❓ Opposition questions Premier about potential conflict of interest regarding the Minister for Environment's husband's employment at Woodside. Premier defends the Minister, highlighting her capabilities and the implemented conflict management procedure.
AnsweredQoN 42Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT — CONFLICT OF INTEREST
(1) Is the Premier aware that last night the Minister for Environment tabled letters that advised the Department of Environment and Conservation, the Environmental Protection Authority and the Office of the Appeals Convenor that, despite her acknowledged conflict of interest due to her husband’s employment at Woodside, she will continue to meet with “various groups, including officers from Woodside”? (2) Does this make a mockery of the Premier’s management of this serious conflict of interest? (3) How can Woodside’s competitors and customers now have any confidence in the Minister for Environment? Mr C.J. BARNETT
(1) Is the Premier aware that last night the Minister for Environment tabled letters that advised the Department of Environment and Conservation, the Environmental Protection Authority and the Office of the Appeals Convenor that, despite her acknowledged conflict of interest due to her husband’s employment at Woodside, she will continue to meet with “various groups, including officers from Woodside”? (2) Does this make a mockery of the Premier’s management of this serious conflict of interest? (3) How can Woodside’s competitors and customers now have any confidence in the Minister for Environment? Mr C.J. BARNETT
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(3) Why can people have confidence in the Minister for Environment? It is because she is an outstanding young woman. Mr J.A. McGinty : There is a conflict of interest. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Do members not think that Hon Donna Faragher is an outstanding young member of this Parliament? She has had great success already and is destined, I think, for an outstanding career in public service to this state. A lot of people say—I heard a young woman say this on television last night—that the issue of the environment, or global warming, if people like, is about the coming generation. They will be the people who bear the consequences. Why not appoint a young person to take on that portfolio? I do not know what members opposite have against Hon Donna Faragher, but she will run rings around them. Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
(2) Does this make a mockery of the Premier’s management of this serious conflict of interest? (3) How can Woodside’s competitors and customers now have any confidence in the Minister for Environment? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(3) Why can people have confidence in the Minister for Environment? It is because she is an outstanding young woman. Mr J.A. McGinty : There is a conflict of interest. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Do members not think that Hon Donna Faragher is an outstanding young member of this Parliament? She has had great success already and is destined, I think, for an outstanding career in public service to this state. A lot of people say—I heard a young woman say this on television last night—that the issue of the environment, or global warming, if people like, is about the coming generation. They will be the people who bear the consequences. Why not appoint a young person to take on that portfolio? I do not know what members opposite have against Hon Donna Faragher, but she will run rings around them. Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
(3) How can Woodside’s competitors and customers now have any confidence in the Minister for Environment? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(3) Why can people have confidence in the Minister for Environment? It is because she is an outstanding young woman. Mr J.A. McGinty : There is a conflict of interest. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Do members not think that Hon Donna Faragher is an outstanding young member of this Parliament? She has had great success already and is destined, I think, for an outstanding career in public service to this state. A lot of people say—I heard a young woman say this on television last night—that the issue of the environment, or global warming, if people like, is about the coming generation. They will be the people who bear the consequences. Why not appoint a young person to take on that portfolio? I do not know what members opposite have against Hon Donna Faragher, but she will run rings around them. Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(3) Why can people have confidence in the Minister for Environment? It is because she is an outstanding young woman. Mr J.A. McGinty : There is a conflict of interest. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Do members not think that Hon Donna Faragher is an outstanding young member of this Parliament? She has had great success already and is destined, I think, for an outstanding career in public service to this state. A lot of people say—I heard a young woman say this on television last night—that the issue of the environment, or global warming, if people like, is about the coming generation. They will be the people who bear the consequences. Why not appoint a young person to take on that portfolio? I do not know what members opposite have against Hon Donna Faragher, but she will run rings around them. Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(3) Why can people have confidence in the Minister for Environment? It is because she is an outstanding young woman. Mr J.A. McGinty : There is a conflict of interest. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Do members not think that Hon Donna Faragher is an outstanding young member of this Parliament? She has had great success already and is destined, I think, for an outstanding career in public service to this state. A lot of people say—I heard a young woman say this on television last night—that the issue of the environment, or global warming, if people like, is about the coming generation. They will be the people who bear the consequences. Why not appoint a young person to take on that portfolio? I do not know what members opposite have against Hon Donna Faragher, but she will run rings around them. Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
(1)-(3) Why can people have confidence in the Minister for Environment? It is because she is an outstanding young woman. Mr J.A. McGinty : There is a conflict of interest. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Do members not think that Hon Donna Faragher is an outstanding young member of this Parliament? She has had great success already and is destined, I think, for an outstanding career in public service to this state. A lot of people say—I heard a young woman say this on television last night—that the issue of the environment, or global warming, if people like, is about the coming generation. They will be the people who bear the consequences. Why not appoint a young person to take on that portfolio? I do not know what members opposite have against Hon Donna Faragher, but she will run rings around them. Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
Mr J.A. McGinty : There is a conflict of interest. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Do members not think that Hon Donna Faragher is an outstanding young member of this Parliament? She has had great success already and is destined, I think, for an outstanding career in public service to this state. A lot of people say—I heard a young woman say this on television last night—that the issue of the environment, or global warming, if people like, is about the coming generation. They will be the people who bear the consequences. Why not appoint a young person to take on that portfolio? I do not know what members opposite have against Hon Donna Faragher, but she will run rings around them. Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Do members not think that Hon Donna Faragher is an outstanding young member of this Parliament? She has had great success already and is destined, I think, for an outstanding career in public service to this state. A lot of people say—I heard a young woman say this on television last night—that the issue of the environment, or global warming, if people like, is about the coming generation. They will be the people who bear the consequences. Why not appoint a young person to take on that portfolio? I do not know what members opposite have against Hon Donna Faragher, but she will run rings around them. Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
(2) Does this make a mockery of the Premier’s management of this serious conflict of interest? (3) How can Woodside’s competitors and customers now have any confidence in the Minister for Environment? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(3) Why can people have confidence in the Minister for Environment? It is because she is an outstanding young woman. Mr J.A. McGinty : There is a conflict of interest. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Do members not think that Hon Donna Faragher is an outstanding young member of this Parliament? She has had great success already and is destined, I think, for an outstanding career in public service to this state. A lot of people say—I heard a young woman say this on television last night—that the issue of the environment, or global warming, if people like, is about the coming generation. They will be the people who bear the consequences. Why not appoint a young person to take on that portfolio? I do not know what members opposite have against Hon Donna Faragher, but she will run rings around them. Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
(3) How can Woodside’s competitors and customers now have any confidence in the Minister for Environment? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(3) Why can people have confidence in the Minister for Environment? It is because she is an outstanding young woman. Mr J.A. McGinty : There is a conflict of interest. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Do members not think that Hon Donna Faragher is an outstanding young member of this Parliament? She has had great success already and is destined, I think, for an outstanding career in public service to this state. A lot of people say—I heard a young woman say this on television last night—that the issue of the environment, or global warming, if people like, is about the coming generation. They will be the people who bear the consequences. Why not appoint a young person to take on that portfolio? I do not know what members opposite have against Hon Donna Faragher, but she will run rings around them. Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(3) Why can people have confidence in the Minister for Environment? It is because she is an outstanding young woman. Mr J.A. McGinty : There is a conflict of interest. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Do members not think that Hon Donna Faragher is an outstanding young member of this Parliament? She has had great success already and is destined, I think, for an outstanding career in public service to this state. A lot of people say—I heard a young woman say this on television last night—that the issue of the environment, or global warming, if people like, is about the coming generation. They will be the people who bear the consequences. Why not appoint a young person to take on that portfolio? I do not know what members opposite have against Hon Donna Faragher, but she will run rings around them. Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(3) Why can people have confidence in the Minister for Environment? It is because she is an outstanding young woman. Mr J.A. McGinty : There is a conflict of interest. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Do members not think that Hon Donna Faragher is an outstanding young member of this Parliament? She has had great success already and is destined, I think, for an outstanding career in public service to this state. A lot of people say—I heard a young woman say this on television last night—that the issue of the environment, or global warming, if people like, is about the coming generation. They will be the people who bear the consequences. Why not appoint a young person to take on that portfolio? I do not know what members opposite have against Hon Donna Faragher, but she will run rings around them. Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
(1)-(3) Why can people have confidence in the Minister for Environment? It is because she is an outstanding young woman. Mr J.A. McGinty : There is a conflict of interest. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Do members not think that Hon Donna Faragher is an outstanding young member of this Parliament? She has had great success already and is destined, I think, for an outstanding career in public service to this state. A lot of people say—I heard a young woman say this on television last night—that the issue of the environment, or global warming, if people like, is about the coming generation. They will be the people who bear the consequences. Why not appoint a young person to take on that portfolio? I do not know what members opposite have against Hon Donna Faragher, but she will run rings around them. Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
Mr J.A. McGinty : There is a conflict of interest. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Do members not think that Hon Donna Faragher is an outstanding young member of this Parliament? She has had great success already and is destined, I think, for an outstanding career in public service to this state. A lot of people say—I heard a young woman say this on television last night—that the issue of the environment, or global warming, if people like, is about the coming generation. They will be the people who bear the consequences. Why not appoint a young person to take on that portfolio? I do not know what members opposite have against Hon Donna Faragher, but she will run rings around them. Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Do members not think that Hon Donna Faragher is an outstanding young member of this Parliament? She has had great success already and is destined, I think, for an outstanding career in public service to this state. A lot of people say—I heard a young woman say this on television last night—that the issue of the environment, or global warming, if people like, is about the coming generation. They will be the people who bear the consequences. Why not appoint a young person to take on that portfolio? I do not know what members opposite have against Hon Donna Faragher, but she will run rings around them. Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
Let us get back to the issue of the so-called potential conflict of interest. Her husband works in Woodside Petroleum Ltd. When she became a minister, he was immediately transferred from Woodside to work on issues relating to the Australian government’s developments in the Timor Gap area. Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
Ms M.M. Quirk : In Woodside. Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : In Woodside in the Timor Gap; in other words, he is not dealing with issues in the Western Australian jurisdiction or with Western Australian issues. He is not the chief executive officer of Woodside; he works in Woodside. Let us get it in context: Hon Donna Faragher can meet and talk with him, but if she forms a view that there is a potential conflict of interest in some issue, we have already set up a very formal procedure under which the Minister for Planning will take responsibility for decisions that need to be made. We formally set up that procedure on the advice of the State Solicitor. Yes, the information was circulated to the respective agencies and various people she might deal with. How could we be more open and accountable than that? I do not know where the opposition’s problem is. I do not know why it has such a problem. Look at its performance when in government and look at some of the conflicts on its side.
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