❓ Dr. Honey questions the Premier regarding his comments about those concerned with the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act and asks if he will apologise and pause the Act's start date. The Premier deflects, criticises the questioner, and compares the petition to a historical one.
AnsweredQoN 422Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ABORIGINAL CULTURAL HERITAGE ACT — LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PETITION
422. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I refer to the Legislative Council
parliamentary petition with almost 30 000 signatures asking the Premier to
pause the 1 July start date of the
Aboriginal cultural heritage laws, and his comments yesterday downplaying the
importance of this parliamentary petition.
(1) The Premier
referred to Western Australians concerned about the new laws as ''dogs
returning to their vomit'' and referred to ''dog whistling'';
will he apologise —
Several members
interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Order, please!
Dr D.J. HONEY :
Will the Premier apologise to those almost 30 000 Western Australians for those
comments?
(2) Will the
Premier genuinely listen to the Western Australians who have signed this
parliamentary petition expressing concern and pause the start date by six
months?
Several members
interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, I know
a lot of you would like to answer the question, but only the Premier will be
answering it. Thank you.
422. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I refer to the Legislative Council
parliamentary petition with almost 30 000 signatures asking the Premier to
pause the 1 July start date of the
Aboriginal cultural heritage laws, and his comments yesterday downplaying the
importance of this parliamentary petition.
(1) The Premier
referred to Western Australians concerned about the new laws as ''dogs
returning to their vomit'' and referred to ''dog whistling'';
will he apologise —
Several members
interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Order, please!
Dr D.J. HONEY :
Will the Premier apologise to those almost 30 000 Western Australians for those
comments?
(2) Will the
Premier genuinely listen to the Western Australians who have signed this
parliamentary petition expressing concern and pause the start date by six
months?
Several members
interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, I know
a lot of you would like to answer the question, but only the Premier will be
answering it. Thank you.
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) Of
course the member knows full well that I was not referring to those petitioners
when I referred to dogs and their delight in tasty morsels; I was referring to
you, member. No-one else, just you. Oh, and maybe the five other hapless souls
opposite us.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Order, please!
Mr R.H. COOK : Yesterday I was
simply clarifying a point. I did not understand the nature of the petition that
was put forward, and I fully respect that people have concerns in relation to
this; I acknowledge that and have done so day in, day out this week. I have
acknowledged that there are anxieties and questions associated with these laws
that will modernise a 50-year-old law to protect Aboriginal cultural heritage.
I noticed today that the opposition is claiming
that this is the biggest petition since 1979. I thought that was interesting.
Technically, it probably is because the Legislative Council's
standing orders were amended recently so it can accept e-petitions.
Technically, this is the biggest one,
according to the standing orders, that has been presented since 1979. That made
me wonder what t he 1979 petition was
about and why was it so huge. I looked at it. It was a petition presented by
the late Dr Tom Dadour , who was the member for Subiaco, as it was called
back in those days. At that time, Tom was a Liberal member of the Legislative
Assembly. He had a petition against the Court Liberal government for closing
the Perth–Fremantle rail line. The records of the Parliament are a little
bit shady in terms of how many people signed that petition. The public records
show that it was anywhere between 95 000 and 103 000. That is a petition!
Obviously, signatures were collected in the more traditional way of going out,
talking to people, engaging with them and getting them to sign the petition.
I do not criticise the people who signed this e-petition. I have
acknowledged that there is concern in the community, which is the reason we are
doing so much work to make sure that we provide answers to people's
questions, and work closely with industry in
a collaborative and educative way to make sure that these laws are simpler,
fairer and essentially produce
like-for-like activities that will fall outside these laws. I understand that
there is a level of concern , and we are obviously taking every
opportunity to make sure that they are understood as they are implemented.
Of course the last observation I would make is that Tom
Dadour did the only decent thing that a man faced with those sorts of policies
from a Liberal–National government could do—that is, he
resigned from the Liberal Party!
course the member knows full well that I was not referring to those petitioners
when I referred to dogs and their delight in tasty morsels; I was referring to
you, member. No-one else, just you. Oh, and maybe the five other hapless souls
opposite us.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Order, please!
Mr R.H. COOK : Yesterday I was
simply clarifying a point. I did not understand the nature of the petition that
was put forward, and I fully respect that people have concerns in relation to
this; I acknowledge that and have done so day in, day out this week. I have
acknowledged that there are anxieties and questions associated with these laws
that will modernise a 50-year-old law to protect Aboriginal cultural heritage.
I noticed today that the opposition is claiming
that this is the biggest petition since 1979. I thought that was interesting.
Technically, it probably is because the Legislative Council's
standing orders were amended recently so it can accept e-petitions.
Technically, this is the biggest one,
according to the standing orders, that has been presented since 1979. That made
me wonder what t he 1979 petition was
about and why was it so huge. I looked at it. It was a petition presented by
the late Dr Tom Dadour , who was the member for Subiaco, as it was called
back in those days. At that time, Tom was a Liberal member of the Legislative
Assembly. He had a petition against the Court Liberal government for closing
the Perth–Fremantle rail line. The records of the Parliament are a little
bit shady in terms of how many people signed that petition. The public records
show that it was anywhere between 95 000 and 103 000. That is a petition!
Obviously, signatures were collected in the more traditional way of going out,
talking to people, engaging with them and getting them to sign the petition.
I do not criticise the people who signed this e-petition. I have
acknowledged that there is concern in the community, which is the reason we are
doing so much work to make sure that we provide answers to people's
questions, and work closely with industry in
a collaborative and educative way to make sure that these laws are simpler,
fairer and essentially produce
like-for-like activities that will fall outside these laws. I understand that
there is a level of concern , and we are obviously taking every
opportunity to make sure that they are understood as they are implemented.
Of course the last observation I would make is that Tom
Dadour did the only decent thing that a man faced with those sorts of policies
from a Liberal–National government could do—that is, he
resigned from the Liberal Party!
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