❓ Question regarding the accuracy of Clive Palmer's denial of seeking $30 billion in damages from WA. The Attorney General provides evidence from Palmer's own claim documents to refute his denial, accusing him of lying to the public.
AnsweredQoN 558Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MINERALOGY PTY LTD AND INTERNATIONAL MINERALS —
BIG CLIVE PALMER
558. Ms J.J. SHAW to the Attorney General:
I refer to the urgent legislation that passed through this
Parliament last week aimed at protecting Western Australians from claims made
against the state by Clive Palmer, Mineralogy and International Minerals, and
Mr Palmer's assertion in the media that it is not true that he is
seeking almost $30 billion in damages from the state. Can the Attorney General
outline to the house whether Mr Palmer's assertion is correct?
BIG CLIVE PALMER
558. Ms J.J. SHAW to the Attorney General:
I refer to the urgent legislation that passed through this
Parliament last week aimed at protecting Western Australians from claims made
against the state by Clive Palmer, Mineralogy and International Minerals, and
Mr Palmer's assertion in the media that it is not true that he is
seeking almost $30 billion in damages from the state. Can the Attorney General
outline to the house whether Mr Palmer's assertion is correct?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Swan Hills for the question. I
summarised Mr Palmer's claims in the second reading speech and said
that the first damages claim amounted to almost $30 billion and the second
damages claim was unquantified. The Premier, of course, repeated that outside
the chamber on several occasions. I nearly cut myself shaving when I was
listening to the ABC news last week and heard Mr Palmer describe this assertion
as bull excrement—to use a more refined term than he used on the radio
in relation to those claims. I challenged Mr Palmer, or invited Mr Palmer, to
release the arbitration papers, but he has declined to do so. He just repeated
his assertion that it is bull excrement that there is a claim in for almost $30
billion. I have here the apposite papers from his claim, ''Applicant's
Amended Statement of Issues, Facts and Contentions'', which is on the
cover sheet of his claim. Pages 89 to 93 of the claim is where he
particularises his claim for damages. Most significantly, on page 93, it is
signed in person by ''Clive F. Palmer''. I table that document
from the statement.
[See paper 3576.]
Mr J.R. QUIGLEY : I also seek to table a summary that I
have made for the ease of all members in which I list the seven claims. Claims
1 to 6 total $27.75 billion. Claims 6 and 7, being the second damages event,
are unquantified. They have to be added to the $27.75 billion; he has not
quantified those yet. Interest is running at the rate of six per cent, so every
day that passes, it goes up by $1.83 million—that is, $56.7 million a
month. By the time the arbitration was scheduled to be heard, that would be a
further $226 million, and by the time it was concluded, that would be a further
half a billion on top of that.
[See paper 3577.]
Mr J.R. QUIGLEY : Mr Big Palmer has sought to deceive
the public. In fact, by his own signature, Mr Palmer has marked himself beyond
reasonable doubt as a liar—telling lies to the Western Australian
public and the nation. Beyond reasonable doubt, he is a liar and he will always
carry that reputation in Western Australia. No system is perfect. But we are
continuing to undertake the risk assessments to ensure that we address any
perceived anomalies and weaknesses and fill those gaps. A classic example is
the move we have made, as part of the national program, to require that all
truck drivers who are members of the freight and logistics industry be tested
regularly to ensure that our freight and logistics industry continues to
practice in a COVID-19 safe way.
I note that the member for Vasse raised an issue about the
amount of testing. We are doing the comparable level of testing that we need to
do to ensure that we maintain vigilance and line-of-sight for any outbreak of
the disease. At the moment, we are undertaking around 18 000 tests a week. That
is a combination of our COVID-19 clinics and the private pathology labs,
scattered in over 100 locations across the state. Truckies have an opportunity
to be tested wherever they need to go. Within 48 hours of entering the state,
if they cannot show evidence that they have been tested within the last seven
days and have returned a negative result, we can make sure that they have
access to either a GP-referred COVID clinic or a private pathology lab, or they
can simply go to one of our COVID-19 clinics and get themselves tested. It is
the responsibility of everyone.
We are continuing to work hard with the aged-care sector to
ensure that it has the support that it needs to be able to deal with any
outbreak of the disease. Just this weekend, I held a meeting with representatives
right across the aged-care sector to ensure that we are doing everything we
need to do to assist them to manage it. Whether that is with the level of PPE
that they need, the support they need for their workforce, or an outbreak
management plan, we will ensure that the Department of Health is on hand to
assist them at all times.
We will not be supporting this motion because risk management
is what we are doing day in and day out. We assess the risk, we respond to the
risk, and we make amendments about the hard border. This is what we have done
doing all along. This is what the Premier has been leading. We are continuing
to undertake risk assessments and put on further restrictions. That is why we
now have more restrictions on people travelling from Victoria and New South
Wales. That is why we are continuing to make sure that our quarantine hotels
are operating second to none in Australia to keep Western Australians safe, and
to allow us to move to an easing of the stage four restrictions to get Western
Australians back into the workforce. Western Australia currently has four
active cases.
What the member for Dawesville should be drawing to the
public's attention is the fact that although we are having some
success, the disease is still out there, and we need to continue to be
vigilant. We will continue to undertake the risk assessment that the member for
Dawesville has called for. That is what we are doing every day. That is what
public health physicians do. They manage the public health risk, whether they
are in the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre or the State Health
Incident Coordination Centre, or whether they are a doctor or a nurse working
on infection control right across our great healthcare system. They are doing
the job, day in and day out. They have kept us safe. The opposition should be
supporting them, not denouncing them.
MS R. SAFFIOTI (West
Swan — Minister for Transport) 3.53 pm :
During the urgent debate on this motion, we have witnessed another weak,
insipid and pathetic performance by the Liberal Party in this chamber. This
matter of public interest calls for a review, a committee and an assessment.
The pandemic is happening now. The front line is busy now. The Chief Health
Officer and the Commissioner of Police, and the entire group of officials
protecting Western Australia, are working hard now. The idea that we would
pause that work to reflect on how we are going, rather than just getting on
with it and protecting Western Australia, is wrong and false. That is why the
Minister for Health outlined very clearly that we will not be supporting this
motion. We are not about contemplating the world. We are about acting and
protecting Western Australia now.
We have already seen a complete waste of time, particularly
for our top legal teams, on the High Court challenge. I am curious, as
everybody should be, about why some of our top legal minds have been occupied
with this High Court challenge, when they should be working in WA to help make
sure that we can put all the legal mechanisms in place to protect Western
Australia in the best way possible. That is why we will not be supporting the
motion. We do not support reviews. We support action. What we are doing, under
the leadership of both the Premier and the Minister for Health, is a
coordinated and continual risk assessment and management process. We saw with
the Premier's announcement today another continual assessment of risk
and making decisions to manage that risk. That is the job of the Chief Health
Officer and the entire team, and of course also the Commissioner of Police in
the management of this process.
Today we have seen the very different views of everyone who
has spoken on this matter of public interest. The National Party said that it
wants more overseas workers to come into the state. The Liberal Party and the
member for Hillarys said that we should not let anyone in.
Several members interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Members!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : I do not agree with the strange idea
that somehow the opposition is better at making these decisions than the Chief
Health Officer and the Commissioner of Police. I back those people in making
those decisions.
Mr D.T. Redman : If that's your view, you
wouldn't have any parliamentary committees. You wouldn't have
oversight of anything.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : It is a pandemic. It is a state of
emergency. Members opposite want to sit around and have a review. Members
opposite are all over the place. We have seen their constant dismissal of
Victoria, and their party-political attacks. Members opposite have played cheap
politics on this from day one, and they continue to do so. Member for Hillarys,
managing the border by postcodes does not work. The member for Hillarys is
advocating for it. They tried to do that over east, and it did not work. Every
time they tried to manage their border —
Mr P.A. Katsambanis interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Member for Hillarys!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : All the states that have tried to
manage their border by postcode have failed, and they now have a hard border
across their entire state, because that is what they had to do.
Mr P.A. Katsambanis interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Member for Hillarys, I have warned
you. I call you for the first time.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The member for Hillarys talked about
the extraordinary effort of the Australian Defence Force when it came to cruise
ships in Western Australia.
Ms S.E. Winton interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Member for Wanneroo! I believe the
minister has the call, not the member for Wanneroo.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The member for Hillarys highlighted
the role of the ADF in managing cruise ships in Western Australia. If anyone
can tell me what it did, please let me know.
The member for Splitsville talked about a bipartisan
approach. He has never undertaken a bipartisan approach to anything when it
comes to this issue. I want to touch on the omnibus bill. I tried to take a
bipartisan approach. We gave the bill to the opposition before we brought it
into this chamber, and the opposition has played politics with it from that
point on. The opposition has shown that it cannot be trusted to take a
bipartisan approach on anything, even a technical and legal bill in relation to
managing COVID-19.
Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup interjected.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The member for Dawesville should be
embarrassed. He knows that that will damage how we operate in this place and
the other place for many years to come.
I refer to another comment, and I understand that the Leader
of the Opposition did not stand to speak on this matter. Somehow, she was the
first person to call for the hard border. I quote the Leader of the Opposition
from 18 March —
If members go back and check the Hansard ,
they will see that I did not call for travel to stop or borders to be closed; �
Again, the Hansard contradicts the member for
Dawesville. Of course, there are the other comments again and again that we
should bring the borders down. The Leader of the Opposition believes that no-one
in Western Australia has a memory, that Hansard does not exist, that
video and audiotapes do not exist and that somehow we cannot check what was
said. I remember sitting in here in question time after question time and being
asked, ''Why can't you bring those borders down?'' Let us
go through the comments. On 19 May, the Leader of the Opposition was asked
whether, if she was Premier, she would reopen the interstate border. The Leader
of the Opposition said, ''I would.'' Also on 19 May, she said, ''There
does not appear to be a valid reason to keep the interstate borders closed.''
On 16 June, she said, ''The Premier needs to show us the advice; they
say there's a constitutional issue, but clearly there isn't.''
Also on 16 June, the Leader of the Opposition said, ''It's
politically expedient to maintain the hard borders'' and ''There's
clearly no evidence that it's actually medically required at this
point.'' Her comments go on and on. On 12 June, she said, ''I
think it's ridiculous. Every other Premier has made different decisions
based on the evidence they have on hand.'' On 1 June, she said, ''We're
one country. We're all Australians. This hard border nonsense is
absolute nonsense.'' Again and again and again.
Another point that has been overlooked is the backing of
Clive Palmer during this debate, and the shock and anger because Clive Palmer
was not allowed to enter WA. On 16 June, the Leader of the Opposition said, ''I
think the Premier is blocking Clive Palmer and it's political. Why is
he blocking Clive Palmer?''
Mrs L.M. Harvey interjected.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : We have a High Court challenge to deal
with. So, again, the Leader of the Opposition is on Clive Palmer's
side. She cannot help but be on anyone's side but that of the McGowan
government.
Mr M. McGowan : Not Western Australia's side.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : No, not Western Australia's
side. The Liberal Party tried to refer the Palmer legislation to a committee.
It tried to stop it from being debated and passed last Thursday. Those are the
facts. We cannot walk away from facts, because things such as television, audio
recordings and Hansard exist. I was reading the Clive Palmer ads this
morning and they look very similar to Liberal Party ads. They use Liberal Party
comments and are very similar to Liberal Party ads. The Clive Palmer ads use
Liberal Party key lines. If anyone has noticed the contents of the ads, they
will know they use Liberal Party key lines and I suspect that that will
continue.
Mr R.H. Cook : He and Mathias Cormann should get
together.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : Yes, it is as though it is a
coordinated approach. When Tim McMillan from Channel Seven's Flashpoint
asked the Leader of the Opposition, ''What about Clive? Would you let
Clive in?'' The Leader of the Opposition replied, ''Clive has
business interests in WA.'' Yes, he does; he is trying to sue us for $30
billion! She continued, ''Why can't he get a business exemption?''
Mrs L.M. Harvey interjected.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : Sorry?
Mrs L.M. Harvey interjected.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The Leader of the Opposition should
stand up and make a contribution.
Mrs L.M. Harvey : How many people come in every day?
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The Leader of the Opposition should
stand up and make a contribution, because once again she seems to be on Clive
Palmer's side.
Amendment to Motion Amendment to
Motion
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : I move —
That all words after ''house''
be deleted and the following words be substituted —
notes the strong and rigorous
measures taken by the state government to stop the spread of COVID-19,
including its firm decisions to retain WA's hard border despite
repeated calls by the Leader of the Opposition and the Liberal Party to bring
the hard border down
MS A. SANDERSON (Morley — Parliamentary Secretary) 4.04 pm :
I rise to support the amendment moved by the member for West Swan. In doing so,
I would like to highlight some of the desperate lengths that the opposition has
gone to. It has given up trying to be relevant and is now about getting
attention. Misrepresenting the number of exemptions as individuals is desperate
and scaremongering. That is exactly what the opposition has been doing. Those
exemptions apply to essential workers. The entire exercise of the last six
months has been an exercise in risk management—that is what it has
been. To say that somehow the government is not implementing risk management
strategies continuously for this public health pandemic is absolutely
ridiculous. It is a balance between managing the contamination potentially
brought in by essential industry workers and keeping industries going—industries
advocated for by the opposition's coalition partner such as
agricultural industries, airlines, logistics and all those that bring really
important goods and services to WA with the potential for an outbreak.
This motion has two completely separate purposes. One part of
the dog is the tail that says, ''We want you to be more compassionate'',
and I have some sympathy for that, while the other part of the dog says, ''We're
not being hard enough.'' If we had to think about who we really want to
manage this crisis and which leader we want to manage this crisis, we have had
the commonsense advice–driven approach of the Premier, who has taken
advice at every step of the way. To assert that somehow the Chief Health
Officer and the Commissioner of Police are not independent and experts at what
they do is offensive. To assert that they can somehow be lent on by politicians
of either stripe and that the Commissioner of Police is not independent and
that we can bend him to our will is just offensive. We could compare the
leadership of this government and this Premier, which has been sensible and
commonsense but decisive, with the flat-footed and, frankly, bizarre
performance of the Leader of the Opposition, who has been flip-flopping around.
One minute she says, ''We want the borders up'', but only a few
weeks ago when we were debating a matter of public interest in this chamber,
the Leader of the Opposition called for us to ease restrictions. That was a few
weeks ago. I was standing here having an argument with the Leader of the
Opposition. I was trying to put across to her that there is an element of chaos
in the world right now because we are in a global pandemic. She was advocating
to ease restrictions even more. We have done that on medical advice, and slowly
and steadily is exactly how we have done it. We have not rushed to make
political decisions at all. We have taken that advice and made hard decisions.
I absolutely support this
amendment. It is far more reflective of what the community thinks. Opposition
members are making cheap political shots just for attention; it has thrown
relevance out the door. I absolutely condemn the opposition because it has been
hopeless—absolutely hopeless! The Leader of the Opposition has been
calling on the government over and again to bring the border down, consistently
playing politics with people's lives. The fact of the matter is that
people's jobs and lives are at stake. Our children are at school
because of this Premier and his leadership. Our businesses are open because of
this Premier and his leadership. If it had been up to the Leader of the
Opposition and the shadow Minister for Health, we would be in a world of pain
as Victoria is.
Division Division
Amendment (deletion of words) put
and a division taken, the Deputy Speaker (Ms L.L. Baker) casting her vote with
the ayes, with the following result —
Ayes (30)
Ms L.L. Baker Mr D.J. Kelly Mr D.T. Punch Mr C.J.
Tallentire
Dr A.D. Buti Mr F.M. Logan Mr J.R. Quigley Mr D.A.
Templeman
Mr J.N. Carey Mr M. McGowan Mrs M.H. Roberts Mr P.C.
Tinley
Mr R.H. Cook Ms S.F. McGurk Ms C.M. Rowe Ms S.E. Winton
Ms J.M. Freeman Mr S.A. Millman Ms R. Saffioti Mr B.S.
Wyatt
Mr T.J. Healy Mrs L.M. O'Malley Ms A. Sanderson Mr
D.R. Michael (Teller)
Mr M. Hughes Mr P. Papalia Ms J.J. Shaw
Mr W.J. Johnston Mr S.J. Price Mrs J.M.C. Stojkovski
Noes (16)
Mr I.C. Blayney Dr D.J. Honey Mr R.S. Love Mr K.M. O'Donnell
Mr V.A. Catania Mr P.A. Katsambanis Mr W.R. Marmion Mr
D.T. Redman
Ms M.J. Davies Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup Ms L. Mettam Mr P.J.
Rundle
Mrs L.M. Harvey Mr S.K. L'Estrange Mr D.C. Nalder
Mr A. Krsticevic (Teller)
����������
Pairs
Mr M.P. Murray Mr J.E. McGrath
Ms M.M. Quirk Mrs A.K. Hayden
Mr R.R. Whitby Dr M.D. Nahan
Amendment thus passed.
Division Division
Amendment (insertion of words) put
and a division taken, the Deputy Speaker (Ms L.L. Baker) casting her vote with
the ayes, with the following result —
Ayes (30)
Ms L.L. Baker Mr D.J. Kelly Mr D.T. Punch Mr C.J.
Tallentire
Dr A.D. Buti Mr F.M. Logan Mr J.R. Quigley Mr D.A.
Templeman
Mr J.N. Carey Mr M. McGowan Mrs M.H. Roberts Mr P.C.
Tinley
Mr R.H. Cook Ms S.F. McGurk Ms C.M. Rowe Ms S.E. Winton
Ms J.M. Freeman Mr S.A. Millman Ms R. Saffioti Mr B.S.
Wyatt
Mr T.J. Healy Mrs L.M. O'Malley Ms A. Sanderson Mr
D.R. Michael (Teller)
Mr M. Hughes Mr P. Papalia Ms J.J. Shaw
Mr W.J. Johnston Mr S.J. Price Mrs J.M.C. Stojkovski
Noes (16)
Mr I.C. Blayney Dr D.J. Honey Mr R.S. Love Mr K.M. O'Donnell
Mr V.A. Catania Mr P.A. Katsambanis Mr W.R. Marmion Mr
D.T. Redman
Ms M.J. Davies Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup Ms L. Mettam Mr P.J.
Rundle
Mrs L.M. Harvey Mr S.K. L'Estrange Mr D.C. Nalder
Mr A. Krsticevic (Teller)
����������
Pairs
Mr M.P. Murray Mr J.E. McGrath
Ms M.M. Quirk Mrs A.K. Hayden
Mr R.R. Whitby Dr M.D. Nahan
Amendment put and passed.
Motion, as Amended Motion
Division Division
Question put and a division taken,
the Deputy Speaker (Ms L.L. Baker) casting her vote with the ayes, with the
following result —
Ayes (30)
Ms L.L. Baker Mr D.J. Kelly Mr D.T. Punch Mr C.J.
Tallentire
Dr A.D. Buti Mr F.M. Logan Mr J.R. Quigley Mr D.A.
Templeman
Mr J.N. Carey Mr M. McGowan Mrs M.H. Roberts Mr P.C.
Tinley
Mr R.H. Cook Ms S.F. McGurk Ms C.M. Rowe Ms S.E. Winton
Ms J.M. Freeman Mr S.A. Millman Ms R. Saffioti Mr B.S.
Wyatt
Mr T.J. Healy Mrs L.M. O'Malley Ms A. Sanderson Mr
D.R. Michael (Teller)
Mr M. Hughes Mr P. Papalia Ms J.J. Shaw
Mr W.J. Johnston Mr S.J. Price Mrs J.M.C. Stojkovski
Noes (16)
Mr I.C. Blayney Dr D.J. Honey Mr R.S. Love Mr K.M. O'Donnell
Mr V.A. Catania Mr P.A. Katsambanis Mr W.R. Marmion Mr
D.T. Redman
Ms M.J. Davies Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup Ms L. Mettam Mr P.J.
Rundle
Mrs L.M. Harvey Mr S.K. L'Estrange Mr D.C. Nalder
Mr A. Krsticevic (Teller)
����������
Pairs
Mr M.P. Murray Mr J.E. McGrath
Ms M.M. Quirk Mrs A.K. Hayden
Mr R.R. Whitby Dr M.D. Nahan
Question thus passed.
summarised Mr Palmer's claims in the second reading speech and said
that the first damages claim amounted to almost $30 billion and the second
damages claim was unquantified. The Premier, of course, repeated that outside
the chamber on several occasions. I nearly cut myself shaving when I was
listening to the ABC news last week and heard Mr Palmer describe this assertion
as bull excrement—to use a more refined term than he used on the radio
in relation to those claims. I challenged Mr Palmer, or invited Mr Palmer, to
release the arbitration papers, but he has declined to do so. He just repeated
his assertion that it is bull excrement that there is a claim in for almost $30
billion. I have here the apposite papers from his claim, ''Applicant's
Amended Statement of Issues, Facts and Contentions'', which is on the
cover sheet of his claim. Pages 89 to 93 of the claim is where he
particularises his claim for damages. Most significantly, on page 93, it is
signed in person by ''Clive F. Palmer''. I table that document
from the statement.
[See paper 3576.]
Mr J.R. QUIGLEY : I also seek to table a summary that I
have made for the ease of all members in which I list the seven claims. Claims
1 to 6 total $27.75 billion. Claims 6 and 7, being the second damages event,
are unquantified. They have to be added to the $27.75 billion; he has not
quantified those yet. Interest is running at the rate of six per cent, so every
day that passes, it goes up by $1.83 million—that is, $56.7 million a
month. By the time the arbitration was scheduled to be heard, that would be a
further $226 million, and by the time it was concluded, that would be a further
half a billion on top of that.
[See paper 3577.]
Mr J.R. QUIGLEY : Mr Big Palmer has sought to deceive
the public. In fact, by his own signature, Mr Palmer has marked himself beyond
reasonable doubt as a liar—telling lies to the Western Australian
public and the nation. Beyond reasonable doubt, he is a liar and he will always
carry that reputation in Western Australia. No system is perfect. But we are
continuing to undertake the risk assessments to ensure that we address any
perceived anomalies and weaknesses and fill those gaps. A classic example is
the move we have made, as part of the national program, to require that all
truck drivers who are members of the freight and logistics industry be tested
regularly to ensure that our freight and logistics industry continues to
practice in a COVID-19 safe way.
I note that the member for Vasse raised an issue about the
amount of testing. We are doing the comparable level of testing that we need to
do to ensure that we maintain vigilance and line-of-sight for any outbreak of
the disease. At the moment, we are undertaking around 18 000 tests a week. That
is a combination of our COVID-19 clinics and the private pathology labs,
scattered in over 100 locations across the state. Truckies have an opportunity
to be tested wherever they need to go. Within 48 hours of entering the state,
if they cannot show evidence that they have been tested within the last seven
days and have returned a negative result, we can make sure that they have
access to either a GP-referred COVID clinic or a private pathology lab, or they
can simply go to one of our COVID-19 clinics and get themselves tested. It is
the responsibility of everyone.
We are continuing to work hard with the aged-care sector to
ensure that it has the support that it needs to be able to deal with any
outbreak of the disease. Just this weekend, I held a meeting with representatives
right across the aged-care sector to ensure that we are doing everything we
need to do to assist them to manage it. Whether that is with the level of PPE
that they need, the support they need for their workforce, or an outbreak
management plan, we will ensure that the Department of Health is on hand to
assist them at all times.
We will not be supporting this motion because risk management
is what we are doing day in and day out. We assess the risk, we respond to the
risk, and we make amendments about the hard border. This is what we have done
doing all along. This is what the Premier has been leading. We are continuing
to undertake risk assessments and put on further restrictions. That is why we
now have more restrictions on people travelling from Victoria and New South
Wales. That is why we are continuing to make sure that our quarantine hotels
are operating second to none in Australia to keep Western Australians safe, and
to allow us to move to an easing of the stage four restrictions to get Western
Australians back into the workforce. Western Australia currently has four
active cases.
What the member for Dawesville should be drawing to the
public's attention is the fact that although we are having some
success, the disease is still out there, and we need to continue to be
vigilant. We will continue to undertake the risk assessment that the member for
Dawesville has called for. That is what we are doing every day. That is what
public health physicians do. They manage the public health risk, whether they
are in the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre or the State Health
Incident Coordination Centre, or whether they are a doctor or a nurse working
on infection control right across our great healthcare system. They are doing
the job, day in and day out. They have kept us safe. The opposition should be
supporting them, not denouncing them.
MS R. SAFFIOTI (West
Swan — Minister for Transport) 3.53 pm :
During the urgent debate on this motion, we have witnessed another weak,
insipid and pathetic performance by the Liberal Party in this chamber. This
matter of public interest calls for a review, a committee and an assessment.
The pandemic is happening now. The front line is busy now. The Chief Health
Officer and the Commissioner of Police, and the entire group of officials
protecting Western Australia, are working hard now. The idea that we would
pause that work to reflect on how we are going, rather than just getting on
with it and protecting Western Australia, is wrong and false. That is why the
Minister for Health outlined very clearly that we will not be supporting this
motion. We are not about contemplating the world. We are about acting and
protecting Western Australia now.
We have already seen a complete waste of time, particularly
for our top legal teams, on the High Court challenge. I am curious, as
everybody should be, about why some of our top legal minds have been occupied
with this High Court challenge, when they should be working in WA to help make
sure that we can put all the legal mechanisms in place to protect Western
Australia in the best way possible. That is why we will not be supporting the
motion. We do not support reviews. We support action. What we are doing, under
the leadership of both the Premier and the Minister for Health, is a
coordinated and continual risk assessment and management process. We saw with
the Premier's announcement today another continual assessment of risk
and making decisions to manage that risk. That is the job of the Chief Health
Officer and the entire team, and of course also the Commissioner of Police in
the management of this process.
Today we have seen the very different views of everyone who
has spoken on this matter of public interest. The National Party said that it
wants more overseas workers to come into the state. The Liberal Party and the
member for Hillarys said that we should not let anyone in.
Several members interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Members!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : I do not agree with the strange idea
that somehow the opposition is better at making these decisions than the Chief
Health Officer and the Commissioner of Police. I back those people in making
those decisions.
Mr D.T. Redman : If that's your view, you
wouldn't have any parliamentary committees. You wouldn't have
oversight of anything.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : It is a pandemic. It is a state of
emergency. Members opposite want to sit around and have a review. Members
opposite are all over the place. We have seen their constant dismissal of
Victoria, and their party-political attacks. Members opposite have played cheap
politics on this from day one, and they continue to do so. Member for Hillarys,
managing the border by postcodes does not work. The member for Hillarys is
advocating for it. They tried to do that over east, and it did not work. Every
time they tried to manage their border —
Mr P.A. Katsambanis interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Member for Hillarys!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : All the states that have tried to
manage their border by postcode have failed, and they now have a hard border
across their entire state, because that is what they had to do.
Mr P.A. Katsambanis interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Member for Hillarys, I have warned
you. I call you for the first time.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The member for Hillarys talked about
the extraordinary effort of the Australian Defence Force when it came to cruise
ships in Western Australia.
Ms S.E. Winton interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Member for Wanneroo! I believe the
minister has the call, not the member for Wanneroo.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The member for Hillarys highlighted
the role of the ADF in managing cruise ships in Western Australia. If anyone
can tell me what it did, please let me know.
The member for Splitsville talked about a bipartisan
approach. He has never undertaken a bipartisan approach to anything when it
comes to this issue. I want to touch on the omnibus bill. I tried to take a
bipartisan approach. We gave the bill to the opposition before we brought it
into this chamber, and the opposition has played politics with it from that
point on. The opposition has shown that it cannot be trusted to take a
bipartisan approach on anything, even a technical and legal bill in relation to
managing COVID-19.
Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup interjected.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The member for Dawesville should be
embarrassed. He knows that that will damage how we operate in this place and
the other place for many years to come.
I refer to another comment, and I understand that the Leader
of the Opposition did not stand to speak on this matter. Somehow, she was the
first person to call for the hard border. I quote the Leader of the Opposition
from 18 March —
If members go back and check the Hansard ,
they will see that I did not call for travel to stop or borders to be closed; �
Again, the Hansard contradicts the member for
Dawesville. Of course, there are the other comments again and again that we
should bring the borders down. The Leader of the Opposition believes that no-one
in Western Australia has a memory, that Hansard does not exist, that
video and audiotapes do not exist and that somehow we cannot check what was
said. I remember sitting in here in question time after question time and being
asked, ''Why can't you bring those borders down?'' Let us
go through the comments. On 19 May, the Leader of the Opposition was asked
whether, if she was Premier, she would reopen the interstate border. The Leader
of the Opposition said, ''I would.'' Also on 19 May, she said, ''There
does not appear to be a valid reason to keep the interstate borders closed.''
On 16 June, she said, ''The Premier needs to show us the advice; they
say there's a constitutional issue, but clearly there isn't.''
Also on 16 June, the Leader of the Opposition said, ''It's
politically expedient to maintain the hard borders'' and ''There's
clearly no evidence that it's actually medically required at this
point.'' Her comments go on and on. On 12 June, she said, ''I
think it's ridiculous. Every other Premier has made different decisions
based on the evidence they have on hand.'' On 1 June, she said, ''We're
one country. We're all Australians. This hard border nonsense is
absolute nonsense.'' Again and again and again.
Another point that has been overlooked is the backing of
Clive Palmer during this debate, and the shock and anger because Clive Palmer
was not allowed to enter WA. On 16 June, the Leader of the Opposition said, ''I
think the Premier is blocking Clive Palmer and it's political. Why is
he blocking Clive Palmer?''
Mrs L.M. Harvey interjected.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : We have a High Court challenge to deal
with. So, again, the Leader of the Opposition is on Clive Palmer's
side. She cannot help but be on anyone's side but that of the McGowan
government.
Mr M. McGowan : Not Western Australia's side.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : No, not Western Australia's
side. The Liberal Party tried to refer the Palmer legislation to a committee.
It tried to stop it from being debated and passed last Thursday. Those are the
facts. We cannot walk away from facts, because things such as television, audio
recordings and Hansard exist. I was reading the Clive Palmer ads this
morning and they look very similar to Liberal Party ads. They use Liberal Party
comments and are very similar to Liberal Party ads. The Clive Palmer ads use
Liberal Party key lines. If anyone has noticed the contents of the ads, they
will know they use Liberal Party key lines and I suspect that that will
continue.
Mr R.H. Cook : He and Mathias Cormann should get
together.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : Yes, it is as though it is a
coordinated approach. When Tim McMillan from Channel Seven's Flashpoint
asked the Leader of the Opposition, ''What about Clive? Would you let
Clive in?'' The Leader of the Opposition replied, ''Clive has
business interests in WA.'' Yes, he does; he is trying to sue us for $30
billion! She continued, ''Why can't he get a business exemption?''
Mrs L.M. Harvey interjected.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : Sorry?
Mrs L.M. Harvey interjected.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The Leader of the Opposition should
stand up and make a contribution.
Mrs L.M. Harvey : How many people come in every day?
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The Leader of the Opposition should
stand up and make a contribution, because once again she seems to be on Clive
Palmer's side.
Amendment to Motion Amendment to
Motion
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : I move —
That all words after ''house''
be deleted and the following words be substituted —
notes the strong and rigorous
measures taken by the state government to stop the spread of COVID-19,
including its firm decisions to retain WA's hard border despite
repeated calls by the Leader of the Opposition and the Liberal Party to bring
the hard border down
MS A. SANDERSON (Morley — Parliamentary Secretary) 4.04 pm :
I rise to support the amendment moved by the member for West Swan. In doing so,
I would like to highlight some of the desperate lengths that the opposition has
gone to. It has given up trying to be relevant and is now about getting
attention. Misrepresenting the number of exemptions as individuals is desperate
and scaremongering. That is exactly what the opposition has been doing. Those
exemptions apply to essential workers. The entire exercise of the last six
months has been an exercise in risk management—that is what it has
been. To say that somehow the government is not implementing risk management
strategies continuously for this public health pandemic is absolutely
ridiculous. It is a balance between managing the contamination potentially
brought in by essential industry workers and keeping industries going—industries
advocated for by the opposition's coalition partner such as
agricultural industries, airlines, logistics and all those that bring really
important goods and services to WA with the potential for an outbreak.
This motion has two completely separate purposes. One part of
the dog is the tail that says, ''We want you to be more compassionate'',
and I have some sympathy for that, while the other part of the dog says, ''We're
not being hard enough.'' If we had to think about who we really want to
manage this crisis and which leader we want to manage this crisis, we have had
the commonsense advice–driven approach of the Premier, who has taken
advice at every step of the way. To assert that somehow the Chief Health
Officer and the Commissioner of Police are not independent and experts at what
they do is offensive. To assert that they can somehow be lent on by politicians
of either stripe and that the Commissioner of Police is not independent and
that we can bend him to our will is just offensive. We could compare the
leadership of this government and this Premier, which has been sensible and
commonsense but decisive, with the flat-footed and, frankly, bizarre
performance of the Leader of the Opposition, who has been flip-flopping around.
One minute she says, ''We want the borders up'', but only a few
weeks ago when we were debating a matter of public interest in this chamber,
the Leader of the Opposition called for us to ease restrictions. That was a few
weeks ago. I was standing here having an argument with the Leader of the
Opposition. I was trying to put across to her that there is an element of chaos
in the world right now because we are in a global pandemic. She was advocating
to ease restrictions even more. We have done that on medical advice, and slowly
and steadily is exactly how we have done it. We have not rushed to make
political decisions at all. We have taken that advice and made hard decisions.
I absolutely support this
amendment. It is far more reflective of what the community thinks. Opposition
members are making cheap political shots just for attention; it has thrown
relevance out the door. I absolutely condemn the opposition because it has been
hopeless—absolutely hopeless! The Leader of the Opposition has been
calling on the government over and again to bring the border down, consistently
playing politics with people's lives. The fact of the matter is that
people's jobs and lives are at stake. Our children are at school
because of this Premier and his leadership. Our businesses are open because of
this Premier and his leadership. If it had been up to the Leader of the
Opposition and the shadow Minister for Health, we would be in a world of pain
as Victoria is.
Division Division
Amendment (deletion of words) put
and a division taken, the Deputy Speaker (Ms L.L. Baker) casting her vote with
the ayes, with the following result —
Ayes (30)
Ms L.L. Baker Mr D.J. Kelly Mr D.T. Punch Mr C.J.
Tallentire
Dr A.D. Buti Mr F.M. Logan Mr J.R. Quigley Mr D.A.
Templeman
Mr J.N. Carey Mr M. McGowan Mrs M.H. Roberts Mr P.C.
Tinley
Mr R.H. Cook Ms S.F. McGurk Ms C.M. Rowe Ms S.E. Winton
Ms J.M. Freeman Mr S.A. Millman Ms R. Saffioti Mr B.S.
Wyatt
Mr T.J. Healy Mrs L.M. O'Malley Ms A. Sanderson Mr
D.R. Michael (Teller)
Mr M. Hughes Mr P. Papalia Ms J.J. Shaw
Mr W.J. Johnston Mr S.J. Price Mrs J.M.C. Stojkovski
Noes (16)
Mr I.C. Blayney Dr D.J. Honey Mr R.S. Love Mr K.M. O'Donnell
Mr V.A. Catania Mr P.A. Katsambanis Mr W.R. Marmion Mr
D.T. Redman
Ms M.J. Davies Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup Ms L. Mettam Mr P.J.
Rundle
Mrs L.M. Harvey Mr S.K. L'Estrange Mr D.C. Nalder
Mr A. Krsticevic (Teller)
����������
Pairs
Mr M.P. Murray Mr J.E. McGrath
Ms M.M. Quirk Mrs A.K. Hayden
Mr R.R. Whitby Dr M.D. Nahan
Amendment thus passed.
Division Division
Amendment (insertion of words) put
and a division taken, the Deputy Speaker (Ms L.L. Baker) casting her vote with
the ayes, with the following result —
Ayes (30)
Ms L.L. Baker Mr D.J. Kelly Mr D.T. Punch Mr C.J.
Tallentire
Dr A.D. Buti Mr F.M. Logan Mr J.R. Quigley Mr D.A.
Templeman
Mr J.N. Carey Mr M. McGowan Mrs M.H. Roberts Mr P.C.
Tinley
Mr R.H. Cook Ms S.F. McGurk Ms C.M. Rowe Ms S.E. Winton
Ms J.M. Freeman Mr S.A. Millman Ms R. Saffioti Mr B.S.
Wyatt
Mr T.J. Healy Mrs L.M. O'Malley Ms A. Sanderson Mr
D.R. Michael (Teller)
Mr M. Hughes Mr P. Papalia Ms J.J. Shaw
Mr W.J. Johnston Mr S.J. Price Mrs J.M.C. Stojkovski
Noes (16)
Mr I.C. Blayney Dr D.J. Honey Mr R.S. Love Mr K.M. O'Donnell
Mr V.A. Catania Mr P.A. Katsambanis Mr W.R. Marmion Mr
D.T. Redman
Ms M.J. Davies Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup Ms L. Mettam Mr P.J.
Rundle
Mrs L.M. Harvey Mr S.K. L'Estrange Mr D.C. Nalder
Mr A. Krsticevic (Teller)
����������
Pairs
Mr M.P. Murray Mr J.E. McGrath
Ms M.M. Quirk Mrs A.K. Hayden
Mr R.R. Whitby Dr M.D. Nahan
Amendment put and passed.
Motion, as Amended Motion
Division Division
Question put and a division taken,
the Deputy Speaker (Ms L.L. Baker) casting her vote with the ayes, with the
following result —
Ayes (30)
Ms L.L. Baker Mr D.J. Kelly Mr D.T. Punch Mr C.J.
Tallentire
Dr A.D. Buti Mr F.M. Logan Mr J.R. Quigley Mr D.A.
Templeman
Mr J.N. Carey Mr M. McGowan Mrs M.H. Roberts Mr P.C.
Tinley
Mr R.H. Cook Ms S.F. McGurk Ms C.M. Rowe Ms S.E. Winton
Ms J.M. Freeman Mr S.A. Millman Ms R. Saffioti Mr B.S.
Wyatt
Mr T.J. Healy Mrs L.M. O'Malley Ms A. Sanderson Mr
D.R. Michael (Teller)
Mr M. Hughes Mr P. Papalia Ms J.J. Shaw
Mr W.J. Johnston Mr S.J. Price Mrs J.M.C. Stojkovski
Noes (16)
Mr I.C. Blayney Dr D.J. Honey Mr R.S. Love Mr K.M. O'Donnell
Mr V.A. Catania Mr P.A. Katsambanis Mr W.R. Marmion Mr
D.T. Redman
Ms M.J. Davies Mr Z.R.F. Kirkup Ms L. Mettam Mr P.J.
Rundle
Mrs L.M. Harvey Mr S.K. L'Estrange Mr D.C. Nalder
Mr A. Krsticevic (Teller)
����������
Pairs
Mr M.P. Murray Mr J.E. McGrath
Ms M.M. Quirk Mrs A.K. Hayden
Mr R.R. Whitby Dr M.D. Nahan
Question thus passed.
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