❓ Mr. Love questions the Premier about the alleged misuse of public funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically regarding the role of senior staff in gauging public opinion. The Premier avoids directly answering the question, instead defending the government's COVID-19 response and criticising the opposition.
AnsweredQoN 336Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
GOVERNMENT ADVERTISING —
AUDIT
336. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
I refer to findings in the Auditor
General's report on government campaign advertising that there had been
an inappropriate use of public funds by the
Department of the Premier and Cabinet to gauge the popularity of government decisions rather than public health awareness or compliance during the COVID
pandemic. The report confirms that two senior staff from the former Premier's
office were involved in the design of these questions.
Can the Premier confirm whether his
chief of staff, Mr Daniel Pastorelli, was one of these staff, and does he
accept that such use of funds is inappropriate?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
AUDIT
336. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Premier:
I refer to findings in the Auditor
General's report on government campaign advertising that there had been
an inappropriate use of public funds by the
Department of the Premier and Cabinet to gauge the popularity of government decisions rather than public health awareness or compliance during the COVID
pandemic. The report confirms that two senior staff from the former Premier's
office were involved in the design of these questions.
Can the Premier confirm whether his
chief of staff, Mr Daniel Pastorelli, was one of these staff, and does he
accept that such use of funds is inappropriate?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question
and take the opportunity to acknowledge Kay Hallahan, Carol Martin and Megan
Anwyl in the Speaker's gallery today.
I welcome the opportunity to remind
the Parliament and the people of Western Australia about who was working
against the interests of Western Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. They
are back at it! They cannot help themselves. They tried to tear down our hard
borders during COVID-19. They constantly undermined our efforts to keep Western
Australians safe. They were negative about our efforts to save the lives of Western
Australians, got into bed with Clive Palmer and Scott Morrison, and challenged
our rules. Madam Speaker —
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr R.H. COOK : We obviously
took steps to understand how our decisions at the time impacted on Western Australians—their
sense of security, their anxieties—and understand how effectively we
were communicating those decisions. Why did we do that?
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr R.H. COOK : It is because
it was a matter of life and death. We absolutely stand by everything that we
did in relation to COVID-19 to make sure that we kept Western Australians safe.
The panel that undertook the inquiry into our efforts, headed by Hon John Day,
gave us a warm set of recommendations in terms of our efforts to keep Western Australians safe, and I am very proud of
our efforts. I am proud of the work of the Chief Health Officer, and I am proud
of the work of Chris Dawson, who at the time was the Commissioner of Police and
our State Emergency Coordinator. Ultimately, he was the one responsible for the
communications and the work. Obviously, a whole range of people's
ideas and thoughts went into that work to make sure that we had cross-agency
and collaborative efforts to ensure that
everyone had a role to play in keeping Western Australians safe, but,
ultimately, it was Chris Dawson , the now Governor of Western Australia,
who undertook this work.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr R.H. COOK : We in the WA
Labor Party are immensely proud of the work of Western Australians, because
together, as a society and a community, we saved lives. We kept the economy
going, we kept jobs going and, as it happens, because of the work we did, we
kept the national economy going, which allowed the federal government of the
day to provide all that leave and relief work that it did particularly in
Victoria and New South Wales.
If the Leader of the Opposition
wants to continue to raise COVID-19 issues, we will remind members opposite
every day of the week about what their role was during COVID-19. Thank God we
had a WA Labor government during that period!
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
and take the opportunity to acknowledge Kay Hallahan, Carol Martin and Megan
Anwyl in the Speaker's gallery today.
I welcome the opportunity to remind
the Parliament and the people of Western Australia about who was working
against the interests of Western Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. They
are back at it! They cannot help themselves. They tried to tear down our hard
borders during COVID-19. They constantly undermined our efforts to keep Western
Australians safe. They were negative about our efforts to save the lives of Western
Australians, got into bed with Clive Palmer and Scott Morrison, and challenged
our rules. Madam Speaker —
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr R.H. COOK : We obviously
took steps to understand how our decisions at the time impacted on Western Australians—their
sense of security, their anxieties—and understand how effectively we
were communicating those decisions. Why did we do that?
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr R.H. COOK : It is because
it was a matter of life and death. We absolutely stand by everything that we
did in relation to COVID-19 to make sure that we kept Western Australians safe.
The panel that undertook the inquiry into our efforts, headed by Hon John Day,
gave us a warm set of recommendations in terms of our efforts to keep Western Australians safe, and I am very proud of
our efforts. I am proud of the work of the Chief Health Officer, and I am proud
of the work of Chris Dawson, who at the time was the Commissioner of Police and
our State Emergency Coordinator. Ultimately, he was the one responsible for the
communications and the work. Obviously, a whole range of people's
ideas and thoughts went into that work to make sure that we had cross-agency
and collaborative efforts to ensure that
everyone had a role to play in keeping Western Australians safe, but,
ultimately, it was Chris Dawson , the now Governor of Western Australia,
who undertook this work.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr R.H. COOK : We in the WA
Labor Party are immensely proud of the work of Western Australians, because
together, as a society and a community, we saved lives. We kept the economy
going, we kept jobs going and, as it happens, because of the work we did, we
kept the national economy going, which allowed the federal government of the
day to provide all that leave and relief work that it did particularly in
Victoria and New South Wales.
If the Leader of the Opposition
wants to continue to raise COVID-19 issues, we will remind members opposite
every day of the week about what their role was during COVID-19. Thank God we
had a WA Labor government during that period!
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
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