❓ A parliamentary question regarding the closure of the Narrogin Regional Business Enterprise Centre office due to alleged mismanagement and misuse of funds. The Minister acknowledges financial concerns and an audit revealing inconsistencies, leading to the closure.
AnsweredQoN 805Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
NARROGIN REGIONAL BUSINESS ENTERPRISE CENTRE OFFICE - CLOSURE
In the minister’s brief ministerial statement in June this year on the small business centre program he lauded the review of the Small Business Development Corporation that was completed last year. (1) Can the minister describe to the house the nature of the mismanagement that led to the closure of the Narrogin Regional Business Enterprise Centre office? (2) What is he doing to address this mismanagement, which allegedly included inappropriate use of business enterprise centre funds for personal and family use, and will any charges be laid? (3) Where will the new office for the wheatbelt south BEC be located and how will Jerramungup and its surrounds now be serviced? Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH
In the minister’s brief ministerial statement in June this year on the small business centre program he lauded the review of the Small Business Development Corporation that was completed last year. (1) Can the minister describe to the house the nature of the mismanagement that led to the closure of the Narrogin Regional Business Enterprise Centre office? (2) What is he doing to address this mismanagement, which allegedly included inappropriate use of business enterprise centre funds for personal and family use, and will any charges be laid? (3) Where will the new office for the wheatbelt south BEC be located and how will Jerramungup and its surrounds now be serviced? Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(3) I wish the member had given me notice of the question. Ms K. Hodson-Thomas : You have been travelling too much. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I can tell members that at three o’clock yesterday afternoon I came down to earth with a thud - I was back in Perth. Robert Taylor was on the phone three minutes after I landed. It was a good example of a reality check. Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
(1) Can the minister describe to the house the nature of the mismanagement that led to the closure of the Narrogin Regional Business Enterprise Centre office? (2) What is he doing to address this mismanagement, which allegedly included inappropriate use of business enterprise centre funds for personal and family use, and will any charges be laid? (3) Where will the new office for the wheatbelt south BEC be located and how will Jerramungup and its surrounds now be serviced? Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH replied: (1)-(3) I wish the member had given me notice of the question. Ms K. Hodson-Thomas : You have been travelling too much. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I can tell members that at three o’clock yesterday afternoon I came down to earth with a thud - I was back in Perth. Robert Taylor was on the phone three minutes after I landed. It was a good example of a reality check. Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
(2) What is he doing to address this mismanagement, which allegedly included inappropriate use of business enterprise centre funds for personal and family use, and will any charges be laid? (3) Where will the new office for the wheatbelt south BEC be located and how will Jerramungup and its surrounds now be serviced? Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH replied: (1)-(3) I wish the member had given me notice of the question. Ms K. Hodson-Thomas : You have been travelling too much. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I can tell members that at three o’clock yesterday afternoon I came down to earth with a thud - I was back in Perth. Robert Taylor was on the phone three minutes after I landed. It was a good example of a reality check. Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
(3) Where will the new office for the wheatbelt south BEC be located and how will Jerramungup and its surrounds now be serviced? Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH replied: (1)-(3) I wish the member had given me notice of the question. Ms K. Hodson-Thomas : You have been travelling too much. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I can tell members that at three o’clock yesterday afternoon I came down to earth with a thud - I was back in Perth. Robert Taylor was on the phone three minutes after I landed. It was a good example of a reality check. Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH replied: (1)-(3) I wish the member had given me notice of the question. Ms K. Hodson-Thomas : You have been travelling too much. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I can tell members that at three o’clock yesterday afternoon I came down to earth with a thud - I was back in Perth. Robert Taylor was on the phone three minutes after I landed. It was a good example of a reality check. Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
(1)-(3) I wish the member had given me notice of the question. Ms K. Hodson-Thomas : You have been travelling too much. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I can tell members that at three o’clock yesterday afternoon I came down to earth with a thud - I was back in Perth. Robert Taylor was on the phone three minutes after I landed. It was a good example of a reality check. Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
Ms K. Hodson-Thomas : You have been travelling too much. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I can tell members that at three o’clock yesterday afternoon I came down to earth with a thud - I was back in Perth. Robert Taylor was on the phone three minutes after I landed. It was a good example of a reality check. Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I can tell members that at three o’clock yesterday afternoon I came down to earth with a thud - I was back in Perth. Robert Taylor was on the phone three minutes after I landed. It was a good example of a reality check. Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
(1) Can the minister describe to the house the nature of the mismanagement that led to the closure of the Narrogin Regional Business Enterprise Centre office? (2) What is he doing to address this mismanagement, which allegedly included inappropriate use of business enterprise centre funds for personal and family use, and will any charges be laid? (3) Where will the new office for the wheatbelt south BEC be located and how will Jerramungup and its surrounds now be serviced? Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH replied: (1)-(3) I wish the member had given me notice of the question. Ms K. Hodson-Thomas : You have been travelling too much. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I can tell members that at three o’clock yesterday afternoon I came down to earth with a thud - I was back in Perth. Robert Taylor was on the phone three minutes after I landed. It was a good example of a reality check. Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
(2) What is he doing to address this mismanagement, which allegedly included inappropriate use of business enterprise centre funds for personal and family use, and will any charges be laid? (3) Where will the new office for the wheatbelt south BEC be located and how will Jerramungup and its surrounds now be serviced? Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH replied: (1)-(3) I wish the member had given me notice of the question. Ms K. Hodson-Thomas : You have been travelling too much. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I can tell members that at three o’clock yesterday afternoon I came down to earth with a thud - I was back in Perth. Robert Taylor was on the phone three minutes after I landed. It was a good example of a reality check. Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
(3) Where will the new office for the wheatbelt south BEC be located and how will Jerramungup and its surrounds now be serviced? Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH replied: (1)-(3) I wish the member had given me notice of the question. Ms K. Hodson-Thomas : You have been travelling too much. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I can tell members that at three o’clock yesterday afternoon I came down to earth with a thud - I was back in Perth. Robert Taylor was on the phone three minutes after I landed. It was a good example of a reality check. Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH replied: (1)-(3) I wish the member had given me notice of the question. Ms K. Hodson-Thomas : You have been travelling too much. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I can tell members that at three o’clock yesterday afternoon I came down to earth with a thud - I was back in Perth. Robert Taylor was on the phone three minutes after I landed. It was a good example of a reality check. Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
(1)-(3) I wish the member had given me notice of the question. Ms K. Hodson-Thomas : You have been travelling too much. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I can tell members that at three o’clock yesterday afternoon I came down to earth with a thud - I was back in Perth. Robert Taylor was on the phone three minutes after I landed. It was a good example of a reality check. Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
Ms K. Hodson-Thomas : You have been travelling too much. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I can tell members that at three o’clock yesterday afternoon I came down to earth with a thud - I was back in Perth. Robert Taylor was on the phone three minutes after I landed. It was a good example of a reality check. Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I can tell members that at three o’clock yesterday afternoon I came down to earth with a thud - I was back in Perth. Robert Taylor was on the phone three minutes after I landed. It was a good example of a reality check. Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
Mr T. Buswell : It was a big thud when you landed. Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : It was. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
Mr N.R. MARLBOROUGH : I wish the member had put the question on notice. It requires a detailed answer and I will come back to him with the detail. Suffice to say there were financial concerns at Narrogin that required my department to call in the auditors. The books were audited and the result of the audit showed some inconsistencies. Those inconsistencies led to the decision to close down the Narrogin office and we are currently looking at making sure that an office for that region is located in a community that wants it. As soon as I finalise that decision I will be more than happy to tell the member about it.
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.