❓ Dr. Honey (Cottesloe) asks the Premier to request an apology from the Member for Cockburn to the Lord Mayor of Perth. The Premier deflects, accusing the opposition of political opportunism and focusing on the need for a new primary school in East Perth.
AnsweredQoN 621Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CITY OF PERTH —
LORD MAYOR — MEMBER FOR COCKBURN'S COMMENTS
621. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question.
Why will the Premier not simply ask the member for Cockburn to apologise to the
Lord Mayor of Perth for his offensive outburst?
Several members interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Member
for Cottesloe!
LORD MAYOR — MEMBER FOR COCKBURN'S COMMENTS
621. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question.
Why will the Premier not simply ask the member for Cockburn to apologise to the
Lord Mayor of Perth for his offensive outburst?
Several members interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Member
for Cottesloe!
AnswerView source ↗
Those opposite dish it out all the
time—the name calling, the accusations and the personal attacks—but
the moment they find themselves in the spotlight of any scrutiny or public
debate, they fall apart.
Several members interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Members!
Member for Cottesloe! Carry on, Premier.
Mr R.H. COOK : Obviously, I want
to see respectful debate. I want to see debate that is focused on the issues at
hand, and the issue at hand is whether the people of East Perth get a new
primary school and the housing that they deserve. It is about whether, in this
instance, the Liberal Party will continue its tactics of negativity, opposition
and delay or whether it will actually get on board with something that will
have a fundamental community benefit. It is a primary school we are talking
about! We are not even talking about something controversial. It is a primary
school. I would have thought that that is the one thing we could all agree on—that
the community should have a primary school. But not even that.
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Leader
of the Liberal Party!
Mr R.H. COOK : They want to
delay, they want to oppose and they want to cancel. They will do everything
they can.
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Member
for Cottesloe!
Several members interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Members!
The Premier has the call.
Ms S. Winton interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER :
Minister!
Mr R.H. COOK : Let us just
get on with the job. Let us just get on with making sure that that community
gets a new primary school.
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Member
for Cottesloe!
Mr R.H. COOK : Let us just
make sure that we all acknowledge that there is a community good—a
community benefit—in something like a new primary school being
constructed. The City of Joondalup recognised that with the Ocean Reef Marina.
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Leader
of the Liberal Party!
Mr R.H. COOK : The City of
Perth has in recent history recognised this as well. It fully cooperated with
it. The City of Perth was once upon a time in full-throated support of this
particular proposal.
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Member
for Cottesloe!
Mr R.H. COOK : Something has happened in the interim,
Deputy Speaker, and that is that someone has been preselected by the Liberal Party. Now, all of a sudden, the City of Perth
has flipped its position—going from full-throated support of this project and being photographed in media
opportunities alongside government ministers and saying how much it
supports it. Someone gets preselected by the Liberal Party and now, all of a sudden,
it is considered a bad thing. I think the entire Western Australian community
can see what is going on here. I think we can all see what is going on here.
What we have here is rank political opportunism. I want to remind everyone what this is about. This is about the public
benefit of more housing and a primary school for our kids. It is time that we
all do what is right for WA. It is time that we stand up for the East Perth
community and it is time that we put aside this nonsense, work together
and get that school built.
The
DEPUTY SPEAKER : That concludes
question time. I will make a comment to members on both sides of the chamber. We have gone a little bit over time today. We can work on ministers
getting those responses down a little and if the opposition could limit the
interjections, we might be able to get through it a bit quicker in the future.
time—the name calling, the accusations and the personal attacks—but
the moment they find themselves in the spotlight of any scrutiny or public
debate, they fall apart.
Several members interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Members!
Member for Cottesloe! Carry on, Premier.
Mr R.H. COOK : Obviously, I want
to see respectful debate. I want to see debate that is focused on the issues at
hand, and the issue at hand is whether the people of East Perth get a new
primary school and the housing that they deserve. It is about whether, in this
instance, the Liberal Party will continue its tactics of negativity, opposition
and delay or whether it will actually get on board with something that will
have a fundamental community benefit. It is a primary school we are talking
about! We are not even talking about something controversial. It is a primary
school. I would have thought that that is the one thing we could all agree on—that
the community should have a primary school. But not even that.
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Leader
of the Liberal Party!
Mr R.H. COOK : They want to
delay, they want to oppose and they want to cancel. They will do everything
they can.
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Member
for Cottesloe!
Several members interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Members!
The Premier has the call.
Ms S. Winton interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER :
Minister!
Mr R.H. COOK : Let us just
get on with the job. Let us just get on with making sure that that community
gets a new primary school.
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Member
for Cottesloe!
Mr R.H. COOK : Let us just
make sure that we all acknowledge that there is a community good—a
community benefit—in something like a new primary school being
constructed. The City of Joondalup recognised that with the Ocean Reef Marina.
Ms L. Mettam interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Leader
of the Liberal Party!
Mr R.H. COOK : The City of
Perth has in recent history recognised this as well. It fully cooperated with
it. The City of Perth was once upon a time in full-throated support of this
particular proposal.
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Member
for Cottesloe!
Mr R.H. COOK : Something has happened in the interim,
Deputy Speaker, and that is that someone has been preselected by the Liberal Party. Now, all of a sudden, the City of Perth
has flipped its position—going from full-throated support of this project and being photographed in media
opportunities alongside government ministers and saying how much it
supports it. Someone gets preselected by the Liberal Party and now, all of a sudden,
it is considered a bad thing. I think the entire Western Australian community
can see what is going on here. I think we can all see what is going on here.
What we have here is rank political opportunism. I want to remind everyone what this is about. This is about the public
benefit of more housing and a primary school for our kids. It is time that we
all do what is right for WA. It is time that we stand up for the East Perth
community and it is time that we put aside this nonsense, work together
and get that school built.
The
DEPUTY SPEAKER : That concludes
question time. I will make a comment to members on both sides of the chamber. We have gone a little bit over time today. We can work on ministers
getting those responses down a little and if the opposition could limit the
interjections, we might be able to get through it a bit quicker in the future.
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