❓ Dr. Honey questions the Minister for Water about a significant increase in Water Corporation staff. The Minister confirms the increase, attributing it to bringing previously privatised services back in-house.
AnsweredQoN 952Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WATER CORPORATION —
STAFF
952. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Water:
I
refer to the minister's response to my question on notice. Can the
minister confirm that the total number of staff in the Water Corporation has
increased from 2 654 in 2016 to 3 429 in 2020, which is an increase of 775 or
29 per cent?
STAFF
952. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Water:
I
refer to the minister's response to my question on notice. Can the
minister confirm that the total number of staff in the Water Corporation has
increased from 2 654 in 2016 to 3 429 in 2020, which is an increase of 775 or
29 per cent?
AnswerView source ↗
Again, I thank the member for
Cottesloe for the question. I congratulate the member on getting two in a calendar
year. I am very pleased that the member managed to get himself up the totem
pole to that.
Mr F.M. Logan : They don't
trust him with more.
Mr D.J. KELLY : They do not
trust him with more. There is always tomorrow or when we come back.
I am really pleased that the member
for Cottesloe asked me that question. There has in fact been an increase in the
number of staff at the Water Corporation. It may have missed the member's
attention that, under this government, we have brought back in-house a number
of services that were privatised under previous Liberal governments.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Members!
Mr D.J. KELLY : Essentially,
maintenance for metropolitan operations was privatised under the Court Liberal
government back in 1997, I think it was. Under this government, we brought that
work back in-house. That was about 250 staff
who are happy now to be back employed directly by the Water Corporation. I went
to a morning tea that the Water Corporation put on to celebrate those
staff coming back in-house. I remember one gentleman came up to me and said
that he had worked for the Water Corporation, as he saw it, for over 40 years.
He started with the Water Authority of Western Australia, and then his job had
been privatised. He had essentially done the same job but the logo had changed
on his shirt. He had seen contractors come and go. He was now, he said, in a position
in which he could proudly retire as a directly employed employee of the Water
Corporation. That was the mood at that morning tea. People worked hard but they
were proud that they were finally again being recognised as direct employees of
the Water Corporation.
In addition to that, there was a contract—the
Aroona Alliance—which I think was let in 2012, again by the previous
Barnett Liberal government. That was operating a lot of our wastewater
treatment plants, the dams and those sorts of activities and those major bits
of infrastructure. I think at the time about 400 staff came back into the Water
Corporation as direct employees. Again, I went to a similar morning tea for
that group when they came in. They were suitably chuffed that we on this side
of the house think that the work that they do for the public of Western Australia
is so important that they can be now directly employed by the Water
Corporation. I have to say that when we were hit by COVID-19 and the Water
Corporation had to quickly alter the way that it managed a lot of those
services, having those staff directly employed and in their direct line of
sight was of great assistance.
The member for Cottesloe is right;
there has been an increase in the number of staff at the Water Corporation
largely due to those two contracts coming back in-house, and they are decisions
I am very proud of.
WATER CORPORATION — STAFF
Dr D.J.
HONEY to the Minister for Water:
I have a supplementary question.
Can the minister confirm that he cares more about growing union membership than
he does about —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : No, that is not
a supplementary. It is not a supplementary.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Point of Order
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP : Under the
standing orders, I understand that a supplementary question should relate to
the original question that was asked. The member for Cottesloe was asking a question
about the workforce.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : It is not a point
of order. That is the end of question time.
Cottesloe for the question. I congratulate the member on getting two in a calendar
year. I am very pleased that the member managed to get himself up the totem
pole to that.
Mr F.M. Logan : They don't
trust him with more.
Mr D.J. KELLY : They do not
trust him with more. There is always tomorrow or when we come back.
I am really pleased that the member
for Cottesloe asked me that question. There has in fact been an increase in the
number of staff at the Water Corporation. It may have missed the member's
attention that, under this government, we have brought back in-house a number
of services that were privatised under previous Liberal governments.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Members!
Mr D.J. KELLY : Essentially,
maintenance for metropolitan operations was privatised under the Court Liberal
government back in 1997, I think it was. Under this government, we brought that
work back in-house. That was about 250 staff
who are happy now to be back employed directly by the Water Corporation. I went
to a morning tea that the Water Corporation put on to celebrate those
staff coming back in-house. I remember one gentleman came up to me and said
that he had worked for the Water Corporation, as he saw it, for over 40 years.
He started with the Water Authority of Western Australia, and then his job had
been privatised. He had essentially done the same job but the logo had changed
on his shirt. He had seen contractors come and go. He was now, he said, in a position
in which he could proudly retire as a directly employed employee of the Water
Corporation. That was the mood at that morning tea. People worked hard but they
were proud that they were finally again being recognised as direct employees of
the Water Corporation.
In addition to that, there was a contract—the
Aroona Alliance—which I think was let in 2012, again by the previous
Barnett Liberal government. That was operating a lot of our wastewater
treatment plants, the dams and those sorts of activities and those major bits
of infrastructure. I think at the time about 400 staff came back into the Water
Corporation as direct employees. Again, I went to a similar morning tea for
that group when they came in. They were suitably chuffed that we on this side
of the house think that the work that they do for the public of Western Australia
is so important that they can be now directly employed by the Water
Corporation. I have to say that when we were hit by COVID-19 and the Water
Corporation had to quickly alter the way that it managed a lot of those
services, having those staff directly employed and in their direct line of
sight was of great assistance.
The member for Cottesloe is right;
there has been an increase in the number of staff at the Water Corporation
largely due to those two contracts coming back in-house, and they are decisions
I am very proud of.
WATER CORPORATION — STAFF
Dr D.J.
HONEY to the Minister for Water:
I have a supplementary question.
Can the minister confirm that he cares more about growing union membership than
he does about —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : No, that is not
a supplementary. It is not a supplementary.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Point of Order
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP : Under the
standing orders, I understand that a supplementary question should relate to
the original question that was asked. The member for Cottesloe was asking a question
about the workforce.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : It is not a point
of order. That is the end of question time.
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.