❓ Mr. Krsticevic questions the Premier's commitment to addressing homelessness, while Mr. Cook defends the government's actions and criticizes the opposition's approach to the issue.
AnsweredQoN 596Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOMELESSNESS
596. Mr
A. KRSTICEVIC to the Deputy Premier:
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, please!
I do not want to seem biased in any way. The member for Mount Lawley did stand
up first but I know he is a gentleman and will let the member for Carine, who
was slow to his feet, speak.
Mr A. KRSTICEVIC : Given it is
Homelessness Week, what example is the Premier of Western Australia setting by
refusing to meet the homeless in his own electorate and refusing to visit the
Salvation Army's Beacon facility that fulfils such an important role in
helping those who are down on their luck?
596. Mr
A. KRSTICEVIC to the Deputy Premier:
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, please!
I do not want to seem biased in any way. The member for Mount Lawley did stand
up first but I know he is a gentleman and will let the member for Carine, who
was slow to his feet, speak.
Mr A. KRSTICEVIC : Given it is
Homelessness Week, what example is the Premier of Western Australia setting by
refusing to meet the homeless in his own electorate and refusing to visit the
Salvation Army's Beacon facility that fulfils such an important role in
helping those who are down on their luck?
AnswerView source ↗
Thank you very much for the
opportunity to answer this question. Member, how do you know he has not?
Mr A. Krsticevic : He said he
hasn't.
Mr R.H. COOK : When?
Mr A. Krsticevic : He said he
hasn't visited the shantytown.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr R.H. COOK : Mr Speaker, I sit
next to the Premier during question time and he has never said he has not
visited those facilities. Member, how do you know he has not been?
Government members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members on my
right, your acting Premier is on his feet.
Mr R.H. COOK : Not only is the
premise of the question wrong, but I guess we should ask the member what sort
of example he thinks he is setting the Western Australian community by trying
to provide some sort of rank political advantage out of a complex and difficult
issue like homelessness? What sort of example does he think he is setting the
people of Western Australia, through the comments of the Leader of the
Opposition, that somehow homelessness is linked to meth zombies? What sort of
example does the member think he is setting the people of Western Australia by
using Homelessness Week to undertake the cheapest form of political campaigning
I have ever seen? What the member should do is read the book that the Leader of
the Opposition and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition have in front of them
now. That will tell the member that homelessness is a complex issue. It is an
issue that governments everywhere have continued to apply themselves to over
many years. This government spends in excess of $90 million a year around
issues to do with homelessness. We heard Minister McGurk this week talk at
length about the sort of work that we are doing to not only tackle people who
are tipped into homelessness and provide them with some crisis support, but
also what we are doing in places like Foyer Oxford to put people back on their
feet, allowing them to overcome complex issues that brought them to
homelessness in the first place and help them on a pathway to being safe and
having a roof over their head. We know that homelessness is a complex issue.
The Premier meets frequently with people in his community from disadvantaged
backgrounds, including the homeless. I have them in my community. We all have
them in our communities, member for Carine. It requires leaders in our
community and all members assembled here to be a bit more understanding and a bit
more sophisticated to set a better example than the one the member is
providing.
opportunity to answer this question. Member, how do you know he has not?
Mr A. Krsticevic : He said he
hasn't.
Mr R.H. COOK : When?
Mr A. Krsticevic : He said he
hasn't visited the shantytown.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr R.H. COOK : Mr Speaker, I sit
next to the Premier during question time and he has never said he has not
visited those facilities. Member, how do you know he has not been?
Government members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members on my
right, your acting Premier is on his feet.
Mr R.H. COOK : Not only is the
premise of the question wrong, but I guess we should ask the member what sort
of example he thinks he is setting the Western Australian community by trying
to provide some sort of rank political advantage out of a complex and difficult
issue like homelessness? What sort of example does he think he is setting the
people of Western Australia, through the comments of the Leader of the
Opposition, that somehow homelessness is linked to meth zombies? What sort of
example does the member think he is setting the people of Western Australia by
using Homelessness Week to undertake the cheapest form of political campaigning
I have ever seen? What the member should do is read the book that the Leader of
the Opposition and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition have in front of them
now. That will tell the member that homelessness is a complex issue. It is an
issue that governments everywhere have continued to apply themselves to over
many years. This government spends in excess of $90 million a year around
issues to do with homelessness. We heard Minister McGurk this week talk at
length about the sort of work that we are doing to not only tackle people who
are tipped into homelessness and provide them with some crisis support, but
also what we are doing in places like Foyer Oxford to put people back on their
feet, allowing them to overcome complex issues that brought them to
homelessness in the first place and help them on a pathway to being safe and
having a roof over their head. We know that homelessness is a complex issue.
The Premier meets frequently with people in his community from disadvantaged
backgrounds, including the homeless. I have them in my community. We all have
them in our communities, member for Carine. It requires leaders in our
community and all members assembled here to be a bit more understanding and a bit
more sophisticated to set a better example than the one the member is
providing.
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