❓ Mr Rundle questions the Premier's commitment to the live sheep export industry and job security for WA workers. The Premier avoids a direct answer, highlighting the government's job creation record and directing the member to past statements.
AnsweredQoN 273Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
LIVE EXPORT
273. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Premier:
I refer to Western Australia's
$136 million live sheep trade and the Premier's attempts to avoid
stating his support for the industry yesterday.
(1) Giving the
Premier claims to support live export and is even delivering a budget that
invests $2 million in identifying new regional locations to ship from, will he
today guarantee the future of the live sheep trade in WA under his government?
(2) Will he back Western
Australian workers against attempts to place them on the jobless queue while he
is Premier?
273. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Premier:
I refer to Western Australia's
$136 million live sheep trade and the Premier's attempts to avoid
stating his support for the industry yesterday.
(1) Giving the
Premier claims to support live export and is even delivering a budget that
invests $2 million in identifying new regional locations to ship from, will he
today guarantee the future of the live sheep trade in WA under his government?
(2) Will he back Western
Australian workers against attempts to place them on the jobless queue while he
is Premier?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) The
thing about the member for Roe is he does not listen; and, if he does, he does
not comprehend. Western Australia now has an unemployment rate of 3.4 per cent.
When the former government left office, it was 6.4 per cent. We have taken it
down to 3.4 per cent. Over our five years in office, we have created 160 000 new jobs. We are nearly at 1.5 million
people employed in Western Australia and we have the highest
participation rate in Western Australia of any state in the history of the
nation at 70 per cent. That is the highest rate of any state in the history of
the nation! If we had the participation rate of the other states, our
unemployment rate would have a ''2'' or a ''1'' in
front of it; that is where we would be. But because we have such extraordinary
confidence in Western Australia and a slightly younger population than the
national average, our participation rate is at 70 per cent. In other words, we
have the strongest economy in the nation, the most people employed in history
and the strongest employment participation rate of any state in the history of
the commonwealth, and the member comes in here and complains! Does he not think
it makes him look a little bit foolish to come and complain about these things?
One of the things we campaigned on when we arrived in office was actually
creating jobs. We had to diversify and create
jobs in Western Australia because of the financial and economic wreckage that
the Liberal–National government left to us. That is the second point.
The
first point of the member's question I answered yesterday. I urge the
member: there is this thing called The
West Australian and there have
been a range of articles setting out my position on these matters, which have been quite clearly expressed. I urge the member to go and read it.
thing about the member for Roe is he does not listen; and, if he does, he does
not comprehend. Western Australia now has an unemployment rate of 3.4 per cent.
When the former government left office, it was 6.4 per cent. We have taken it
down to 3.4 per cent. Over our five years in office, we have created 160 000 new jobs. We are nearly at 1.5 million
people employed in Western Australia and we have the highest
participation rate in Western Australia of any state in the history of the
nation at 70 per cent. That is the highest rate of any state in the history of
the nation! If we had the participation rate of the other states, our
unemployment rate would have a ''2'' or a ''1'' in
front of it; that is where we would be. But because we have such extraordinary
confidence in Western Australia and a slightly younger population than the
national average, our participation rate is at 70 per cent. In other words, we
have the strongest economy in the nation, the most people employed in history
and the strongest employment participation rate of any state in the history of
the commonwealth, and the member comes in here and complains! Does he not think
it makes him look a little bit foolish to come and complain about these things?
One of the things we campaigned on when we arrived in office was actually
creating jobs. We had to diversify and create
jobs in Western Australia because of the financial and economic wreckage that
the Liberal–National government left to us. That is the second point.
The
first point of the member's question I answered yesterday. I urge the
member: there is this thing called The
West Australian and there have
been a range of articles setting out my position on these matters, which have been quite clearly expressed. I urge the member to go and read 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.