❓ A WA parliamentary question regarding alleged pressure from federal Liberal MPs on the state's Commissioner of Police following comments made by Senator David Johnston. The Minister's response defends the Commissioner and criticizes the federal MPs' actions.
AnsweredQoN 402Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE - FEDERAL LIBERAL MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
Can the minister confirm media reports that the state’s Commissioner of Police is being pressured by a group of federal Liberal members of Parliament after outlandish comments made last week by Liberal Senator David Johnston? Mr J.C. KOBELKE
Can the minister confirm media reports that the state’s Commissioner of Police is being pressured by a group of federal Liberal members of Parliament after outlandish comments made last week by Liberal Senator David Johnston? Mr J.C. KOBELKE
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question. Although we found the comments by Senator Johnston last week quite incredible, it seems that that outlandish behaviour has led to further outlandish behaviour. As members are well aware, the quite unfounded and quite ridiculous statement by Senator Johnston was taken up by this house, and last Thursday we passed the following motion - That this house expresses its strong support for Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan and the Western Australia Police and rejects the outlandish and unsubstantiated attack by Senator David Johnston. That motion was passed without dissent. About that time, Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan offered Senator Johnston the possibility of having a face-to-face meeting so that Senator Johnston could lay before the commissioner any real concerns that he had. I would have thought that it would also be an opportunity for Senator Johnston, who clearly does not have the gumption to apologise publicly, to perhaps apologise to the commissioner in private. However, we now find that nine federal members of Parliament, from the Senate and the House of Representatives, have written to the commissioner, suggesting that they should call a press conference, and that they should all be there to quiz the commissioner about not only matters relating to the baseless allegations by Senator Johnston, but also matters relating to the funding of the police service. I have a copy of that letter, because the member asked me whether I would show her who were the signatories to it. I will table that letter in a moment so that members opposite can try to decipher the signatures for themselves. I am sure that they will recognise the signatures as being those of Liberal members of the federal Parliament. This letter underlines just how ludicrous Senator Johnston’s comments were, because now he is not willing to take up that opportunity with the commissioner. Mr T. Buswell : To whom is the letter addressed? Mr J.C. KOBELKE : To the commissioner, and he passed it to me. Members will see the contents of the letter. The commissioner refers political matters to me. This is just a political circus by federal Liberal members of Parliament who do not want to take up the issue seriously, which again confirms that Senator Johnston’s accusations had no basis in fact whatsoever. Therefore, they want to turn the meeting that the commissioner offered into a political circus, whereby they can quiz the commissioner publicly and not deal with issues of substance. That is further confirmation that the allegations had no basis. We see again an attempt to simply get away from the fact that Senator Johnston has gone way, way too far. His reputation counts for nothing, and this stunt further confirms that. The SPEAKER : I order that that paper be tabled. [See paper 1616.]
Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: I thank the member for the question. Although we found the comments by Senator Johnston last week quite incredible, it seems that that outlandish behaviour has led to further outlandish behaviour. As members are well aware, the quite unfounded and quite ridiculous statement by Senator Johnston was taken up by this house, and last Thursday we passed the following motion - That this house expresses its strong support for Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan and the Western Australia Police and rejects the outlandish and unsubstantiated attack by Senator David Johnston. That motion was passed without dissent. About that time, Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan offered Senator Johnston the possibility of having a face-to-face meeting so that Senator Johnston could lay before the commissioner any real concerns that he had. I would have thought that it would also be an opportunity for Senator Johnston, who clearly does not have the gumption to apologise publicly, to perhaps apologise to the commissioner in private. However, we now find that nine federal members of Parliament, from the Senate and the House of Representatives, have written to the commissioner, suggesting that they should call a press conference, and that they should all be there to quiz the commissioner about not only matters relating to the baseless allegations by Senator Johnston, but also matters relating to the funding of the police service. I have a copy of that letter, because the member asked me whether I would show her who were the signatories to it. I will table that letter in a moment so that members opposite can try to decipher the signatures for themselves. I am sure that they will recognise the signatures as being those of Liberal members of the federal Parliament. This letter underlines just how ludicrous Senator Johnston’s comments were, because now he is not willing to take up that opportunity with the commissioner. Mr T. Buswell : To whom is the letter addressed? Mr J.C. KOBELKE : To the commissioner, and he passed it to me. Members will see the contents of the letter. The commissioner refers political matters to me. This is just a political circus by federal Liberal members of Parliament who do not want to take up the issue seriously, which again confirms that Senator Johnston’s accusations had no basis in fact whatsoever. Therefore, they want to turn the meeting that the commissioner offered into a political circus, whereby they can quiz the commissioner publicly and not deal with issues of substance. That is further confirmation that the allegations had no basis. We see again an attempt to simply get away from the fact that Senator Johnston has gone way, way too far. His reputation counts for nothing, and this stunt further confirms that. The SPEAKER : I order that that paper be tabled. [See paper 1616.]
I thank the member for the question. Although we found the comments by Senator Johnston last week quite incredible, it seems that that outlandish behaviour has led to further outlandish behaviour. As members are well aware, the quite unfounded and quite ridiculous statement by Senator Johnston was taken up by this house, and last Thursday we passed the following motion - That this house expresses its strong support for Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan and the Western Australia Police and rejects the outlandish and unsubstantiated attack by Senator David Johnston. That motion was passed without dissent. About that time, Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan offered Senator Johnston the possibility of having a face-to-face meeting so that Senator Johnston could lay before the commissioner any real concerns that he had. I would have thought that it would also be an opportunity for Senator Johnston, who clearly does not have the gumption to apologise publicly, to perhaps apologise to the commissioner in private. However, we now find that nine federal members of Parliament, from the Senate and the House of Representatives, have written to the commissioner, suggesting that they should call a press conference, and that they should all be there to quiz the commissioner about not only matters relating to the baseless allegations by Senator Johnston, but also matters relating to the funding of the police service. I have a copy of that letter, because the member asked me whether I would show her who were the signatories to it. I will table that letter in a moment so that members opposite can try to decipher the signatures for themselves. I am sure that they will recognise the signatures as being those of Liberal members of the federal Parliament. This letter underlines just how ludicrous Senator Johnston’s comments were, because now he is not willing to take up that opportunity with the commissioner. Mr T. Buswell : To whom is the letter addressed? Mr J.C. KOBELKE : To the commissioner, and he passed it to me. Members will see the contents of the letter. The commissioner refers political matters to me. This is just a political circus by federal Liberal members of Parliament who do not want to take up the issue seriously, which again confirms that Senator Johnston’s accusations had no basis in fact whatsoever. Therefore, they want to turn the meeting that the commissioner offered into a political circus, whereby they can quiz the commissioner publicly and not deal with issues of substance. That is further confirmation that the allegations had no basis. We see again an attempt to simply get away from the fact that Senator Johnston has gone way, way too far. His reputation counts for nothing, and this stunt further confirms that. The SPEAKER : I order that that paper be tabled. [See paper 1616.]
Mr T. Buswell : To whom is the letter addressed? Mr J.C. KOBELKE : To the commissioner, and he passed it to me. Members will see the contents of the letter. The commissioner refers political matters to me. This is just a political circus by federal Liberal members of Parliament who do not want to take up the issue seriously, which again confirms that Senator Johnston’s accusations had no basis in fact whatsoever. Therefore, they want to turn the meeting that the commissioner offered into a political circus, whereby they can quiz the commissioner publicly and not deal with issues of substance. That is further confirmation that the allegations had no basis. We see again an attempt to simply get away from the fact that Senator Johnston has gone way, way too far. His reputation counts for nothing, and this stunt further confirms that. The SPEAKER : I order that that paper be tabled. [See paper 1616.]
Mr J.C. KOBELKE : To the commissioner, and he passed it to me. Members will see the contents of the letter. The commissioner refers political matters to me. This is just a political circus by federal Liberal members of Parliament who do not want to take up the issue seriously, which again confirms that Senator Johnston’s accusations had no basis in fact whatsoever. Therefore, they want to turn the meeting that the commissioner offered into a political circus, whereby they can quiz the commissioner publicly and not deal with issues of substance. That is further confirmation that the allegations had no basis. We see again an attempt to simply get away from the fact that Senator Johnston has gone way, way too far. His reputation counts for nothing, and this stunt further confirms that. The SPEAKER : I order that that paper be tabled. [See paper 1616.]
The SPEAKER : I order that that paper be tabled. [See paper 1616.]
[See paper 1616.]
Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: I thank the member for the question. Although we found the comments by Senator Johnston last week quite incredible, it seems that that outlandish behaviour has led to further outlandish behaviour. As members are well aware, the quite unfounded and quite ridiculous statement by Senator Johnston was taken up by this house, and last Thursday we passed the following motion - That this house expresses its strong support for Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan and the Western Australia Police and rejects the outlandish and unsubstantiated attack by Senator David Johnston. That motion was passed without dissent. About that time, Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan offered Senator Johnston the possibility of having a face-to-face meeting so that Senator Johnston could lay before the commissioner any real concerns that he had. I would have thought that it would also be an opportunity for Senator Johnston, who clearly does not have the gumption to apologise publicly, to perhaps apologise to the commissioner in private. However, we now find that nine federal members of Parliament, from the Senate and the House of Representatives, have written to the commissioner, suggesting that they should call a press conference, and that they should all be there to quiz the commissioner about not only matters relating to the baseless allegations by Senator Johnston, but also matters relating to the funding of the police service. I have a copy of that letter, because the member asked me whether I would show her who were the signatories to it. I will table that letter in a moment so that members opposite can try to decipher the signatures for themselves. I am sure that they will recognise the signatures as being those of Liberal members of the federal Parliament. This letter underlines just how ludicrous Senator Johnston’s comments were, because now he is not willing to take up that opportunity with the commissioner. Mr T. Buswell : To whom is the letter addressed? Mr J.C. KOBELKE : To the commissioner, and he passed it to me. Members will see the contents of the letter. The commissioner refers political matters to me. This is just a political circus by federal Liberal members of Parliament who do not want to take up the issue seriously, which again confirms that Senator Johnston’s accusations had no basis in fact whatsoever. Therefore, they want to turn the meeting that the commissioner offered into a political circus, whereby they can quiz the commissioner publicly and not deal with issues of substance. That is further confirmation that the allegations had no basis. We see again an attempt to simply get away from the fact that Senator Johnston has gone way, way too far. His reputation counts for nothing, and this stunt further confirms that. The SPEAKER : I order that that paper be tabled. [See paper 1616.]
I thank the member for the question. Although we found the comments by Senator Johnston last week quite incredible, it seems that that outlandish behaviour has led to further outlandish behaviour. As members are well aware, the quite unfounded and quite ridiculous statement by Senator Johnston was taken up by this house, and last Thursday we passed the following motion - That this house expresses its strong support for Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan and the Western Australia Police and rejects the outlandish and unsubstantiated attack by Senator David Johnston. That motion was passed without dissent. About that time, Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan offered Senator Johnston the possibility of having a face-to-face meeting so that Senator Johnston could lay before the commissioner any real concerns that he had. I would have thought that it would also be an opportunity for Senator Johnston, who clearly does not have the gumption to apologise publicly, to perhaps apologise to the commissioner in private. However, we now find that nine federal members of Parliament, from the Senate and the House of Representatives, have written to the commissioner, suggesting that they should call a press conference, and that they should all be there to quiz the commissioner about not only matters relating to the baseless allegations by Senator Johnston, but also matters relating to the funding of the police service. I have a copy of that letter, because the member asked me whether I would show her who were the signatories to it. I will table that letter in a moment so that members opposite can try to decipher the signatures for themselves. I am sure that they will recognise the signatures as being those of Liberal members of the federal Parliament. This letter underlines just how ludicrous Senator Johnston’s comments were, because now he is not willing to take up that opportunity with the commissioner. Mr T. Buswell : To whom is the letter addressed? Mr J.C. KOBELKE : To the commissioner, and he passed it to me. Members will see the contents of the letter. The commissioner refers political matters to me. This is just a political circus by federal Liberal members of Parliament who do not want to take up the issue seriously, which again confirms that Senator Johnston’s accusations had no basis in fact whatsoever. Therefore, they want to turn the meeting that the commissioner offered into a political circus, whereby they can quiz the commissioner publicly and not deal with issues of substance. That is further confirmation that the allegations had no basis. We see again an attempt to simply get away from the fact that Senator Johnston has gone way, way too far. His reputation counts for nothing, and this stunt further confirms that. The SPEAKER : I order that that paper be tabled. [See paper 1616.]
Mr T. Buswell : To whom is the letter addressed? Mr J.C. KOBELKE : To the commissioner, and he passed it to me. Members will see the contents of the letter. The commissioner refers political matters to me. This is just a political circus by federal Liberal members of Parliament who do not want to take up the issue seriously, which again confirms that Senator Johnston’s accusations had no basis in fact whatsoever. Therefore, they want to turn the meeting that the commissioner offered into a political circus, whereby they can quiz the commissioner publicly and not deal with issues of substance. That is further confirmation that the allegations had no basis. We see again an attempt to simply get away from the fact that Senator Johnston has gone way, way too far. His reputation counts for nothing, and this stunt further confirms that. The SPEAKER : I order that that paper be tabled. [See paper 1616.]
Mr J.C. KOBELKE : To the commissioner, and he passed it to me. Members will see the contents of the letter. The commissioner refers political matters to me. This is just a political circus by federal Liberal members of Parliament who do not want to take up the issue seriously, which again confirms that Senator Johnston’s accusations had no basis in fact whatsoever. Therefore, they want to turn the meeting that the commissioner offered into a political circus, whereby they can quiz the commissioner publicly and not deal with issues of substance. That is further confirmation that the allegations had no basis. We see again an attempt to simply get away from the fact that Senator Johnston has gone way, way too far. His reputation counts for nothing, and this stunt further confirms that. The SPEAKER : I order that that paper be tabled. [See paper 1616.]
The SPEAKER : I order that that paper be tabled. [See paper 1616.]
[See paper 1616.]
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