❓ Opposition questions the Premier on police resources for counter-terrorism, referencing a Deputy Police Commissioner's statement. The Premier accuses the Opposition of politicising the issue and emphasises inter-agency cooperation.
AnsweredQoN 341Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer the Premier to comments made last week on an ABC radio program by Deputy Police Commissioner Bruce Brennan who said that the current terrorist threat in Australia does stretch our resources; no doubt about it. (1) Does the Premier concede that the Western Australia Police Service currently does not have the resources to deal with a growing potential terrorist threat, or does he agree with the deputy police commissioner? (2) Will the Premier support a call by the Liberal Opposition to urgently provide additional funding to establish a specialist counter-terrorist unit within the Western Australia Police Service? Dr G.I. GALLOP
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(2) It is very disappointing that the current Opposition of Western Australia has tried to politicise this issue in a very petty way. There is a major challenge before our community. The Government of Western Australia, along with the federal, State and Territory Governments, is working cooperatively to deal with this issue. I will make a point that I have made at every press conference I have held on this matter, and I will re-emphasise the point. Any person who seriously studies the question of a terrorist threat will reach one very important conclusion; that is, the absolute requirement for dealing with this issue is cooperation between state and federal authorities and between the Government and the private sector. In the United States of America, as a result of a lack of proper cooperation and coordination between the levels of government and a lack of proper information flow between private and government sources, a vacuum was created, and into that vacuum went the most evil people we have seen on this planet in recent times. The key to this issue is cooperation. Our Government has made it absolutely clear that it is in full cooperation with the Commonwealth Government to deal with this issue. As part of that cooperation, the federal and state authorities are completely reviewing the resources available to the different state and federal authorities to deal with this issue. The first part of that review went through to the last meeting of the Council of Australian Governments. Following that, there has been significant legislative and administrative reform to ensure that we are in a position to deal with this issue, and in a few minutes I will introduce legislation into this Parliament to deal with that. Secondly, a wide-ranging review currently is under way of the equipment that is necessary for both our state and federal police services to deal with this issue. Discussions are taking place between the federal and state authorities about that. As I said at the press conference last week, should those discussions reveal that we need to do more, we will do more but it will be based on the proper study that is under way. We will ensure our police officers have the equipment they need. Thirdly and very importantly, we must ensure that the intelligence-gathering capacity of Australia is in proper shape to deal with the issue. To that end, we will beef up our local intelligence gathering in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police - not separately from it - as was reported in The West Australian last week. Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
(1) Does the Premier concede that the Western Australia Police Service currently does not have the resources to deal with a growing potential terrorist threat, or does he agree with the deputy police commissioner? (2) Will the Premier support a call by the Liberal Opposition to urgently provide additional funding to establish a specialist counter-terrorist unit within the Western Australia Police Service? Dr G.I. GALLOP replied: (1)-(2) It is very disappointing that the current Opposition of Western Australia has tried to politicise this issue in a very petty way. There is a major challenge before our community. The Government of Western Australia, along with the federal, State and Territory Governments, is working cooperatively to deal with this issue. I will make a point that I have made at every press conference I have held on this matter, and I will re-emphasise the point. Any person who seriously studies the question of a terrorist threat will reach one very important conclusion; that is, the absolute requirement for dealing with this issue is cooperation between state and federal authorities and between the Government and the private sector. In the United States of America, as a result of a lack of proper cooperation and coordination between the levels of government and a lack of proper information flow between private and government sources, a vacuum was created, and into that vacuum went the most evil people we have seen on this planet in recent times. The key to this issue is cooperation. Our Government has made it absolutely clear that it is in full cooperation with the Commonwealth Government to deal with this issue. As part of that cooperation, the federal and state authorities are completely reviewing the resources available to the different state and federal authorities to deal with this issue. The first part of that review went through to the last meeting of the Council of Australian Governments. Following that, there has been significant legislative and administrative reform to ensure that we are in a position to deal with this issue, and in a few minutes I will introduce legislation into this Parliament to deal with that. Secondly, a wide-ranging review currently is under way of the equipment that is necessary for both our state and federal police services to deal with this issue. Discussions are taking place between the federal and state authorities about that. As I said at the press conference last week, should those discussions reveal that we need to do more, we will do more but it will be based on the proper study that is under way. We will ensure our police officers have the equipment they need. Thirdly and very importantly, we must ensure that the intelligence-gathering capacity of Australia is in proper shape to deal with the issue. To that end, we will beef up our local intelligence gathering in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police - not separately from it - as was reported in The West Australian last week. Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
(2) Will the Premier support a call by the Liberal Opposition to urgently provide additional funding to establish a specialist counter-terrorist unit within the Western Australia Police Service? Dr G.I. GALLOP replied: (1)-(2) It is very disappointing that the current Opposition of Western Australia has tried to politicise this issue in a very petty way. There is a major challenge before our community. The Government of Western Australia, along with the federal, State and Territory Governments, is working cooperatively to deal with this issue. I will make a point that I have made at every press conference I have held on this matter, and I will re-emphasise the point. Any person who seriously studies the question of a terrorist threat will reach one very important conclusion; that is, the absolute requirement for dealing with this issue is cooperation between state and federal authorities and between the Government and the private sector. In the United States of America, as a result of a lack of proper cooperation and coordination between the levels of government and a lack of proper information flow between private and government sources, a vacuum was created, and into that vacuum went the most evil people we have seen on this planet in recent times. The key to this issue is cooperation. Our Government has made it absolutely clear that it is in full cooperation with the Commonwealth Government to deal with this issue. As part of that cooperation, the federal and state authorities are completely reviewing the resources available to the different state and federal authorities to deal with this issue. The first part of that review went through to the last meeting of the Council of Australian Governments. Following that, there has been significant legislative and administrative reform to ensure that we are in a position to deal with this issue, and in a few minutes I will introduce legislation into this Parliament to deal with that. Secondly, a wide-ranging review currently is under way of the equipment that is necessary for both our state and federal police services to deal with this issue. Discussions are taking place between the federal and state authorities about that. As I said at the press conference last week, should those discussions reveal that we need to do more, we will do more but it will be based on the proper study that is under way. We will ensure our police officers have the equipment they need. Thirdly and very importantly, we must ensure that the intelligence-gathering capacity of Australia is in proper shape to deal with the issue. To that end, we will beef up our local intelligence gathering in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police - not separately from it - as was reported in The West Australian last week. Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
Dr G.I. GALLOP replied: (1)-(2) It is very disappointing that the current Opposition of Western Australia has tried to politicise this issue in a very petty way. There is a major challenge before our community. The Government of Western Australia, along with the federal, State and Territory Governments, is working cooperatively to deal with this issue. I will make a point that I have made at every press conference I have held on this matter, and I will re-emphasise the point. Any person who seriously studies the question of a terrorist threat will reach one very important conclusion; that is, the absolute requirement for dealing with this issue is cooperation between state and federal authorities and between the Government and the private sector. In the United States of America, as a result of a lack of proper cooperation and coordination between the levels of government and a lack of proper information flow between private and government sources, a vacuum was created, and into that vacuum went the most evil people we have seen on this planet in recent times. The key to this issue is cooperation. Our Government has made it absolutely clear that it is in full cooperation with the Commonwealth Government to deal with this issue. As part of that cooperation, the federal and state authorities are completely reviewing the resources available to the different state and federal authorities to deal with this issue. The first part of that review went through to the last meeting of the Council of Australian Governments. Following that, there has been significant legislative and administrative reform to ensure that we are in a position to deal with this issue, and in a few minutes I will introduce legislation into this Parliament to deal with that. Secondly, a wide-ranging review currently is under way of the equipment that is necessary for both our state and federal police services to deal with this issue. Discussions are taking place between the federal and state authorities about that. As I said at the press conference last week, should those discussions reveal that we need to do more, we will do more but it will be based on the proper study that is under way. We will ensure our police officers have the equipment they need. Thirdly and very importantly, we must ensure that the intelligence-gathering capacity of Australia is in proper shape to deal with the issue. To that end, we will beef up our local intelligence gathering in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police - not separately from it - as was reported in The West Australian last week. Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
(1)-(2) It is very disappointing that the current Opposition of Western Australia has tried to politicise this issue in a very petty way. There is a major challenge before our community. The Government of Western Australia, along with the federal, State and Territory Governments, is working cooperatively to deal with this issue. I will make a point that I have made at every press conference I have held on this matter, and I will re-emphasise the point. Any person who seriously studies the question of a terrorist threat will reach one very important conclusion; that is, the absolute requirement for dealing with this issue is cooperation between state and federal authorities and between the Government and the private sector. In the United States of America, as a result of a lack of proper cooperation and coordination between the levels of government and a lack of proper information flow between private and government sources, a vacuum was created, and into that vacuum went the most evil people we have seen on this planet in recent times. The key to this issue is cooperation. Our Government has made it absolutely clear that it is in full cooperation with the Commonwealth Government to deal with this issue. As part of that cooperation, the federal and state authorities are completely reviewing the resources available to the different state and federal authorities to deal with this issue. The first part of that review went through to the last meeting of the Council of Australian Governments. Following that, there has been significant legislative and administrative reform to ensure that we are in a position to deal with this issue, and in a few minutes I will introduce legislation into this Parliament to deal with that. Secondly, a wide-ranging review currently is under way of the equipment that is necessary for both our state and federal police services to deal with this issue. Discussions are taking place between the federal and state authorities about that. As I said at the press conference last week, should those discussions reveal that we need to do more, we will do more but it will be based on the proper study that is under way. We will ensure our police officers have the equipment they need. Thirdly and very importantly, we must ensure that the intelligence-gathering capacity of Australia is in proper shape to deal with the issue. To that end, we will beef up our local intelligence gathering in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police - not separately from it - as was reported in The West Australian last week. Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
The key to this issue is cooperation. Our Government has made it absolutely clear that it is in full cooperation with the Commonwealth Government to deal with this issue. As part of that cooperation, the federal and state authorities are completely reviewing the resources available to the different state and federal authorities to deal with this issue. The first part of that review went through to the last meeting of the Council of Australian Governments. Following that, there has been significant legislative and administrative reform to ensure that we are in a position to deal with this issue, and in a few minutes I will introduce legislation into this Parliament to deal with that. Secondly, a wide-ranging review currently is under way of the equipment that is necessary for both our state and federal police services to deal with this issue. Discussions are taking place between the federal and state authorities about that. As I said at the press conference last week, should those discussions reveal that we need to do more, we will do more but it will be based on the proper study that is under way. We will ensure our police officers have the equipment they need. Thirdly and very importantly, we must ensure that the intelligence-gathering capacity of Australia is in proper shape to deal with the issue. To that end, we will beef up our local intelligence gathering in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police - not separately from it - as was reported in The West Australian last week. Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
Secondly, a wide-ranging review currently is under way of the equipment that is necessary for both our state and federal police services to deal with this issue. Discussions are taking place between the federal and state authorities about that. As I said at the press conference last week, should those discussions reveal that we need to do more, we will do more but it will be based on the proper study that is under way. We will ensure our police officers have the equipment they need. Thirdly and very importantly, we must ensure that the intelligence-gathering capacity of Australia is in proper shape to deal with the issue. To that end, we will beef up our local intelligence gathering in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police - not separately from it - as was reported in The West Australian last week. Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
Thirdly and very importantly, we must ensure that the intelligence-gathering capacity of Australia is in proper shape to deal with the issue. To that end, we will beef up our local intelligence gathering in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police - not separately from it - as was reported in The West Australian last week. Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
(1) Does the Premier concede that the Western Australia Police Service currently does not have the resources to deal with a growing potential terrorist threat, or does he agree with the deputy police commissioner? (2) Will the Premier support a call by the Liberal Opposition to urgently provide additional funding to establish a specialist counter-terrorist unit within the Western Australia Police Service? Dr G.I. GALLOP replied: (1)-(2) It is very disappointing that the current Opposition of Western Australia has tried to politicise this issue in a very petty way. There is a major challenge before our community. The Government of Western Australia, along with the federal, State and Territory Governments, is working cooperatively to deal with this issue. I will make a point that I have made at every press conference I have held on this matter, and I will re-emphasise the point. Any person who seriously studies the question of a terrorist threat will reach one very important conclusion; that is, the absolute requirement for dealing with this issue is cooperation between state and federal authorities and between the Government and the private sector. In the United States of America, as a result of a lack of proper cooperation and coordination between the levels of government and a lack of proper information flow between private and government sources, a vacuum was created, and into that vacuum went the most evil people we have seen on this planet in recent times. The key to this issue is cooperation. Our Government has made it absolutely clear that it is in full cooperation with the Commonwealth Government to deal with this issue. As part of that cooperation, the federal and state authorities are completely reviewing the resources available to the different state and federal authorities to deal with this issue. The first part of that review went through to the last meeting of the Council of Australian Governments. Following that, there has been significant legislative and administrative reform to ensure that we are in a position to deal with this issue, and in a few minutes I will introduce legislation into this Parliament to deal with that. Secondly, a wide-ranging review currently is under way of the equipment that is necessary for both our state and federal police services to deal with this issue. Discussions are taking place between the federal and state authorities about that. As I said at the press conference last week, should those discussions reveal that we need to do more, we will do more but it will be based on the proper study that is under way. We will ensure our police officers have the equipment they need. Thirdly and very importantly, we must ensure that the intelligence-gathering capacity of Australia is in proper shape to deal with the issue. To that end, we will beef up our local intelligence gathering in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police - not separately from it - as was reported in The West Australian last week. Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
(2) Will the Premier support a call by the Liberal Opposition to urgently provide additional funding to establish a specialist counter-terrorist unit within the Western Australia Police Service? Dr G.I. GALLOP replied: (1)-(2) It is very disappointing that the current Opposition of Western Australia has tried to politicise this issue in a very petty way. There is a major challenge before our community. The Government of Western Australia, along with the federal, State and Territory Governments, is working cooperatively to deal with this issue. I will make a point that I have made at every press conference I have held on this matter, and I will re-emphasise the point. Any person who seriously studies the question of a terrorist threat will reach one very important conclusion; that is, the absolute requirement for dealing with this issue is cooperation between state and federal authorities and between the Government and the private sector. In the United States of America, as a result of a lack of proper cooperation and coordination between the levels of government and a lack of proper information flow between private and government sources, a vacuum was created, and into that vacuum went the most evil people we have seen on this planet in recent times. The key to this issue is cooperation. Our Government has made it absolutely clear that it is in full cooperation with the Commonwealth Government to deal with this issue. As part of that cooperation, the federal and state authorities are completely reviewing the resources available to the different state and federal authorities to deal with this issue. The first part of that review went through to the last meeting of the Council of Australian Governments. Following that, there has been significant legislative and administrative reform to ensure that we are in a position to deal with this issue, and in a few minutes I will introduce legislation into this Parliament to deal with that. Secondly, a wide-ranging review currently is under way of the equipment that is necessary for both our state and federal police services to deal with this issue. Discussions are taking place between the federal and state authorities about that. As I said at the press conference last week, should those discussions reveal that we need to do more, we will do more but it will be based on the proper study that is under way. We will ensure our police officers have the equipment they need. Thirdly and very importantly, we must ensure that the intelligence-gathering capacity of Australia is in proper shape to deal with the issue. To that end, we will beef up our local intelligence gathering in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police - not separately from it - as was reported in The West Australian last week. Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
Dr G.I. GALLOP replied: (1)-(2) It is very disappointing that the current Opposition of Western Australia has tried to politicise this issue in a very petty way. There is a major challenge before our community. The Government of Western Australia, along with the federal, State and Territory Governments, is working cooperatively to deal with this issue. I will make a point that I have made at every press conference I have held on this matter, and I will re-emphasise the point. Any person who seriously studies the question of a terrorist threat will reach one very important conclusion; that is, the absolute requirement for dealing with this issue is cooperation between state and federal authorities and between the Government and the private sector. In the United States of America, as a result of a lack of proper cooperation and coordination between the levels of government and a lack of proper information flow between private and government sources, a vacuum was created, and into that vacuum went the most evil people we have seen on this planet in recent times. The key to this issue is cooperation. Our Government has made it absolutely clear that it is in full cooperation with the Commonwealth Government to deal with this issue. As part of that cooperation, the federal and state authorities are completely reviewing the resources available to the different state and federal authorities to deal with this issue. The first part of that review went through to the last meeting of the Council of Australian Governments. Following that, there has been significant legislative and administrative reform to ensure that we are in a position to deal with this issue, and in a few minutes I will introduce legislation into this Parliament to deal with that. Secondly, a wide-ranging review currently is under way of the equipment that is necessary for both our state and federal police services to deal with this issue. Discussions are taking place between the federal and state authorities about that. As I said at the press conference last week, should those discussions reveal that we need to do more, we will do more but it will be based on the proper study that is under way. We will ensure our police officers have the equipment they need. Thirdly and very importantly, we must ensure that the intelligence-gathering capacity of Australia is in proper shape to deal with the issue. To that end, we will beef up our local intelligence gathering in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police - not separately from it - as was reported in The West Australian last week. Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
(1)-(2) It is very disappointing that the current Opposition of Western Australia has tried to politicise this issue in a very petty way. There is a major challenge before our community. The Government of Western Australia, along with the federal, State and Territory Governments, is working cooperatively to deal with this issue. I will make a point that I have made at every press conference I have held on this matter, and I will re-emphasise the point. Any person who seriously studies the question of a terrorist threat will reach one very important conclusion; that is, the absolute requirement for dealing with this issue is cooperation between state and federal authorities and between the Government and the private sector. In the United States of America, as a result of a lack of proper cooperation and coordination between the levels of government and a lack of proper information flow between private and government sources, a vacuum was created, and into that vacuum went the most evil people we have seen on this planet in recent times. The key to this issue is cooperation. Our Government has made it absolutely clear that it is in full cooperation with the Commonwealth Government to deal with this issue. As part of that cooperation, the federal and state authorities are completely reviewing the resources available to the different state and federal authorities to deal with this issue. The first part of that review went through to the last meeting of the Council of Australian Governments. Following that, there has been significant legislative and administrative reform to ensure that we are in a position to deal with this issue, and in a few minutes I will introduce legislation into this Parliament to deal with that. Secondly, a wide-ranging review currently is under way of the equipment that is necessary for both our state and federal police services to deal with this issue. Discussions are taking place between the federal and state authorities about that. As I said at the press conference last week, should those discussions reveal that we need to do more, we will do more but it will be based on the proper study that is under way. We will ensure our police officers have the equipment they need. Thirdly and very importantly, we must ensure that the intelligence-gathering capacity of Australia is in proper shape to deal with the issue. To that end, we will beef up our local intelligence gathering in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police - not separately from it - as was reported in The West Australian last week. Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
The key to this issue is cooperation. Our Government has made it absolutely clear that it is in full cooperation with the Commonwealth Government to deal with this issue. As part of that cooperation, the federal and state authorities are completely reviewing the resources available to the different state and federal authorities to deal with this issue. The first part of that review went through to the last meeting of the Council of Australian Governments. Following that, there has been significant legislative and administrative reform to ensure that we are in a position to deal with this issue, and in a few minutes I will introduce legislation into this Parliament to deal with that. Secondly, a wide-ranging review currently is under way of the equipment that is necessary for both our state and federal police services to deal with this issue. Discussions are taking place between the federal and state authorities about that. As I said at the press conference last week, should those discussions reveal that we need to do more, we will do more but it will be based on the proper study that is under way. We will ensure our police officers have the equipment they need. Thirdly and very importantly, we must ensure that the intelligence-gathering capacity of Australia is in proper shape to deal with the issue. To that end, we will beef up our local intelligence gathering in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police - not separately from it - as was reported in The West Australian last week. Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
Secondly, a wide-ranging review currently is under way of the equipment that is necessary for both our state and federal police services to deal with this issue. Discussions are taking place between the federal and state authorities about that. As I said at the press conference last week, should those discussions reveal that we need to do more, we will do more but it will be based on the proper study that is under way. We will ensure our police officers have the equipment they need. Thirdly and very importantly, we must ensure that the intelligence-gathering capacity of Australia is in proper shape to deal with the issue. To that end, we will beef up our local intelligence gathering in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police - not separately from it - as was reported in The West Australian last week. Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
Thirdly and very importantly, we must ensure that the intelligence-gathering capacity of Australia is in proper shape to deal with the issue. To that end, we will beef up our local intelligence gathering in cooperation with the Australian Federal Police - not separately from it - as was reported in The West Australian last week. Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
Do members know what the Opposition said in its press release? The Opposition’s contribution to a very serious debate in Australia was to suggest that we close down the Royal Commission Into Whether There Has Been Any Corrupt or Criminal Conduct by Western Australian Police Officers and use that money for other purposes. The Opposition calls that a bipartisan approach to fighting terrorism in Western Australia! Again, that contribution shows that the Liberal Party in Western Australia is not responding to the challenge that has been before us as parliamentarians, since the 1996 Legislative Council report, to deal with allegations of police corruption once and for all. The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
The first conclusion we can reach is that the Opposition wants to sweep those allegations under the carpet. The second conclusion that can be reached is that the Leader of the Opposition is incapable of dealing with any issue on a bipartisan basis. The Leader of the Opposition has worms in his soul. If anything is done by the Government of Western Australia, it must be wrong because it is done by the Government of Western Australia. The worms are eating away at his soul. He cannot stomach the fact that this State has a Labor Government. He does not have the ability to rise above petty party politics and deal with an issue. I say to the people of Western Australia through the Parliament that we will leave no stone unturned to make sure that our citizens are protected. We will do what needs to be done through legislation, resources and administrative arrangements between the State and Commonwealth to make sure that the sorts of things we saw happen in the United States and Bali will not happen here in Western Australia.
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