by that?
Dr K.D. HAMES : No,
I am not frightened by that. I am happy to stand and make it public that that
occurred. A number of government departments listed in the committee's
report have also received letters, including the shire. It, too, received a
letter from the lawyers of RacingThePlanet warning it to not make any public
statements whatsoever. That is a disgrace. RacingThePlanet should be condemned
for that.
The ex gratia payments are progressing and are under active
consideration. We have three months from the day of the release of the
committee's report to hand down the government's response. I do
not plan to take that long to form a response to the ex gratia issue. But, at
the end of the day, the matter has to go through evaluation and presentation to
cabinet before a decision can be made. I cannot tell the member when that will
be.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.