❓ The Minister for Public Sector Management defends the Gallop Government's record on reducing spending on consultants, highlighting a decrease in both the number of consultants and associated costs compared to the previous Liberal Government. He accuses the opposition of hiding consultancy costs during their time in power.
AnsweredQoN 60Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer the minister to the “Report on Consultants Engaged by Government” that was tabled today. What has the Government’s record been so far? Mr J.C. KOBELKE
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question. The consultants report tabled today indicates once again that the Gallop Government is very clearly delivering on a firm election promise. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: Which one? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The very clear commitment was to cut spending on advertising, consultancies and travel and to put that money into health, education and law and order. That is what the Gallop Government has done. The report tabled today indicates that there has been a cut in the cost of travel and consultants reports. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What percentage? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: I will give the member the percentage. I will refer to just consultants. When the two and a half years of the Gallop Government that are now covered by tabled consultants reports are compared with the final two and a half years of the last Liberal Government, we find that the number of consultants has been reduced by 500. There were 500 fewer consultants in the first two and a half years of the Gallop Government than there were in the last two and a half years of the Liberal Government. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What about the cost? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: I thank the member for the question. The consultants report tabled today indicates once again that the Gallop Government is very clearly delivering on a firm election promise. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: Which one? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The very clear commitment was to cut spending on advertising, consultancies and travel and to put that money into health, education and law and order. That is what the Gallop Government has done. The report tabled today indicates that there has been a cut in the cost of travel and consultants reports. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What percentage? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: I will give the member the percentage. I will refer to just consultants. When the two and a half years of the Gallop Government that are now covered by tabled consultants reports are compared with the final two and a half years of the last Liberal Government, we find that the number of consultants has been reduced by 500. There were 500 fewer consultants in the first two and a half years of the Gallop Government than there were in the last two and a half years of the Liberal Government. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What about the cost? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
I thank the member for the question. The consultants report tabled today indicates once again that the Gallop Government is very clearly delivering on a firm election promise. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: Which one? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The very clear commitment was to cut spending on advertising, consultancies and travel and to put that money into health, education and law and order. That is what the Gallop Government has done. The report tabled today indicates that there has been a cut in the cost of travel and consultants reports. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What percentage? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: I will give the member the percentage. I will refer to just consultants. When the two and a half years of the Gallop Government that are now covered by tabled consultants reports are compared with the final two and a half years of the last Liberal Government, we find that the number of consultants has been reduced by 500. There were 500 fewer consultants in the first two and a half years of the Gallop Government than there were in the last two and a half years of the Liberal Government. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What about the cost? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mrs C.L. Edwardes: Which one? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The very clear commitment was to cut spending on advertising, consultancies and travel and to put that money into health, education and law and order. That is what the Gallop Government has done. The report tabled today indicates that there has been a cut in the cost of travel and consultants reports. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What percentage? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: I will give the member the percentage. I will refer to just consultants. When the two and a half years of the Gallop Government that are now covered by tabled consultants reports are compared with the final two and a half years of the last Liberal Government, we find that the number of consultants has been reduced by 500. There were 500 fewer consultants in the first two and a half years of the Gallop Government than there were in the last two and a half years of the Liberal Government. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What about the cost? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The very clear commitment was to cut spending on advertising, consultancies and travel and to put that money into health, education and law and order. That is what the Gallop Government has done. The report tabled today indicates that there has been a cut in the cost of travel and consultants reports. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What percentage? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: I will give the member the percentage. I will refer to just consultants. When the two and a half years of the Gallop Government that are now covered by tabled consultants reports are compared with the final two and a half years of the last Liberal Government, we find that the number of consultants has been reduced by 500. There were 500 fewer consultants in the first two and a half years of the Gallop Government than there were in the last two and a half years of the Liberal Government. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What about the cost? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What percentage? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: I will give the member the percentage. I will refer to just consultants. When the two and a half years of the Gallop Government that are now covered by tabled consultants reports are compared with the final two and a half years of the last Liberal Government, we find that the number of consultants has been reduced by 500. There were 500 fewer consultants in the first two and a half years of the Gallop Government than there were in the last two and a half years of the Liberal Government. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What about the cost? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: I will give the member the percentage. I will refer to just consultants. When the two and a half years of the Gallop Government that are now covered by tabled consultants reports are compared with the final two and a half years of the last Liberal Government, we find that the number of consultants has been reduced by 500. There were 500 fewer consultants in the first two and a half years of the Gallop Government than there were in the last two and a half years of the Liberal Government. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What about the cost? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What about the cost? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: I thank the member for the question. The consultants report tabled today indicates once again that the Gallop Government is very clearly delivering on a firm election promise. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: Which one? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The very clear commitment was to cut spending on advertising, consultancies and travel and to put that money into health, education and law and order. That is what the Gallop Government has done. The report tabled today indicates that there has been a cut in the cost of travel and consultants reports. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What percentage? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: I will give the member the percentage. I will refer to just consultants. When the two and a half years of the Gallop Government that are now covered by tabled consultants reports are compared with the final two and a half years of the last Liberal Government, we find that the number of consultants has been reduced by 500. There were 500 fewer consultants in the first two and a half years of the Gallop Government than there were in the last two and a half years of the Liberal Government. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What about the cost? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
I thank the member for the question. The consultants report tabled today indicates once again that the Gallop Government is very clearly delivering on a firm election promise. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: Which one? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The very clear commitment was to cut spending on advertising, consultancies and travel and to put that money into health, education and law and order. That is what the Gallop Government has done. The report tabled today indicates that there has been a cut in the cost of travel and consultants reports. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What percentage? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: I will give the member the percentage. I will refer to just consultants. When the two and a half years of the Gallop Government that are now covered by tabled consultants reports are compared with the final two and a half years of the last Liberal Government, we find that the number of consultants has been reduced by 500. There were 500 fewer consultants in the first two and a half years of the Gallop Government than there were in the last two and a half years of the Liberal Government. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What about the cost? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mrs C.L. Edwardes: Which one? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The very clear commitment was to cut spending on advertising, consultancies and travel and to put that money into health, education and law and order. That is what the Gallop Government has done. The report tabled today indicates that there has been a cut in the cost of travel and consultants reports. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What percentage? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: I will give the member the percentage. I will refer to just consultants. When the two and a half years of the Gallop Government that are now covered by tabled consultants reports are compared with the final two and a half years of the last Liberal Government, we find that the number of consultants has been reduced by 500. There were 500 fewer consultants in the first two and a half years of the Gallop Government than there were in the last two and a half years of the Liberal Government. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What about the cost? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The very clear commitment was to cut spending on advertising, consultancies and travel and to put that money into health, education and law and order. That is what the Gallop Government has done. The report tabled today indicates that there has been a cut in the cost of travel and consultants reports. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What percentage? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: I will give the member the percentage. I will refer to just consultants. When the two and a half years of the Gallop Government that are now covered by tabled consultants reports are compared with the final two and a half years of the last Liberal Government, we find that the number of consultants has been reduced by 500. There were 500 fewer consultants in the first two and a half years of the Gallop Government than there were in the last two and a half years of the Liberal Government. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What about the cost? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What percentage? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: I will give the member the percentage. I will refer to just consultants. When the two and a half years of the Gallop Government that are now covered by tabled consultants reports are compared with the final two and a half years of the last Liberal Government, we find that the number of consultants has been reduced by 500. There were 500 fewer consultants in the first two and a half years of the Gallop Government than there were in the last two and a half years of the Liberal Government. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What about the cost? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: I will give the member the percentage. I will refer to just consultants. When the two and a half years of the Gallop Government that are now covered by tabled consultants reports are compared with the final two and a half years of the last Liberal Government, we find that the number of consultants has been reduced by 500. There were 500 fewer consultants in the first two and a half years of the Gallop Government than there were in the last two and a half years of the Liberal Government. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What about the cost? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mrs C.L. Edwardes: What about the cost? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That is a reduction in cost of 19 per cent. However, a huge amount of the cost on consultants in the two and a half years of the Gallop Government was associated with reports commissioned by the last Liberal Government. If the reports of the Liberal Party that were paid for in the time of the Gallop Government are not considered, we find that the saving in consultants reports in that two-and-a-half-year period is more than 50 per cent. Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Several members interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: That does not take account of the fact that the conservative Government was less than honest. We all know about the “Path to Privatisation” report that Western Power produced when the Leader of the Opposition was Minister for Energy. That did not appear in the consultants report. However, on the prompting of the Leader of the Opposition, we have done some research and found the letter dated 29 July 1998 that was signed off by, as the letterhead states, the Minister for Resources Development; Energy; Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly. It contains the now Leader of the Opposition’s signature. The letter indicated that in April 1998, which is the same date as the Western Power “Path to Privatisation” report, a report was prepared by Macquarie Corporate Finance Ltd. Of course, Macquarie Corporate Finance wrote the “Path to Privatisation” report. According to the letter of the now Leader of the Opposition, the report by Macquarie cost $90 000. However, it was not called “Path to Privatisation. It was called “capital structure”. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mrs C.L. Edwardes: There was a report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The then Minister for Energy signed off on a capital structure report that cost over $90 000. The interesting thing is that the consultants report that was tabled in this House makes no mention of any report from Macquarie Corporate Finance. Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mrs C.L. Edwardes: I ask for an apology. You accused the Leader of the Opposition last week of tampering with the report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: We know that the Leader of the Opposition signed off on a paper that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet in which the “Path to Privatisation” report was deliberately hidden. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet removed even the reference to the Macquarie report from the report tabled in Parliament. There is a lot of answering to be done. Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr C.J. Barnett: Repeat what you said. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition signed off on reports that had been prepared for his portfolio. Of course, the tabled value of the reports prepared for his office and agencies in six of the years he was minister was $37 million. In just six years, $37 million was spent on reports for one minister, and that does not count the $90 000 that was spent on the “Path to Privatisation” report, which the then minister, the now Leader of the Opposition, signed off on and sent to the Director General of the Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr C.J. Barnett: You accused me of interfering in that report. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr C.J. Barnett: Where’s the apology? Mr Speaker! Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the apology? You accused me of interfering in that report. Where is the apology? Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: He signed off - Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr C.J. Barnett: Get up and apologise! The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
The SPEAKER: Order! I am sure the minister’s answer is coming to a conclusion. The number of interjections has meant that the answer has stagnated. Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE: The Leader of the Opposition and then Minister for Energy signed off on misleading information that went to the then Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet. The Ministry of the Premier and Cabinet never included that in its report. We do not know why. Perhaps it did not want to deliberately deceive the Parliament, because the Leader of the Opposition had not signed off on it. He signed off on that report under a different name, and it did not appear in the report that was tabled in the Chamber.
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