❓ Opposition questions the appointment of a 'spin doctor' for the Police Commissioner and accuses the Minister of using the Commissioner to deflect blame for law and order issues. The Minister denies knowledge of the appointment and defends the Commissioner's integrity.
AnsweredQoN 402Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE - SPIN DOCTOR 402. Mr R.F. JOHNSON to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services: Given that the intention of the Frontline First policy is to get police out from behind desks and on the streets, and given that the number of police on the streets has fallen under the Australian Labor Party government, I ask - (1) Can the minister confirm that Mr Neil Poh has been appointed as a personal spin doctor to Commissioner of Police Karl O’Callaghan? (2) Why does the police commissioner need his own spin doctor? (3) Why does the minister insist on using the police commissioner to publicly defend his law and order failings? Mr J.C. KOBELKE
AnswerView source ↗
(1) No, I do not know. (2)-(3) Trying to suggest that the media and the police are spin doctors really convinces everyone and makes it very clear that the opposition has discovered the word “spin”. Everything opposition members do is spin, so they use it on everything. We need look only at how they cannot read statistics to see how they abuse them and use them selectively. I think someone who takes only bits of a statistical report and uses that to paint a totally false picture would be described as spin. That is what members opposite are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE - SPIN DOCTOR
Given that the intention of the Frontline First policy is to get police out from behind desks and on the streets, and given that the number of police on the streets has fallen under the Australian Labor Party government, I ask - (1) Can the minister confirm that Mr Neil Poh has been appointed as a personal spin doctor to Commissioner of Police Karl O’Callaghan? (2) Why does the police commissioner need his own spin doctor? (3) Why does the minister insist on using the police commissioner to publicly defend his law and order failings? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) No, I do not know. (2)-(3) Trying to suggest that the media and the police are spin doctors really convinces everyone and makes it very clear that the opposition has discovered the word “spin”. Everything opposition members do is spin, so they use it on everything. We need look only at how they cannot read statistics to see how they abuse them and use them selectively. I think someone who takes only bits of a statistical report and uses that to paint a totally false picture would be described as spin. That is what members opposite are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
(1) Can the minister confirm that Mr Neil Poh has been appointed as a personal spin doctor to Commissioner of Police Karl O’Callaghan? (2) Why does the police commissioner need his own spin doctor? (3) Why does the minister insist on using the police commissioner to publicly defend his law and order failings? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) No, I do not know. (2)-(3) Trying to suggest that the media and the police are spin doctors really convinces everyone and makes it very clear that the opposition has discovered the word “spin”. Everything opposition members do is spin, so they use it on everything. We need look only at how they cannot read statistics to see how they abuse them and use them selectively. I think someone who takes only bits of a statistical report and uses that to paint a totally false picture would be described as spin. That is what members opposite are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
(2) Why does the police commissioner need his own spin doctor? (3) Why does the minister insist on using the police commissioner to publicly defend his law and order failings? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) No, I do not know. (2)-(3) Trying to suggest that the media and the police are spin doctors really convinces everyone and makes it very clear that the opposition has discovered the word “spin”. Everything opposition members do is spin, so they use it on everything. We need look only at how they cannot read statistics to see how they abuse them and use them selectively. I think someone who takes only bits of a statistical report and uses that to paint a totally false picture would be described as spin. That is what members opposite are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
(3) Why does the minister insist on using the police commissioner to publicly defend his law and order failings? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) No, I do not know. (2)-(3) Trying to suggest that the media and the police are spin doctors really convinces everyone and makes it very clear that the opposition has discovered the word “spin”. Everything opposition members do is spin, so they use it on everything. We need look only at how they cannot read statistics to see how they abuse them and use them selectively. I think someone who takes only bits of a statistical report and uses that to paint a totally false picture would be described as spin. That is what members opposite are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) No, I do not know. (2)-(3) Trying to suggest that the media and the police are spin doctors really convinces everyone and makes it very clear that the opposition has discovered the word “spin”. Everything opposition members do is spin, so they use it on everything. We need look only at how they cannot read statistics to see how they abuse them and use them selectively. I think someone who takes only bits of a statistical report and uses that to paint a totally false picture would be described as spin. That is what members opposite are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
(1) No, I do not know. (2)-(3) Trying to suggest that the media and the police are spin doctors really convinces everyone and makes it very clear that the opposition has discovered the word “spin”. Everything opposition members do is spin, so they use it on everything. We need look only at how they cannot read statistics to see how they abuse them and use them selectively. I think someone who takes only bits of a statistical report and uses that to paint a totally false picture would be described as spin. That is what members opposite are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
(2)-(3) Trying to suggest that the media and the police are spin doctors really convinces everyone and makes it very clear that the opposition has discovered the word “spin”. Everything opposition members do is spin, so they use it on everything. We need look only at how they cannot read statistics to see how they abuse them and use them selectively. I think someone who takes only bits of a statistical report and uses that to paint a totally false picture would be described as spin. That is what members opposite are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
COMMISSIONER OF POLICE - SPIN DOCTOR
Given that the intention of the Frontline First policy is to get police out from behind desks and on the streets, and given that the number of police on the streets has fallen under the Australian Labor Party government, I ask - (1) Can the minister confirm that Mr Neil Poh has been appointed as a personal spin doctor to Commissioner of Police Karl O’Callaghan? (2) Why does the police commissioner need his own spin doctor? (3) Why does the minister insist on using the police commissioner to publicly defend his law and order failings? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) No, I do not know. (2)-(3) Trying to suggest that the media and the police are spin doctors really convinces everyone and makes it very clear that the opposition has discovered the word “spin”. Everything opposition members do is spin, so they use it on everything. We need look only at how they cannot read statistics to see how they abuse them and use them selectively. I think someone who takes only bits of a statistical report and uses that to paint a totally false picture would be described as spin. That is what members opposite are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
(1) Can the minister confirm that Mr Neil Poh has been appointed as a personal spin doctor to Commissioner of Police Karl O’Callaghan? (2) Why does the police commissioner need his own spin doctor? (3) Why does the minister insist on using the police commissioner to publicly defend his law and order failings? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) No, I do not know. (2)-(3) Trying to suggest that the media and the police are spin doctors really convinces everyone and makes it very clear that the opposition has discovered the word “spin”. Everything opposition members do is spin, so they use it on everything. We need look only at how they cannot read statistics to see how they abuse them and use them selectively. I think someone who takes only bits of a statistical report and uses that to paint a totally false picture would be described as spin. That is what members opposite are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
(2) Why does the police commissioner need his own spin doctor? (3) Why does the minister insist on using the police commissioner to publicly defend his law and order failings? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) No, I do not know. (2)-(3) Trying to suggest that the media and the police are spin doctors really convinces everyone and makes it very clear that the opposition has discovered the word “spin”. Everything opposition members do is spin, so they use it on everything. We need look only at how they cannot read statistics to see how they abuse them and use them selectively. I think someone who takes only bits of a statistical report and uses that to paint a totally false picture would be described as spin. That is what members opposite are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
(3) Why does the minister insist on using the police commissioner to publicly defend his law and order failings? Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) No, I do not know. (2)-(3) Trying to suggest that the media and the police are spin doctors really convinces everyone and makes it very clear that the opposition has discovered the word “spin”. Everything opposition members do is spin, so they use it on everything. We need look only at how they cannot read statistics to see how they abuse them and use them selectively. I think someone who takes only bits of a statistical report and uses that to paint a totally false picture would be described as spin. That is what members opposite are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE replied: (1) No, I do not know. (2)-(3) Trying to suggest that the media and the police are spin doctors really convinces everyone and makes it very clear that the opposition has discovered the word “spin”. Everything opposition members do is spin, so they use it on everything. We need look only at how they cannot read statistics to see how they abuse them and use them selectively. I think someone who takes only bits of a statistical report and uses that to paint a totally false picture would be described as spin. That is what members opposite are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
(1) No, I do not know. (2)-(3) Trying to suggest that the media and the police are spin doctors really convinces everyone and makes it very clear that the opposition has discovered the word “spin”. Everything opposition members do is spin, so they use it on everything. We need look only at how they cannot read statistics to see how they abuse them and use them selectively. I think someone who takes only bits of a statistical report and uses that to paint a totally false picture would be described as spin. That is what members opposite are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
(2)-(3) Trying to suggest that the media and the police are spin doctors really convinces everyone and makes it very clear that the opposition has discovered the word “spin”. Everything opposition members do is spin, so they use it on everything. We need look only at how they cannot read statistics to see how they abuse them and use them selectively. I think someone who takes only bits of a statistical report and uses that to paint a totally false picture would be described as spin. That is what members opposite are doing. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
The SPEAKER : Order, members! Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
Mr J.C. KOBELKE : I totally reject the imputation in the question that somehow the Commissioner of Police is releasing untrue information and spinning it in the media. I have no evidence of it. I just go by the integrity of the commissioner and the job he is doing, which I believe is recognised right across the state. The support he is getting from the 5 000 members of the Western Australia Police, which I think is overwhelming, indicates that he is doing a good job. It reflects very poorly on members opposite when they come into the house with those sorts of snide questions that attempt to undermine the credibility of the commissioner. The member for Hillarys ought to have a look at himself and stop playing silly games and going over the top with totally ridiculous statements about an important issue such as law and order.
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