❓ The Minister deflects blame for the Toodyay bushfire onto the previous Labor government, citing their alleged failure to invest in infrastructure despite budget surpluses, while highlighting the current government's response and investment in the power network.
AnsweredQoN 781Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TOODYAY BUSHFIRE — PUBLIC INQUIRY
I have a supplementary question. Do I take it that the minister has taken no action as a consequence of that meeting? Mr B.J. GRYLLS
I have a supplementary question. Do I take it that the minister has taken no action as a consequence of that meeting? Mr B.J. GRYLLS
AnswerView source ↗
Maybe the action should have been taken when the former Labor government was in power and when it had record budget surpluses and it did not actually bother to make the investment. Maybe if that investment had been made, we would not have had that problem. As I have said, I seem to recall the Leader of the Opposition standing in this Parliament and saying, “We’ve put the money in; we’ve fixed the problem.” As we now know, the problem was not fixed, and that is why the Minister for Energy, who is very much engaged in this, has put the extra money into the power network; and that is why I have worked closely with the Minister for Energy, the Minister for Emergency Services, and cabinet, thanks very much, to make sure that we had a direct and clear response to that tragedy. I am very happy to have our record of dealing with that matter judged and compared with the record that the former government built up over eight years that whenever there was a crisis, it did nothing, and when action was needed, it did nothing. I think the people of Western Australia will be happy that they have a government that looks at problems and addresses them, and when people have been disadvantaged, the government is compassionate enough to act. I think our record stands for all to judge on the back of how the Western Australian Liberal–National government responded to that Toodyay fire.
Mr B.J. GRYLLS replied: Maybe the action should have been taken when the former Labor government was in power and when it had record budget surpluses and it did not actually bother to make the investment. Maybe if that investment had been made, we would not have had that problem. As I have said, I seem to recall the Leader of the Opposition standing in this Parliament and saying, “We’ve put the money in; we’ve fixed the problem.” As we now know, the problem was not fixed, and that is why the Minister for Energy, who is very much engaged in this, has put the extra money into the power network; and that is why I have worked closely with the Minister for Energy, the Minister for Emergency Services, and cabinet, thanks very much, to make sure that we had a direct and clear response to that tragedy. I am very happy to have our record of dealing with that matter judged and compared with the record that the former government built up over eight years that whenever there was a crisis, it did nothing, and when action was needed, it did nothing. I think the people of Western Australia will be happy that they have a government that looks at problems and addresses them, and when people have been disadvantaged, the government is compassionate enough to act. I think our record stands for all to judge on the back of how the Western Australian Liberal–National government responded to that Toodyay fire.
Maybe the action should have been taken when the former Labor government was in power and when it had record budget surpluses and it did not actually bother to make the investment. Maybe if that investment had been made, we would not have had that problem. As I have said, I seem to recall the Leader of the Opposition standing in this Parliament and saying, “We’ve put the money in; we’ve fixed the problem.” As we now know, the problem was not fixed, and that is why the Minister for Energy, who is very much engaged in this, has put the extra money into the power network; and that is why I have worked closely with the Minister for Energy, the Minister for Emergency Services, and cabinet, thanks very much, to make sure that we had a direct and clear response to that tragedy. I am very happy to have our record of dealing with that matter judged and compared with the record that the former government built up over eight years that whenever there was a crisis, it did nothing, and when action was needed, it did nothing. I think the people of Western Australia will be happy that they have a government that looks at problems and addresses them, and when people have been disadvantaged, the government is compassionate enough to act. I think our record stands for all to judge on the back of how the Western Australian Liberal–National government responded to that Toodyay fire.
Mr B.J. GRYLLS replied: Maybe the action should have been taken when the former Labor government was in power and when it had record budget surpluses and it did not actually bother to make the investment. Maybe if that investment had been made, we would not have had that problem. As I have said, I seem to recall the Leader of the Opposition standing in this Parliament and saying, “We’ve put the money in; we’ve fixed the problem.” As we now know, the problem was not fixed, and that is why the Minister for Energy, who is very much engaged in this, has put the extra money into the power network; and that is why I have worked closely with the Minister for Energy, the Minister for Emergency Services, and cabinet, thanks very much, to make sure that we had a direct and clear response to that tragedy. I am very happy to have our record of dealing with that matter judged and compared with the record that the former government built up over eight years that whenever there was a crisis, it did nothing, and when action was needed, it did nothing. I think the people of Western Australia will be happy that they have a government that looks at problems and addresses them, and when people have been disadvantaged, the government is compassionate enough to act. I think our record stands for all to judge on the back of how the Western Australian Liberal–National government responded to that Toodyay fire.
Maybe the action should have been taken when the former Labor government was in power and when it had record budget surpluses and it did not actually bother to make the investment. Maybe if that investment had been made, we would not have had that problem. As I have said, I seem to recall the Leader of the Opposition standing in this Parliament and saying, “We’ve put the money in; we’ve fixed the problem.” As we now know, the problem was not fixed, and that is why the Minister for Energy, who is very much engaged in this, has put the extra money into the power network; and that is why I have worked closely with the Minister for Energy, the Minister for Emergency Services, and cabinet, thanks very much, to make sure that we had a direct and clear response to that tragedy. I am very happy to have our record of dealing with that matter judged and compared with the record that the former government built up over eight years that whenever there was a crisis, it did nothing, and when action was needed, it did nothing. I think the people of Western Australia will be happy that they have a government that looks at problems and addresses them, and when people have been disadvantaged, the government is compassionate enough to act. I think our record stands for all to judge on the back of how the Western Australian Liberal–National government responded to that Toodyay fire.
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.