❓ Question on Notice regarding police resources for prosecutions and compliance with the Criminal Investigation Act, particularly concerning stop-and-search legislation and protections for vulnerable individuals. The Minister's response is defensive and avoids directly answering the initial questions.
AnsweredQoN 688Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
POLICE — RESOURCES FOR PROSECUTIONS
I refer to the 2009–10 WA Police annual report and the observation within it that fewer convictions had been secured in contested matters. The reasons proffered for this were that the courts may be ruling evidence inadmissible because provisions of the Criminal Investigation Act had not been complied with, and because the level of police prosecution resources was insufficient. (1) What is the point of talking tough on crime if the minister is going to starve police of the resources necessary to bring offenders to book? (2) Is the minister concerned that people are being acquitted because police cannot comply with the legal requirements for securing evidence? (3) How does this non-compliance sit with the Barnett government’s plan to expand police powers under the Criminal Investigation Act? (4) Why has the minister refused to accept all of the recommendations on the stop-and-search legislation, especially those that would exempt children under the age of 18 and provide protection to young people, the mentally disabled, and people under cultural duress? Mr R.F. JOHNSON
I refer to the 2009–10 WA Police annual report and the observation within it that fewer convictions had been secured in contested matters. The reasons proffered for this were that the courts may be ruling evidence inadmissible because provisions of the Criminal Investigation Act had not been complied with, and because the level of police prosecution resources was insufficient. (1) What is the point of talking tough on crime if the minister is going to starve police of the resources necessary to bring offenders to book? (2) Is the minister concerned that people are being acquitted because police cannot comply with the legal requirements for securing evidence? (3) How does this non-compliance sit with the Barnett government’s plan to expand police powers under the Criminal Investigation Act? (4) Why has the minister refused to accept all of the recommendations on the stop-and-search legislation, especially those that would exempt children under the age of 18 and provide protection to young people, the mentally disabled, and people under cultural duress? Mr R.F. JOHNSON
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(4) I would have appreciated some notice of the first part of the question. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Haven’t you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
(1) What is the point of talking tough on crime if the minister is going to starve police of the resources necessary to bring offenders to book? (2) Is the minister concerned that people are being acquitted because police cannot comply with the legal requirements for securing evidence? (3) How does this non-compliance sit with the Barnett government’s plan to expand police powers under the Criminal Investigation Act? (4) Why has the minister refused to accept all of the recommendations on the stop-and-search legislation, especially those that would exempt children under the age of 18 and provide protection to young people, the mentally disabled, and people under cultural duress? Mr R.F. JOHNSON replied: (1)–(4) I would have appreciated some notice of the first part of the question. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Haven’t you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
(2) Is the minister concerned that people are being acquitted because police cannot comply with the legal requirements for securing evidence? (3) How does this non-compliance sit with the Barnett government’s plan to expand police powers under the Criminal Investigation Act? (4) Why has the minister refused to accept all of the recommendations on the stop-and-search legislation, especially those that would exempt children under the age of 18 and provide protection to young people, the mentally disabled, and people under cultural duress? Mr R.F. JOHNSON replied: (1)–(4) I would have appreciated some notice of the first part of the question. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Haven’t you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
(3) How does this non-compliance sit with the Barnett government’s plan to expand police powers under the Criminal Investigation Act? (4) Why has the minister refused to accept all of the recommendations on the stop-and-search legislation, especially those that would exempt children under the age of 18 and provide protection to young people, the mentally disabled, and people under cultural duress? Mr R.F. JOHNSON replied: (1)–(4) I would have appreciated some notice of the first part of the question. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Haven’t you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
(4) Why has the minister refused to accept all of the recommendations on the stop-and-search legislation, especially those that would exempt children under the age of 18 and provide protection to young people, the mentally disabled, and people under cultural duress? Mr R.F. JOHNSON replied: (1)–(4) I would have appreciated some notice of the first part of the question. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Haven’t you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON replied: (1)–(4) I would have appreciated some notice of the first part of the question. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Haven’t you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
(1)–(4) I would have appreciated some notice of the first part of the question. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Haven’t you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : Haven’t you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
(1) What is the point of talking tough on crime if the minister is going to starve police of the resources necessary to bring offenders to book? (2) Is the minister concerned that people are being acquitted because police cannot comply with the legal requirements for securing evidence? (3) How does this non-compliance sit with the Barnett government’s plan to expand police powers under the Criminal Investigation Act? (4) Why has the minister refused to accept all of the recommendations on the stop-and-search legislation, especially those that would exempt children under the age of 18 and provide protection to young people, the mentally disabled, and people under cultural duress? Mr R.F. JOHNSON replied: (1)–(4) I would have appreciated some notice of the first part of the question. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Haven’t you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
(2) Is the minister concerned that people are being acquitted because police cannot comply with the legal requirements for securing evidence? (3) How does this non-compliance sit with the Barnett government’s plan to expand police powers under the Criminal Investigation Act? (4) Why has the minister refused to accept all of the recommendations on the stop-and-search legislation, especially those that would exempt children under the age of 18 and provide protection to young people, the mentally disabled, and people under cultural duress? Mr R.F. JOHNSON replied: (1)–(4) I would have appreciated some notice of the first part of the question. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Haven’t you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
(3) How does this non-compliance sit with the Barnett government’s plan to expand police powers under the Criminal Investigation Act? (4) Why has the minister refused to accept all of the recommendations on the stop-and-search legislation, especially those that would exempt children under the age of 18 and provide protection to young people, the mentally disabled, and people under cultural duress? Mr R.F. JOHNSON replied: (1)–(4) I would have appreciated some notice of the first part of the question. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Haven’t you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
(4) Why has the minister refused to accept all of the recommendations on the stop-and-search legislation, especially those that would exempt children under the age of 18 and provide protection to young people, the mentally disabled, and people under cultural duress? Mr R.F. JOHNSON replied: (1)–(4) I would have appreciated some notice of the first part of the question. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Haven’t you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON replied: (1)–(4) I would have appreciated some notice of the first part of the question. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Haven’t you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
(1)–(4) I would have appreciated some notice of the first part of the question. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Haven’t you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : Haven’t you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not be quiet? Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : It is obvious to me that members opposite do not want any part of that question answered, because all they want to do is interject and make stupid comments. Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : You just can’t answer it, that’s why. The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
The SPEAKER : Member for Midland! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will ask the questions put to me by the member for Girrawheen, and I will do it in reverse order. She was talking about the stop-and-search legislation and why — Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Ms M.M. Quirk : I was talking about fewer convictions because of failure to comply with the requirements. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member asked about stop-and-search legislation and why the government was not prepared to accept all the recommendations put forward by the committee in the other place. I would have thought that anybody would realise that we could not accept all the recommendations put forward by that committee, because some of them were contradictory. Three members of the committee simply said that they believed that the legislation should be scrapped. That was one recommendation; they made other recommendations. We have accepted 36 of the 46 recommendations that were put forward by that committee; I think that that is a huge compromise, quite frankly. I am looking specifically at the one the member referred to. We were not prepared to exempt people under the age of 18 being stopped and searched. Frankly, they can be stopped and searched already; under the existing laws, any child of any age can be stopped and searched. That is the existing legislation; all the police officers need is reasonable suspicion that an offence is being committed. The member for Girrawheen is laughing her head off; she obviously does not take this seriously. Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Ms M.M. Quirk : I am laughing at the member for Bassendean. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I would not listen to the member for Bassendean; he is in enough trouble. He might go home early today, with a bit of luck. Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Those powers are already there to stop and search people under the age of 18. Let me just say that a lot of crimes are committed by people under the age of 18; we recently heard of two 15-year-olds who held a knife to an old person’s throat in a robbery. The member wants to exempt those people from the possibility of being searched for weapons. Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr E.S. Ripper : Don’t forget to answer questions one to three; rather than just giving the opposition a serve, answer the questions. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I will get to that, but I will answer the questions the way I want to answer them, not the way the Leader of the Opposition wants me to answer them, which is what he did the whole time he was on this side of the house for seven and a half years. Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Today, Customs displayed a tremendous number of weapons that people had attempted to import into Western Australia; those weapons would probably have ended up on WA streets. I believe that the stop-and-search laws that the government put forward would be an important part of getting those sorts of weapons off our streets. I think I have answered that part of the question. On the question of resourcing for prosecutions — Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr P. Papalia interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I am trying to answer the member for Girrawheen’s question, and all I am getting is inane interjections from other members opposite. Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr M.P. Murray : Why don’t you get on with it? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Why does the member not go home and do a bit of poaching? That is his favourite pastime! I will answer the question if the Leader of the Opposition keeps his members quiet! Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
The SPEAKER : The member for Girrawheen has asked questions of the minister; I am expecting to hear those questions answered. There are some members in this place who would like to intervene in that process, I would presume. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The first part of the question was in relation to what is seen as — Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr M.P. Murray interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : If I am going to continue to get interjections and stupid, inane remarks from the poachers in this place, I will just sit down and take the member’s question on notice. If she wants an answer, I will give it to her now; if not, I will leave it, and she can put it on notice. In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
In the first part of the member’s question, she inferred that there was not enough resourcing for the police to carry out — Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Ms M.M. Quirk : That’s what the police said in their annual report; it wasn’t me inferring it, it’s what’s in the annual report. Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr J.N. Hyde : Did you read the annual report? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I have not read it in detail yet, no, of course I have not. I have been too busy doing other stuff, quite frankly. I have been in this place long enough to know that very often, quotes that come from members opposite are not actually accurate quotes, and they have an interpretation that has nothing to do with the truth. I will go away and look at those particular quotes, I will study the member for Girrawheen’s questions very, very carefully, and I will give her a very accurate and honest answer as soon as possible—either by the end of today, or tomorrow.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.