❓ Mr. Logan questions the Minister for Environment regarding a delayed and ultimately withdrawn prosecution of Cockburn Cement for a pollution incident, seeking explanations for the delay, withdrawal, and associated costs. The Minister deflects, citing legal restrictions on ministerial involvement in prosecutions.
AnsweredQoN 439Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
COCKBURN
CEMENT — DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT REGULATION — PROSECUTION
439. Mr F.M. LOGAN to the
Minister for Environment:
I bring the minister's attention to the bungled
attempt by his Department of Environment Regulation to prosecute Cockburn Cement
Ltd for a pollution outpour nearly four years after the event.
(1) Why did it
take nearly four years to bring this matter to a head in court when Cockburn
Cement acknowledged that the dust emanated from its site?
(2) Why did the
department and its lawyers withdraw the prosecution minutes before the case
started on the basis of a lack of technical information?
(3) Given that
Cockburn Cement is now seeking court costs from the department, can the
minister tell Parliament how much this travesty has cost taxpayers?
CEMENT — DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT REGULATION — PROSECUTION
439. Mr F.M. LOGAN to the
Minister for Environment:
I bring the minister's attention to the bungled
attempt by his Department of Environment Regulation to prosecute Cockburn Cement
Ltd for a pollution outpour nearly four years after the event.
(1) Why did it
take nearly four years to bring this matter to a head in court when Cockburn
Cement acknowledged that the dust emanated from its site?
(2) Why did the
department and its lawyers withdraw the prosecution minutes before the case
started on the basis of a lack of technical information?
(3) Given that
Cockburn Cement is now seeking court costs from the department, can the
minister tell Parliament how much this travesty has cost taxpayers?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3) In
response to the member for Cockburn's question, the Environmental
Protection Act—from memory, it is section 112 or maybe section 114; I
am just going off the top of my head—expressly precludes the Minister for
Environment from any involvement whatsoever in a prosecutorial matter or court
case. Quite simply, that matter has been run at an operational level. However,
if the member would like to put on notice a question about more detail, I will
ensure that that is provided from the department.
It is important to remember that a lot of work
has been done by government in liaising with the member and, through him, with
his two local residents in and around Cockburn Cement; indeed, under my
predecessor, I believe baghouse filters were placed on kilns 5 and 6 to deal
with extensive dust issues. We have had conversations at different points about
some ongoing odour issues, and we are happy to continue to work on that.
However, the Environmental Protection Act 1986 expressly precludes any
ministerial involvement in those matters.
response to the member for Cockburn's question, the Environmental
Protection Act—from memory, it is section 112 or maybe section 114; I
am just going off the top of my head—expressly precludes the Minister for
Environment from any involvement whatsoever in a prosecutorial matter or court
case. Quite simply, that matter has been run at an operational level. However,
if the member would like to put on notice a question about more detail, I will
ensure that that is provided from the department.
It is important to remember that a lot of work
has been done by government in liaising with the member and, through him, with
his two local residents in and around Cockburn Cement; indeed, under my
predecessor, I believe baghouse filters were placed on kilns 5 and 6 to deal
with extensive dust issues. We have had conversations at different points about
some ongoing odour issues, and we are happy to continue to work on that.
However, the Environmental Protection Act 1986 expressly precludes any
ministerial involvement in those matters.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.