❓ Mr. Francis asks the Minister for Health to update the house on allegations regarding the Liberal-National government's management of the Peel Health Campus. Dr. Hames responds by accusing the Labor Party of hypocrisy, highlighting funding increases before elections and a payment received from Health Solutions.
AnsweredQoN 710Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PEEL
HEALTH CAMPUS — HEALTH SOLUTIONS (WA)
710. Mr J.M. FRANCIS to the Minister for Health:
The opposition has raised allegations in this house recently
in relation to the Liberal–National government and the management of
the Peel Health Campus. Since these allegations were made, has the minister had
cause to reflect on them and can he please update the house on this matter?
HEALTH CAMPUS — HEALTH SOLUTIONS (WA)
710. Mr J.M. FRANCIS to the Minister for Health:
The opposition has raised allegations in this house recently
in relation to the Liberal–National government and the management of
the Peel Health Campus. Since these allegations were made, has the minister had
cause to reflect on them and can he please update the house on this matter?
AnswerView source ↗
Yes, I have had cause to reflect somewhat on these matters.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Thank
you, members.
Dr K.D. HAMES : To
start with, I am a bit uncomfortable answering this question in the absence of
the member for Mandurah—I found out earlier that he is sick. This is
not about him, it is about his electorate, and it is not being suggested in any
way that he has done anything untoward. What I am talking about is the
hypocrisy of the Labor Party in attacking us through Jon Fogarty, trying to get
to our candidate for Mandurah and talking about donations from Health Solutions
to the Liberal Party. Before I start I want to show a little graph that shows
the funding for Peel Health Campus during the years of the Labor government. It
is quite a simple little chart. Members will notice that the growth in funding
goes along at about five per cent and then, funnily enough, just before the
2004 election, the growth increases by 25 per cent. Then it drops back to five
or six per cent—remember I am reading backwards through the paper here!—then
just before the 2008 election it jumps up to nearly 15 per cent. I wonder what
would have influenced those increases? I remember that the Labor Party was not
happy at Peel Health Campus at the time. Jon Fogarty had been running ads
against the member for Mandurah in the local papers, against my advice telling
him that I did not think it was appropriate.
Mr R.H. Cook : It
was a public hospital running a political campaign.
Dr K.D. HAMES :
Exactly right—a public hospital running a political campaign against a
member. It is a serious problem and I do not think the Labor Party would be too
happy with that. But guess what? Was the Labor Party unhappy with that or not?
What did the Labor Party do? It was getting attacked in the media; Jon Fogarty
was having a crack at it attacking its local member in Mandurah, so what did
the Labor Party do? It sent an invoice to Health Solutions, which I intend to
table along with these other papers. The Labor Party sent an invoice—''Australian
Labor Party, tax invoice, Health Solutions, 110 Lakes Road, 15 grand, thanks
very much''! Fifteen grand—wow! What did the Labor Party want
that for?
Mr R.H. Cook : How
much did you invoice them for?
Dr K.D. HAMES : We
know that we got 15 grand the same year. We know we have said that, the same —
Mr F.M. Logan interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Cockburn, I formally call you to order for the first time today. I
suggest to other members that they might want to interject a little less at
this point.
Dr K.D. HAMES :
This invoice is dated 25 August 2008, which I think is about a week and a half
before the election. It is: ''There you go, Health Solutions. You've
been giving us a kick. We're not very happy with what you're
doing to our local member.'' There was a phone conversation somewhere: ''Okay,
we will give you 15 grand''; ''Fine, you're going to give
us 15 grand.'' In goes the invoice; there is the receipt.
The next item is dated 3 September. Here is the invoice from
Health Solutions for the 15 grand. It is, ''You better pay us that money
just before the election, because otherwise, if we win this election —
Mr R.H. Cook interjected.
Dr K.D. HAMES : He
is trying to shut me up. He is trying to yell constantly because he does not
want to hear.
The SPEAKER : There
are various people in this place who have an interest in what you are saying,
Minister for Health. I would like to provide them with the opportunity to hear
what you are saying.
Dr K.D. HAMES :
Thanks, Mr Speaker. I would, myself.
So here we go, a couple of days before the election: ''You
give us the money. Okay, that's a receipt for it.''
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
Table the Liberal document.
Dr K.D. HAMES : We
know we got 15 grand. It was about the same time. I do not have those, because
I do not know —
Mr R.H. Cook interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Kwinana, I formally call you to order for the first and second time
today.
Dr K.D. HAMES : The
last document is one that came after the election. Sadly, the election had been
lost. The letter is back to Peel Health Campus, titled ''Re: Donation to
Mandurah ALP Campaign''. This comes from the Mandurah sub-branch of the
Labor Party, not from the head office. The Mandurah sub-branch sent a letter
back to Health Solutions saying —
On behalf of the ALP Candidate for
Mandurah, David Templeman, the Mandurah ALP Campaign acknowledges and thanks
you for your donation to the Campaign during the 2008 State Election.
There is nothing wrong with getting donations. That
highlights the hypocrisy of the Labor Party having a crack. This letter is
dated 12 October, so it was straight after the election; the month after the
election.
Mr J.R. Quigley interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Mindarie, I formally call you to order for the first
time today. I do not want to hear any voices at all, Leader of the Opposition.
Question time started at 12.17 pm. It is now 28 minutes to one. That is as
subtle as I am going to be.
Dr
K.D. HAMES : I am not accusing the member for Mandurah. In fact, I have a
lot of respect for him. It is his branch that sent a letter back. He got a donation;
he said thanks. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is
the hypocrisy of the Labor Party coming in here and trying to tie our candidate
for Mandurah into this. Who are the people who are objecting the most from the
other side? It is the member for Kwinana, who brought in this issue, trying to
be dirty and sneaky and having a go at that member in the first place; and the
person who happened to be in charge of the Labor Party at the time when all of
this went on. They knew what they got. They knew that they put in an invoice.
They knew that they had obviously had some sort of phone call.
Mr W.J. Johnston interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Cannington, I do not need to hear from you, although you have been
referred to, I would assume. I am only assuming that, member for Cannington.
Dr K.D. HAMES :
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
The reality is that this shows hypocrisy at its worst. The
Liberal Party did get donations. At about the same time, the Labor Party did
get a $15 000 donation. It did not come to me, running in that electorate; that
was my area as well. I did not even know the donation existed. It went to the
local member in the Labor Party in Mandurah to support his campaign. The member
comes in here to try to make it look as though our candidate is somehow grubby
because of a donation to the Liberal Party. I table these documents.
[See paper 5576.]
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Thank
you, members.
Dr K.D. HAMES : To
start with, I am a bit uncomfortable answering this question in the absence of
the member for Mandurah—I found out earlier that he is sick. This is
not about him, it is about his electorate, and it is not being suggested in any
way that he has done anything untoward. What I am talking about is the
hypocrisy of the Labor Party in attacking us through Jon Fogarty, trying to get
to our candidate for Mandurah and talking about donations from Health Solutions
to the Liberal Party. Before I start I want to show a little graph that shows
the funding for Peel Health Campus during the years of the Labor government. It
is quite a simple little chart. Members will notice that the growth in funding
goes along at about five per cent and then, funnily enough, just before the
2004 election, the growth increases by 25 per cent. Then it drops back to five
or six per cent—remember I am reading backwards through the paper here!—then
just before the 2008 election it jumps up to nearly 15 per cent. I wonder what
would have influenced those increases? I remember that the Labor Party was not
happy at Peel Health Campus at the time. Jon Fogarty had been running ads
against the member for Mandurah in the local papers, against my advice telling
him that I did not think it was appropriate.
Mr R.H. Cook : It
was a public hospital running a political campaign.
Dr K.D. HAMES :
Exactly right—a public hospital running a political campaign against a
member. It is a serious problem and I do not think the Labor Party would be too
happy with that. But guess what? Was the Labor Party unhappy with that or not?
What did the Labor Party do? It was getting attacked in the media; Jon Fogarty
was having a crack at it attacking its local member in Mandurah, so what did
the Labor Party do? It sent an invoice to Health Solutions, which I intend to
table along with these other papers. The Labor Party sent an invoice—''Australian
Labor Party, tax invoice, Health Solutions, 110 Lakes Road, 15 grand, thanks
very much''! Fifteen grand—wow! What did the Labor Party want
that for?
Mr R.H. Cook : How
much did you invoice them for?
Dr K.D. HAMES : We
know that we got 15 grand the same year. We know we have said that, the same —
Mr F.M. Logan interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Cockburn, I formally call you to order for the first time today. I
suggest to other members that they might want to interject a little less at
this point.
Dr K.D. HAMES :
This invoice is dated 25 August 2008, which I think is about a week and a half
before the election. It is: ''There you go, Health Solutions. You've
been giving us a kick. We're not very happy with what you're
doing to our local member.'' There was a phone conversation somewhere: ''Okay,
we will give you 15 grand''; ''Fine, you're going to give
us 15 grand.'' In goes the invoice; there is the receipt.
The next item is dated 3 September. Here is the invoice from
Health Solutions for the 15 grand. It is, ''You better pay us that money
just before the election, because otherwise, if we win this election —
Mr R.H. Cook interjected.
Dr K.D. HAMES : He
is trying to shut me up. He is trying to yell constantly because he does not
want to hear.
The SPEAKER : There
are various people in this place who have an interest in what you are saying,
Minister for Health. I would like to provide them with the opportunity to hear
what you are saying.
Dr K.D. HAMES :
Thanks, Mr Speaker. I would, myself.
So here we go, a couple of days before the election: ''You
give us the money. Okay, that's a receipt for it.''
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
Table the Liberal document.
Dr K.D. HAMES : We
know we got 15 grand. It was about the same time. I do not have those, because
I do not know —
Mr R.H. Cook interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Kwinana, I formally call you to order for the first and second time
today.
Dr K.D. HAMES : The
last document is one that came after the election. Sadly, the election had been
lost. The letter is back to Peel Health Campus, titled ''Re: Donation to
Mandurah ALP Campaign''. This comes from the Mandurah sub-branch of the
Labor Party, not from the head office. The Mandurah sub-branch sent a letter
back to Health Solutions saying —
On behalf of the ALP Candidate for
Mandurah, David Templeman, the Mandurah ALP Campaign acknowledges and thanks
you for your donation to the Campaign during the 2008 State Election.
There is nothing wrong with getting donations. That
highlights the hypocrisy of the Labor Party having a crack. This letter is
dated 12 October, so it was straight after the election; the month after the
election.
Mr J.R. Quigley interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Mindarie, I formally call you to order for the first
time today. I do not want to hear any voices at all, Leader of the Opposition.
Question time started at 12.17 pm. It is now 28 minutes to one. That is as
subtle as I am going to be.
Dr
K.D. HAMES : I am not accusing the member for Mandurah. In fact, I have a
lot of respect for him. It is his branch that sent a letter back. He got a donation;
he said thanks. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is
the hypocrisy of the Labor Party coming in here and trying to tie our candidate
for Mandurah into this. Who are the people who are objecting the most from the
other side? It is the member for Kwinana, who brought in this issue, trying to
be dirty and sneaky and having a go at that member in the first place; and the
person who happened to be in charge of the Labor Party at the time when all of
this went on. They knew what they got. They knew that they put in an invoice.
They knew that they had obviously had some sort of phone call.
Mr W.J. Johnston interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Cannington, I do not need to hear from you, although you have been
referred to, I would assume. I am only assuming that, member for Cannington.
Dr K.D. HAMES :
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
The reality is that this shows hypocrisy at its worst. The
Liberal Party did get donations. At about the same time, the Labor Party did
get a $15 000 donation. It did not come to me, running in that electorate; that
was my area as well. I did not even know the donation existed. It went to the
local member in the Labor Party in Mandurah to support his campaign. The member
comes in here to try to make it look as though our candidate is somehow grubby
because of a donation to the Liberal Party. I table these documents.
[See paper 5576.]
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