❓ Mrs Roberts questions the Minister for Police regarding a previous refusal to answer questions about Mr. Tung Tran, alleging incompetence or untruthfulness. The Minister clarifies her previous statements, stating 'discussion' is a better term than 'negotiation' regarding a police review of the case.
AnsweredQoN 219Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TUNG TRAN
219. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the Minister for
Police:
I refer to the minister's
refusal to answer questions yesterday because of non-existent police
negotiations and a need to somehow protect the state's interest in
those negotiations.
(1) Will the
minister now admit that there were no negotiations underway, and no impediment
under standing order 91 or any other standing order, and that the minister had
no reason, other than perhaps her own incompetence or untruthfulness, for not
answering those questions?
(2) Can the
minister now advise the house of the full circumstances surrounding this case,
including why it took the police 12 months to drop the charges?
219. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the Minister for
Police:
I refer to the minister's
refusal to answer questions yesterday because of non-existent police
negotiations and a need to somehow protect the state's interest in
those negotiations.
(1) Will the
minister now admit that there were no negotiations underway, and no impediment
under standing order 91 or any other standing order, and that the minister had
no reason, other than perhaps her own incompetence or untruthfulness, for not
answering those questions?
(2) Can the
minister now advise the house of the full circumstances surrounding this case,
including why it took the police 12 months to drop the charges?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for Midland for the opportunity to clarify my statements made
yesterday in Parliament in response to her question about Mr Tung Tran. I was
going to rise under standing order 82A after question time, Mr Speaker —
Mrs
M.H. Roberts interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Midland!
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : Standing order 82A would have been the appropriate standing
order, as I have been advised.
Mrs
M.H. Roberts : You misled the house!
The
SPEAKER : Member for Midland, I call you now to order for the second time, I
believe.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : I have not misled the house; I have never misled this house,
and I will never mislead this house.
Mrs
M.H. Roberts interjected.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : I reiterate: I have never misled this house.
To go back to the comments that I made
in Parliament yesterday, I said that there is a potential for some negotiation
between Mr Tran and WA police so that both parties can understand the
particular circumstances around how that case got to the point it did before
the charges were actually dropped.
Mrs
M.H. Roberts interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Midland!
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : That is what I said. With the benefit of hindsight, the word ''negotiation''
was probably not the best word to use. ''Discussion'' is probably
a better word, because what WA Police is currently doing is reviewing the
entire interaction that it had with Mr Tran over that 12-month period,
reviewing the time line and having a look at the police actions and what
actually led to the point in time when the charges were dropped. My
understanding and my expectation of WA Police was that they would then take
that review and have discussions with Mr Tran to explain all of those
circumstances, because it has not been clear to Mr Tran or his team why those
charges were dropped, and I think it is in the public interest that Mr Tran and
his lawyers are informed. I do not want to pre-empt or influence that review
process with police. It is currently underway. I will be informed of the
outcome of that review once it is concluded.
thank the member for Midland for the opportunity to clarify my statements made
yesterday in Parliament in response to her question about Mr Tung Tran. I was
going to rise under standing order 82A after question time, Mr Speaker —
Mrs
M.H. Roberts interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Midland!
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : Standing order 82A would have been the appropriate standing
order, as I have been advised.
Mrs
M.H. Roberts : You misled the house!
The
SPEAKER : Member for Midland, I call you now to order for the second time, I
believe.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : I have not misled the house; I have never misled this house,
and I will never mislead this house.
Mrs
M.H. Roberts interjected.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : I reiterate: I have never misled this house.
To go back to the comments that I made
in Parliament yesterday, I said that there is a potential for some negotiation
between Mr Tran and WA police so that both parties can understand the
particular circumstances around how that case got to the point it did before
the charges were actually dropped.
Mrs
M.H. Roberts interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Midland!
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : That is what I said. With the benefit of hindsight, the word ''negotiation''
was probably not the best word to use. ''Discussion'' is probably
a better word, because what WA Police is currently doing is reviewing the
entire interaction that it had with Mr Tran over that 12-month period,
reviewing the time line and having a look at the police actions and what
actually led to the point in time when the charges were dropped. My
understanding and my expectation of WA Police was that they would then take
that review and have discussions with Mr Tran to explain all of those
circumstances, because it has not been clear to Mr Tran or his team why those
charges were dropped, and I think it is in the public interest that Mr Tran and
his lawyers are informed. I do not want to pre-empt or influence that review
process with police. It is currently underway. I will be informed of the
outcome of that review once it is concluded.
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