❓ Premier Gallop criticises the Commonwealth government's proposal to take over state ports, accusing the Deputy Prime Minister of arrogance and undermining WA's successful port management and export performance.
AnsweredQoN 181Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Will the Premier outline the Western Australian government’s response to the Deputy Prime Minister’s recent attack on the sovereignty of the states? Dr G.I. GALLOP
AnswerView source ↗
Here they go again. The commonwealth government is not satisfied with wanting to take over in a range of areas associated with traditional service delivery at the state government level. It now wants to take over our ports. In Western Australia, the ports have been the province of the state government since the state joined the Federation. Anyone who saw the performance of the Deputy Prime Minister last night would have seen the degree of arrogance that exists in the commonwealth government. The Deputy Prime Minister seems more concerned in his actions to prop up National Party seats in the eastern states than he is with the development of the great nation of Australia. On this occasion the Deputy Prime Minister is showing his arrogance. He wants to override state governments. We see the truth of what is going on in Australia today. There is no doubt that under the ripples on the surface there are strong undercurrents. Those undercurrents represent a real threat to the federal system in Australia. We have to make sure that the public understands what is going on. We also have to ensure that we use our best efforts in the Western Australian Parliament to resist what is going on at the national level. The Deputy Prime Minister outlined a proposal that would see the regulation of ports switch to the commonwealth, but he has not even spoken to the states about it. I will tell the house something about the state of Western Australia. Western Australia is leading the nation in exports. Over the past four years it has spent more than $400 million on the state’s ports. I take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure. Not only has she been in charge of that portfolio and overseen that massive increase in expenditure on our ports, but also she has professionalised the management of the ports. No longer are they simply seen as a province of the National Party for its members. They are now professional operations delivering good services to the people of Western Australia. Do members know what the commonwealth government has injected into ports in the state over that period? Just $3 million! The Reserve Bank of Australia issued a report in February this year that stated that the clearest indication of emerging pressures on capacity has been the disappointing performance of exports, which are around the level they were at the start of the decade. The Reserve Bank produced a graph to show that. When the Western Australian figures are placed on top of that graph, a substantial improvement in exports can be seen. Indeed, exports have grown by more than 16 per cent since 2001, which represents $5 billion. In 2001 Western Australian exports represented 26.7 per cent of the nation’s exports. That figure is more than 29 per cent today. When the commonwealth government talks about the so-called bottlenecks, I do not know what it is referring to. It is probably referring to things that occur in the eastern states. Those things are not occurring in Western Australia, which is due to our supervision of the ports, our investment, and making sure that there is capacity to deliver the exports. However, there was a bottleneck in 2001 - it was called the Liberal Party. That was no better illustrated than in Geraldton. This government provided $100 million to deepen the harbour and upgrade the infrastructure. The port is now responsible for record amounts of exports, including iron ore exports to China that would not have been possible without the investment of my government. We accept our responsibilities to deliver on our ports’ efficiencies to allow exports to occur. We have improved the performance of the ports; we are investing in them. Once again, we see the commonwealth government intruding in areas about which it knows nothing and which will undermine the capacity of this nation to deliver good results for its people.
Dr G.I. GALLOP replied: Here they go again. The commonwealth government is not satisfied with wanting to take over in a range of areas associated with traditional service delivery at the state government level. It now wants to take over our ports. In Western Australia, the ports have been the province of the state government since the state joined the Federation. Anyone who saw the performance of the Deputy Prime Minister last night would have seen the degree of arrogance that exists in the commonwealth government. The Deputy Prime Minister seems more concerned in his actions to prop up National Party seats in the eastern states than he is with the development of the great nation of Australia. On this occasion the Deputy Prime Minister is showing his arrogance. He wants to override state governments. We see the truth of what is going on in Australia today. There is no doubt that under the ripples on the surface there are strong undercurrents. Those undercurrents represent a real threat to the federal system in Australia. We have to make sure that the public understands what is going on. We also have to ensure that we use our best efforts in the Western Australian Parliament to resist what is going on at the national level. The Deputy Prime Minister outlined a proposal that would see the regulation of ports switch to the commonwealth, but he has not even spoken to the states about it. I will tell the house something about the state of Western Australia. Western Australia is leading the nation in exports. Over the past four years it has spent more than $400 million on the state’s ports. I take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure. Not only has she been in charge of that portfolio and overseen that massive increase in expenditure on our ports, but also she has professionalised the management of the ports. No longer are they simply seen as a province of the National Party for its members. They are now professional operations delivering good services to the people of Western Australia. Do members know what the commonwealth government has injected into ports in the state over that period? Just $3 million! The Reserve Bank of Australia issued a report in February this year that stated that the clearest indication of emerging pressures on capacity has been the disappointing performance of exports, which are around the level they were at the start of the decade. The Reserve Bank produced a graph to show that. When the Western Australian figures are placed on top of that graph, a substantial improvement in exports can be seen. Indeed, exports have grown by more than 16 per cent since 2001, which represents $5 billion. In 2001 Western Australian exports represented 26.7 per cent of the nation’s exports. That figure is more than 29 per cent today. When the commonwealth government talks about the so-called bottlenecks, I do not know what it is referring to. It is probably referring to things that occur in the eastern states. Those things are not occurring in Western Australia, which is due to our supervision of the ports, our investment, and making sure that there is capacity to deliver the exports. However, there was a bottleneck in 2001 - it was called the Liberal Party. That was no better illustrated than in Geraldton. This government provided $100 million to deepen the harbour and upgrade the infrastructure. The port is now responsible for record amounts of exports, including iron ore exports to China that would not have been possible without the investment of my government. We accept our responsibilities to deliver on our ports’ efficiencies to allow exports to occur. We have improved the performance of the ports; we are investing in them. Once again, we see the commonwealth government intruding in areas about which it knows nothing and which will undermine the capacity of this nation to deliver good results for its people.
Here they go again. The commonwealth government is not satisfied with wanting to take over in a range of areas associated with traditional service delivery at the state government level. It now wants to take over our ports. In Western Australia, the ports have been the province of the state government since the state joined the Federation. Anyone who saw the performance of the Deputy Prime Minister last night would have seen the degree of arrogance that exists in the commonwealth government. The Deputy Prime Minister seems more concerned in his actions to prop up National Party seats in the eastern states than he is with the development of the great nation of Australia. On this occasion the Deputy Prime Minister is showing his arrogance. He wants to override state governments. We see the truth of what is going on in Australia today. There is no doubt that under the ripples on the surface there are strong undercurrents. Those undercurrents represent a real threat to the federal system in Australia. We have to make sure that the public understands what is going on. We also have to ensure that we use our best efforts in the Western Australian Parliament to resist what is going on at the national level. The Deputy Prime Minister outlined a proposal that would see the regulation of ports switch to the commonwealth, but he has not even spoken to the states about it. I will tell the house something about the state of Western Australia. Western Australia is leading the nation in exports. Over the past four years it has spent more than $400 million on the state’s ports. I take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure. Not only has she been in charge of that portfolio and overseen that massive increase in expenditure on our ports, but also she has professionalised the management of the ports. No longer are they simply seen as a province of the National Party for its members. They are now professional operations delivering good services to the people of Western Australia. Do members know what the commonwealth government has injected into ports in the state over that period? Just $3 million! The Reserve Bank of Australia issued a report in February this year that stated that the clearest indication of emerging pressures on capacity has been the disappointing performance of exports, which are around the level they were at the start of the decade. The Reserve Bank produced a graph to show that. When the Western Australian figures are placed on top of that graph, a substantial improvement in exports can be seen. Indeed, exports have grown by more than 16 per cent since 2001, which represents $5 billion. In 2001 Western Australian exports represented 26.7 per cent of the nation’s exports. That figure is more than 29 per cent today. When the commonwealth government talks about the so-called bottlenecks, I do not know what it is referring to. It is probably referring to things that occur in the eastern states. Those things are not occurring in Western Australia, which is due to our supervision of the ports, our investment, and making sure that there is capacity to deliver the exports. However, there was a bottleneck in 2001 - it was called the Liberal Party. That was no better illustrated than in Geraldton. This government provided $100 million to deepen the harbour and upgrade the infrastructure. The port is now responsible for record amounts of exports, including iron ore exports to China that would not have been possible without the investment of my government. We accept our responsibilities to deliver on our ports’ efficiencies to allow exports to occur. We have improved the performance of the ports; we are investing in them. Once again, we see the commonwealth government intruding in areas about which it knows nothing and which will undermine the capacity of this nation to deliver good results for its people.
The Deputy Prime Minister outlined a proposal that would see the regulation of ports switch to the commonwealth, but he has not even spoken to the states about it. I will tell the house something about the state of Western Australia. Western Australia is leading the nation in exports. Over the past four years it has spent more than $400 million on the state’s ports. I take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure. Not only has she been in charge of that portfolio and overseen that massive increase in expenditure on our ports, but also she has professionalised the management of the ports. No longer are they simply seen as a province of the National Party for its members. They are now professional operations delivering good services to the people of Western Australia. Do members know what the commonwealth government has injected into ports in the state over that period? Just $3 million! The Reserve Bank of Australia issued a report in February this year that stated that the clearest indication of emerging pressures on capacity has been the disappointing performance of exports, which are around the level they were at the start of the decade. The Reserve Bank produced a graph to show that. When the Western Australian figures are placed on top of that graph, a substantial improvement in exports can be seen. Indeed, exports have grown by more than 16 per cent since 2001, which represents $5 billion. In 2001 Western Australian exports represented 26.7 per cent of the nation’s exports. That figure is more than 29 per cent today. When the commonwealth government talks about the so-called bottlenecks, I do not know what it is referring to. It is probably referring to things that occur in the eastern states. Those things are not occurring in Western Australia, which is due to our supervision of the ports, our investment, and making sure that there is capacity to deliver the exports. However, there was a bottleneck in 2001 - it was called the Liberal Party. That was no better illustrated than in Geraldton. This government provided $100 million to deepen the harbour and upgrade the infrastructure. The port is now responsible for record amounts of exports, including iron ore exports to China that would not have been possible without the investment of my government. We accept our responsibilities to deliver on our ports’ efficiencies to allow exports to occur. We have improved the performance of the ports; we are investing in them. Once again, we see the commonwealth government intruding in areas about which it knows nothing and which will undermine the capacity of this nation to deliver good results for its people.
The Reserve Bank of Australia issued a report in February this year that stated that the clearest indication of emerging pressures on capacity has been the disappointing performance of exports, which are around the level they were at the start of the decade. The Reserve Bank produced a graph to show that. When the Western Australian figures are placed on top of that graph, a substantial improvement in exports can be seen. Indeed, exports have grown by more than 16 per cent since 2001, which represents $5 billion. In 2001 Western Australian exports represented 26.7 per cent of the nation’s exports. That figure is more than 29 per cent today. When the commonwealth government talks about the so-called bottlenecks, I do not know what it is referring to. It is probably referring to things that occur in the eastern states. Those things are not occurring in Western Australia, which is due to our supervision of the ports, our investment, and making sure that there is capacity to deliver the exports. However, there was a bottleneck in 2001 - it was called the Liberal Party. That was no better illustrated than in Geraldton. This government provided $100 million to deepen the harbour and upgrade the infrastructure. The port is now responsible for record amounts of exports, including iron ore exports to China that would not have been possible without the investment of my government. We accept our responsibilities to deliver on our ports’ efficiencies to allow exports to occur. We have improved the performance of the ports; we are investing in them. Once again, we see the commonwealth government intruding in areas about which it knows nothing and which will undermine the capacity of this nation to deliver good results for its people.
Dr G.I. GALLOP replied: Here they go again. The commonwealth government is not satisfied with wanting to take over in a range of areas associated with traditional service delivery at the state government level. It now wants to take over our ports. In Western Australia, the ports have been the province of the state government since the state joined the Federation. Anyone who saw the performance of the Deputy Prime Minister last night would have seen the degree of arrogance that exists in the commonwealth government. The Deputy Prime Minister seems more concerned in his actions to prop up National Party seats in the eastern states than he is with the development of the great nation of Australia. On this occasion the Deputy Prime Minister is showing his arrogance. He wants to override state governments. We see the truth of what is going on in Australia today. There is no doubt that under the ripples on the surface there are strong undercurrents. Those undercurrents represent a real threat to the federal system in Australia. We have to make sure that the public understands what is going on. We also have to ensure that we use our best efforts in the Western Australian Parliament to resist what is going on at the national level. The Deputy Prime Minister outlined a proposal that would see the regulation of ports switch to the commonwealth, but he has not even spoken to the states about it. I will tell the house something about the state of Western Australia. Western Australia is leading the nation in exports. Over the past four years it has spent more than $400 million on the state’s ports. I take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure. Not only has she been in charge of that portfolio and overseen that massive increase in expenditure on our ports, but also she has professionalised the management of the ports. No longer are they simply seen as a province of the National Party for its members. They are now professional operations delivering good services to the people of Western Australia. Do members know what the commonwealth government has injected into ports in the state over that period? Just $3 million! The Reserve Bank of Australia issued a report in February this year that stated that the clearest indication of emerging pressures on capacity has been the disappointing performance of exports, which are around the level they were at the start of the decade. The Reserve Bank produced a graph to show that. When the Western Australian figures are placed on top of that graph, a substantial improvement in exports can be seen. Indeed, exports have grown by more than 16 per cent since 2001, which represents $5 billion. In 2001 Western Australian exports represented 26.7 per cent of the nation’s exports. That figure is more than 29 per cent today. When the commonwealth government talks about the so-called bottlenecks, I do not know what it is referring to. It is probably referring to things that occur in the eastern states. Those things are not occurring in Western Australia, which is due to our supervision of the ports, our investment, and making sure that there is capacity to deliver the exports. However, there was a bottleneck in 2001 - it was called the Liberal Party. That was no better illustrated than in Geraldton. This government provided $100 million to deepen the harbour and upgrade the infrastructure. The port is now responsible for record amounts of exports, including iron ore exports to China that would not have been possible without the investment of my government. We accept our responsibilities to deliver on our ports’ efficiencies to allow exports to occur. We have improved the performance of the ports; we are investing in them. Once again, we see the commonwealth government intruding in areas about which it knows nothing and which will undermine the capacity of this nation to deliver good results for its people.
Here they go again. The commonwealth government is not satisfied with wanting to take over in a range of areas associated with traditional service delivery at the state government level. It now wants to take over our ports. In Western Australia, the ports have been the province of the state government since the state joined the Federation. Anyone who saw the performance of the Deputy Prime Minister last night would have seen the degree of arrogance that exists in the commonwealth government. The Deputy Prime Minister seems more concerned in his actions to prop up National Party seats in the eastern states than he is with the development of the great nation of Australia. On this occasion the Deputy Prime Minister is showing his arrogance. He wants to override state governments. We see the truth of what is going on in Australia today. There is no doubt that under the ripples on the surface there are strong undercurrents. Those undercurrents represent a real threat to the federal system in Australia. We have to make sure that the public understands what is going on. We also have to ensure that we use our best efforts in the Western Australian Parliament to resist what is going on at the national level. The Deputy Prime Minister outlined a proposal that would see the regulation of ports switch to the commonwealth, but he has not even spoken to the states about it. I will tell the house something about the state of Western Australia. Western Australia is leading the nation in exports. Over the past four years it has spent more than $400 million on the state’s ports. I take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure. Not only has she been in charge of that portfolio and overseen that massive increase in expenditure on our ports, but also she has professionalised the management of the ports. No longer are they simply seen as a province of the National Party for its members. They are now professional operations delivering good services to the people of Western Australia. Do members know what the commonwealth government has injected into ports in the state over that period? Just $3 million! The Reserve Bank of Australia issued a report in February this year that stated that the clearest indication of emerging pressures on capacity has been the disappointing performance of exports, which are around the level they were at the start of the decade. The Reserve Bank produced a graph to show that. When the Western Australian figures are placed on top of that graph, a substantial improvement in exports can be seen. Indeed, exports have grown by more than 16 per cent since 2001, which represents $5 billion. In 2001 Western Australian exports represented 26.7 per cent of the nation’s exports. That figure is more than 29 per cent today. When the commonwealth government talks about the so-called bottlenecks, I do not know what it is referring to. It is probably referring to things that occur in the eastern states. Those things are not occurring in Western Australia, which is due to our supervision of the ports, our investment, and making sure that there is capacity to deliver the exports. However, there was a bottleneck in 2001 - it was called the Liberal Party. That was no better illustrated than in Geraldton. This government provided $100 million to deepen the harbour and upgrade the infrastructure. The port is now responsible for record amounts of exports, including iron ore exports to China that would not have been possible without the investment of my government. We accept our responsibilities to deliver on our ports’ efficiencies to allow exports to occur. We have improved the performance of the ports; we are investing in them. Once again, we see the commonwealth government intruding in areas about which it knows nothing and which will undermine the capacity of this nation to deliver good results for its people.
The Deputy Prime Minister outlined a proposal that would see the regulation of ports switch to the commonwealth, but he has not even spoken to the states about it. I will tell the house something about the state of Western Australia. Western Australia is leading the nation in exports. Over the past four years it has spent more than $400 million on the state’s ports. I take this opportunity to congratulate the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure. Not only has she been in charge of that portfolio and overseen that massive increase in expenditure on our ports, but also she has professionalised the management of the ports. No longer are they simply seen as a province of the National Party for its members. They are now professional operations delivering good services to the people of Western Australia. Do members know what the commonwealth government has injected into ports in the state over that period? Just $3 million! The Reserve Bank of Australia issued a report in February this year that stated that the clearest indication of emerging pressures on capacity has been the disappointing performance of exports, which are around the level they were at the start of the decade. The Reserve Bank produced a graph to show that. When the Western Australian figures are placed on top of that graph, a substantial improvement in exports can be seen. Indeed, exports have grown by more than 16 per cent since 2001, which represents $5 billion. In 2001 Western Australian exports represented 26.7 per cent of the nation’s exports. That figure is more than 29 per cent today. When the commonwealth government talks about the so-called bottlenecks, I do not know what it is referring to. It is probably referring to things that occur in the eastern states. Those things are not occurring in Western Australia, which is due to our supervision of the ports, our investment, and making sure that there is capacity to deliver the exports. However, there was a bottleneck in 2001 - it was called the Liberal Party. That was no better illustrated than in Geraldton. This government provided $100 million to deepen the harbour and upgrade the infrastructure. The port is now responsible for record amounts of exports, including iron ore exports to China that would not have been possible without the investment of my government. We accept our responsibilities to deliver on our ports’ efficiencies to allow exports to occur. We have improved the performance of the ports; we are investing in them. Once again, we see the commonwealth government intruding in areas about which it knows nothing and which will undermine the capacity of this nation to deliver good results for its people.
The Reserve Bank of Australia issued a report in February this year that stated that the clearest indication of emerging pressures on capacity has been the disappointing performance of exports, which are around the level they were at the start of the decade. The Reserve Bank produced a graph to show that. When the Western Australian figures are placed on top of that graph, a substantial improvement in exports can be seen. Indeed, exports have grown by more than 16 per cent since 2001, which represents $5 billion. In 2001 Western Australian exports represented 26.7 per cent of the nation’s exports. That figure is more than 29 per cent today. When the commonwealth government talks about the so-called bottlenecks, I do not know what it is referring to. It is probably referring to things that occur in the eastern states. Those things are not occurring in Western Australia, which is due to our supervision of the ports, our investment, and making sure that there is capacity to deliver the exports. However, there was a bottleneck in 2001 - it was called the Liberal Party. That was no better illustrated than in Geraldton. This government provided $100 million to deepen the harbour and upgrade the infrastructure. The port is now responsible for record amounts of exports, including iron ore exports to China that would not have been possible without the investment of my government. We accept our responsibilities to deliver on our ports’ efficiencies to allow exports to occur. We have improved the performance of the ports; we are investing in them. Once again, we see the commonwealth government intruding in areas about which it knows nothing and which will undermine the capacity of this nation to deliver good results for its people.
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