❓ A parliamentary question regarding the Kimberley Ultramarathon fire and the government's funding and oversight of the event, specifically questioning the checks done on the event organiser and the adequacy of safety measures. The Minister acknowledges concerns and commits to reviewing sponsorship procedures.
AnsweredQoN 749Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Kimberley ULTRA MARATHON — El Questro Wilderness Park Fire
I refer to the Kimberley Ultramarathon, which was allocated funding through Eventscorp regional events program. (1) What checks, if any, were done on the Hong Kong–based company RacingThePlanet before government funding was provided, including into the death of a man and burns to competitors in a previous event in the Gobi Desert? (2) Does the minister acknowledge that government funding, along with a press release from the minister and two other government ministers on 26 August, may have given competitors a false impression of government approvals being in place? (3) Can the minister confirm that the Fire and Emergency Services Authority and police investigations were into only the cause of the fire rather than the responsibility of organisers or sponsors? (4) Has the minister discontinued funding for this event for the next two years; and, if not, why not? Dr K.D. HAMES
I refer to the Kimberley Ultramarathon, which was allocated funding through Eventscorp regional events program. (1) What checks, if any, were done on the Hong Kong–based company RacingThePlanet before government funding was provided, including into the death of a man and burns to competitors in a previous event in the Gobi Desert? (2) Does the minister acknowledge that government funding, along with a press release from the minister and two other government ministers on 26 August, may have given competitors a false impression of government approvals being in place? (3) Can the minister confirm that the Fire and Emergency Services Authority and police investigations were into only the cause of the fire rather than the responsibility of organisers or sponsors? (4) Has the minister discontinued funding for this event for the next two years; and, if not, why not? Dr K.D. HAMES
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(4) That is the first question I have heard from the shadow Minister for Tourism—congratulations. It is a very important question. I do not have the answers to all the components the member has raised, particularly on the issue she raised about there being a previous fire and a death. That is something I have not heard of before. What I do know from questioning Tourism WA about the event, its support for it and what occurred, is that Eventscorp has very clear contractual relationships with the company. It is not a new company; it has been running this event for a considerable time. In fact, it is a very popular international event. Eventscorp does checks on the company to ensure it will fulfil all the requirements. The sponsorship of this event does not actually involve Tourism WA paying money to the company to run the event. We pay no money for that. We do not pay to support the event at all; we fund the marketing of it. When the company runs its event, we want people to know about it. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Our Western Australian government logo goes on it. Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
(1) What checks, if any, were done on the Hong Kong–based company RacingThePlanet before government funding was provided, including into the death of a man and burns to competitors in a previous event in the Gobi Desert? (2) Does the minister acknowledge that government funding, along with a press release from the minister and two other government ministers on 26 August, may have given competitors a false impression of government approvals being in place? (3) Can the minister confirm that the Fire and Emergency Services Authority and police investigations were into only the cause of the fire rather than the responsibility of organisers or sponsors? (4) Has the minister discontinued funding for this event for the next two years; and, if not, why not? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(4) That is the first question I have heard from the shadow Minister for Tourism—congratulations. It is a very important question. I do not have the answers to all the components the member has raised, particularly on the issue she raised about there being a previous fire and a death. That is something I have not heard of before. What I do know from questioning Tourism WA about the event, its support for it and what occurred, is that Eventscorp has very clear contractual relationships with the company. It is not a new company; it has been running this event for a considerable time. In fact, it is a very popular international event. Eventscorp does checks on the company to ensure it will fulfil all the requirements. The sponsorship of this event does not actually involve Tourism WA paying money to the company to run the event. We pay no money for that. We do not pay to support the event at all; we fund the marketing of it. When the company runs its event, we want people to know about it. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Our Western Australian government logo goes on it. Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
(2) Does the minister acknowledge that government funding, along with a press release from the minister and two other government ministers on 26 August, may have given competitors a false impression of government approvals being in place? (3) Can the minister confirm that the Fire and Emergency Services Authority and police investigations were into only the cause of the fire rather than the responsibility of organisers or sponsors? (4) Has the minister discontinued funding for this event for the next two years; and, if not, why not? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(4) That is the first question I have heard from the shadow Minister for Tourism—congratulations. It is a very important question. I do not have the answers to all the components the member has raised, particularly on the issue she raised about there being a previous fire and a death. That is something I have not heard of before. What I do know from questioning Tourism WA about the event, its support for it and what occurred, is that Eventscorp has very clear contractual relationships with the company. It is not a new company; it has been running this event for a considerable time. In fact, it is a very popular international event. Eventscorp does checks on the company to ensure it will fulfil all the requirements. The sponsorship of this event does not actually involve Tourism WA paying money to the company to run the event. We pay no money for that. We do not pay to support the event at all; we fund the marketing of it. When the company runs its event, we want people to know about it. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Our Western Australian government logo goes on it. Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
(3) Can the minister confirm that the Fire and Emergency Services Authority and police investigations were into only the cause of the fire rather than the responsibility of organisers or sponsors? (4) Has the minister discontinued funding for this event for the next two years; and, if not, why not? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(4) That is the first question I have heard from the shadow Minister for Tourism—congratulations. It is a very important question. I do not have the answers to all the components the member has raised, particularly on the issue she raised about there being a previous fire and a death. That is something I have not heard of before. What I do know from questioning Tourism WA about the event, its support for it and what occurred, is that Eventscorp has very clear contractual relationships with the company. It is not a new company; it has been running this event for a considerable time. In fact, it is a very popular international event. Eventscorp does checks on the company to ensure it will fulfil all the requirements. The sponsorship of this event does not actually involve Tourism WA paying money to the company to run the event. We pay no money for that. We do not pay to support the event at all; we fund the marketing of it. When the company runs its event, we want people to know about it. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Our Western Australian government logo goes on it. Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
(4) Has the minister discontinued funding for this event for the next two years; and, if not, why not? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(4) That is the first question I have heard from the shadow Minister for Tourism—congratulations. It is a very important question. I do not have the answers to all the components the member has raised, particularly on the issue she raised about there being a previous fire and a death. That is something I have not heard of before. What I do know from questioning Tourism WA about the event, its support for it and what occurred, is that Eventscorp has very clear contractual relationships with the company. It is not a new company; it has been running this event for a considerable time. In fact, it is a very popular international event. Eventscorp does checks on the company to ensure it will fulfil all the requirements. The sponsorship of this event does not actually involve Tourism WA paying money to the company to run the event. We pay no money for that. We do not pay to support the event at all; we fund the marketing of it. When the company runs its event, we want people to know about it. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Our Western Australian government logo goes on it. Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(4) That is the first question I have heard from the shadow Minister for Tourism—congratulations. It is a very important question. I do not have the answers to all the components the member has raised, particularly on the issue she raised about there being a previous fire and a death. That is something I have not heard of before. What I do know from questioning Tourism WA about the event, its support for it and what occurred, is that Eventscorp has very clear contractual relationships with the company. It is not a new company; it has been running this event for a considerable time. In fact, it is a very popular international event. Eventscorp does checks on the company to ensure it will fulfil all the requirements. The sponsorship of this event does not actually involve Tourism WA paying money to the company to run the event. We pay no money for that. We do not pay to support the event at all; we fund the marketing of it. When the company runs its event, we want people to know about it. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Our Western Australian government logo goes on it. Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
(1)–(4) That is the first question I have heard from the shadow Minister for Tourism—congratulations. It is a very important question. I do not have the answers to all the components the member has raised, particularly on the issue she raised about there being a previous fire and a death. That is something I have not heard of before. What I do know from questioning Tourism WA about the event, its support for it and what occurred, is that Eventscorp has very clear contractual relationships with the company. It is not a new company; it has been running this event for a considerable time. In fact, it is a very popular international event. Eventscorp does checks on the company to ensure it will fulfil all the requirements. The sponsorship of this event does not actually involve Tourism WA paying money to the company to run the event. We pay no money for that. We do not pay to support the event at all; we fund the marketing of it. When the company runs its event, we want people to know about it. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Our Western Australian government logo goes on it. Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : Our Western Australian government logo goes on it. Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
(1) What checks, if any, were done on the Hong Kong–based company RacingThePlanet before government funding was provided, including into the death of a man and burns to competitors in a previous event in the Gobi Desert? (2) Does the minister acknowledge that government funding, along with a press release from the minister and two other government ministers on 26 August, may have given competitors a false impression of government approvals being in place? (3) Can the minister confirm that the Fire and Emergency Services Authority and police investigations were into only the cause of the fire rather than the responsibility of organisers or sponsors? (4) Has the minister discontinued funding for this event for the next two years; and, if not, why not? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(4) That is the first question I have heard from the shadow Minister for Tourism—congratulations. It is a very important question. I do not have the answers to all the components the member has raised, particularly on the issue she raised about there being a previous fire and a death. That is something I have not heard of before. What I do know from questioning Tourism WA about the event, its support for it and what occurred, is that Eventscorp has very clear contractual relationships with the company. It is not a new company; it has been running this event for a considerable time. In fact, it is a very popular international event. Eventscorp does checks on the company to ensure it will fulfil all the requirements. The sponsorship of this event does not actually involve Tourism WA paying money to the company to run the event. We pay no money for that. We do not pay to support the event at all; we fund the marketing of it. When the company runs its event, we want people to know about it. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Our Western Australian government logo goes on it. Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
(2) Does the minister acknowledge that government funding, along with a press release from the minister and two other government ministers on 26 August, may have given competitors a false impression of government approvals being in place? (3) Can the minister confirm that the Fire and Emergency Services Authority and police investigations were into only the cause of the fire rather than the responsibility of organisers or sponsors? (4) Has the minister discontinued funding for this event for the next two years; and, if not, why not? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(4) That is the first question I have heard from the shadow Minister for Tourism—congratulations. It is a very important question. I do not have the answers to all the components the member has raised, particularly on the issue she raised about there being a previous fire and a death. That is something I have not heard of before. What I do know from questioning Tourism WA about the event, its support for it and what occurred, is that Eventscorp has very clear contractual relationships with the company. It is not a new company; it has been running this event for a considerable time. In fact, it is a very popular international event. Eventscorp does checks on the company to ensure it will fulfil all the requirements. The sponsorship of this event does not actually involve Tourism WA paying money to the company to run the event. We pay no money for that. We do not pay to support the event at all; we fund the marketing of it. When the company runs its event, we want people to know about it. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Our Western Australian government logo goes on it. Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
(3) Can the minister confirm that the Fire and Emergency Services Authority and police investigations were into only the cause of the fire rather than the responsibility of organisers or sponsors? (4) Has the minister discontinued funding for this event for the next two years; and, if not, why not? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(4) That is the first question I have heard from the shadow Minister for Tourism—congratulations. It is a very important question. I do not have the answers to all the components the member has raised, particularly on the issue she raised about there being a previous fire and a death. That is something I have not heard of before. What I do know from questioning Tourism WA about the event, its support for it and what occurred, is that Eventscorp has very clear contractual relationships with the company. It is not a new company; it has been running this event for a considerable time. In fact, it is a very popular international event. Eventscorp does checks on the company to ensure it will fulfil all the requirements. The sponsorship of this event does not actually involve Tourism WA paying money to the company to run the event. We pay no money for that. We do not pay to support the event at all; we fund the marketing of it. When the company runs its event, we want people to know about it. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Our Western Australian government logo goes on it. Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
(4) Has the minister discontinued funding for this event for the next two years; and, if not, why not? Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(4) That is the first question I have heard from the shadow Minister for Tourism—congratulations. It is a very important question. I do not have the answers to all the components the member has raised, particularly on the issue she raised about there being a previous fire and a death. That is something I have not heard of before. What I do know from questioning Tourism WA about the event, its support for it and what occurred, is that Eventscorp has very clear contractual relationships with the company. It is not a new company; it has been running this event for a considerable time. In fact, it is a very popular international event. Eventscorp does checks on the company to ensure it will fulfil all the requirements. The sponsorship of this event does not actually involve Tourism WA paying money to the company to run the event. We pay no money for that. We do not pay to support the event at all; we fund the marketing of it. When the company runs its event, we want people to know about it. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Our Western Australian government logo goes on it. Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: (1)–(4) That is the first question I have heard from the shadow Minister for Tourism—congratulations. It is a very important question. I do not have the answers to all the components the member has raised, particularly on the issue she raised about there being a previous fire and a death. That is something I have not heard of before. What I do know from questioning Tourism WA about the event, its support for it and what occurred, is that Eventscorp has very clear contractual relationships with the company. It is not a new company; it has been running this event for a considerable time. In fact, it is a very popular international event. Eventscorp does checks on the company to ensure it will fulfil all the requirements. The sponsorship of this event does not actually involve Tourism WA paying money to the company to run the event. We pay no money for that. We do not pay to support the event at all; we fund the marketing of it. When the company runs its event, we want people to know about it. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Our Western Australian government logo goes on it. Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
(1)–(4) That is the first question I have heard from the shadow Minister for Tourism—congratulations. It is a very important question. I do not have the answers to all the components the member has raised, particularly on the issue she raised about there being a previous fire and a death. That is something I have not heard of before. What I do know from questioning Tourism WA about the event, its support for it and what occurred, is that Eventscorp has very clear contractual relationships with the company. It is not a new company; it has been running this event for a considerable time. In fact, it is a very popular international event. Eventscorp does checks on the company to ensure it will fulfil all the requirements. The sponsorship of this event does not actually involve Tourism WA paying money to the company to run the event. We pay no money for that. We do not pay to support the event at all; we fund the marketing of it. When the company runs its event, we want people to know about it. Mrs M.H. Roberts : Our Western Australian government logo goes on it. Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : Our Western Australian government logo goes on it. Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
Dr K.D. HAMES : It does indeed. That is a condition of all our sponsorships. Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : It gives an event credibility. Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
Dr K.D. HAMES : We sponsor an advertising campaign so that when an event as internationally renowned as RacingThePlanet occurs, people know about it. The whole point of our funding those sorts of international events is to get overseas people to come to WA and watch it, be part of it or visit it or whatever the case may be. We funded some international advertising for that event. We do not control the company’s operations on the ground or try to influence it in any way. The company does what it does. I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
I have to say that it would not surprise me if the father of one of the girls who was burnt—I got the impression this is what he might do when his daughter has recovered; he is concentrating now on her recovery—takes action against the company that ran the event. From looking at what happened, there were stories of fires in the area. I have to admit that I would certainly like to see that looked into. As the member said, WA Police and Fire and Emergency Services Authority people looked only at whether the fires had been illegally lit, and it was found they had not. FESA and WA Police are not proposing to take it any further. I understand they requested the coroner’s office to think about whether it would undertake an inquiry, even though no-one died. There is an option for that, but the coroner’s office declined. My office has had further discussions with the coroner’s office to see whether there are alternatives to that, but I gather there are not. We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
We do not intend to take further action. We will consider future events, but I have to say that I will be very keen for Tourism WA to look at exactly what the relationship is with that sponsorship and what is in place. It is not our job. We are not set up in Tourism WA to investigate the safety management procedures of people and companies that put on events in WA. I am sure that if the member for Midland were in the same position as I am, what happened would ring a severe cautionary note for her. I wish I could find a better term, but given this has happened, one would have to be, not so much suspicious, but feel that not everything that could have been done was done. There were fires in the way; there was the way the competitors were caught by the fire; there was lack of communication on the day; and they could not get in touch with people. Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
Mrs M.H. Roberts : They did not provide an appropriate satellite phone number or anything. Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
Dr K.D. HAMES : Yes, there are all those things that we have read about. Even though we do not sponsor the event—we sponsor only international advertising—I want our people to look at how they do that and see whether there are other mechanisms for putting controls in place to make sure such a thing does not happen again. We will have to look at all the sponsorships and where there are other areas in which we should perhaps be taking a greater interest. We sponsor, for example, the Perth to Bali yacht race. If something had happened to one of those yachts out in the ocean it would probably not be our responsibility; it would probably be the event organisers’ responsibility. It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
It is certainly something worth thinking about and at least asking the State Solicitor’s Office whether we as a government and Tourism WA are doing everything we should be doing.
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