❓ Mr McRae asks the Premier about the latest economic data released by the ABS and its implications for WA. The Premier highlights WA's strong economic growth, business investment, and international trade figures, attributing it to state government policies and investment.
AnsweredQoN 440Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE FINAL DEMAND - AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS FIGURES
I also refer to statistics that tell a story. Will the Premier outline to the Parliament the latest economic data that was released yesterday and tell us what story this tells us about Western Australia? Mr A.J. CARPENTER
I also refer to statistics that tell a story. Will the Premier outline to the Parliament the latest economic data that was released yesterday and tell us what story this tells us about Western Australia? Mr A.J. CARPENTER
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Riverton for the question. Before I answer the member’s question, may I, hopefully on behalf of members of the entire chamber, wish the Speaker a speedy recovery from his illness. I spoke to him this morning. He is feeling much better. He made me aware that question time is televised by Access 31 and that he will probably be watching. On behalf of everybody, Mr Speaker, we cannot wait for you to return. That is not a reflection on the person who is in the chair at the moment! I told the Speaker that I would acknowledge him, and so I have. The member for Riverton has provided me with the opportunity of informing Parliament about the state final demand figures for Western Australia, which were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday. State final demand is essentially the state of the domestic economy. Western Australia grew by an incredible 9.1 per cent for the year. It grew by 3.2 per cent in just the last quarter. The excellent figures for Western Australia compare with the national quarterly increase of 1.8 per cent and an annual increase in the same period of 5.6 per cent. Mr J.H.D. Day : That’s the cause of higher interest rates. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Darling Range so much for his insightful interjection. The member has interjected that Western Australia’s economic performance is the cause for higher national interest rates. My God! Pity help us if that level of analysis ever finds its way into a ministerial position again. I tell members that the Western Australian economy is expanding. The expansion of the Western Australian economy is unequivocally good for the national economy, and the national accounts would look very different were it not for the Western Australian economy. I will tell members what is inflationary: a federal government that, as the federal Treasurer said, hands out money and pork-barrels in a desperate attempt to buy its way out of trouble and back into office. That is inflationary; expanding economic capacity through infrastructure investment etc is not. Business investment in this state is still booming. In the June quarter this year, business investment in Western Australia grew by a staggering 7.3 per cent, making it the largest contributor to our own growth figure. There was a 23.3 per cent annual increase in business investment in Western Australia to the end of June. That is a phenomenal figure and a credit to everyone in Western Australia who was involved. It is, needless to say, the strongest figure in the nation. Over the past five years, business investment in Western Australia has grown by 200 per cent. The state that came closest was Queensland, with a growth figure of 136 per cent. There is nothing like what is happening in Western Australia anywhere else in Australia. I fear that the federal government still does not get the point. Our figure of 200 per cent growth compares with the national figure of 88 per cent over the past five years. International trade figures for Western Australia are just as compelling. Western Australia now represents 36 per cent of national exports, and we have doubled that since 1988. Our trade surplus is now 30 per cent greater than it was last year. We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for Riverton for the question. Before I answer the member’s question, may I, hopefully on behalf of members of the entire chamber, wish the Speaker a speedy recovery from his illness. I spoke to him this morning. He is feeling much better. He made me aware that question time is televised by Access 31 and that he will probably be watching. On behalf of everybody, Mr Speaker, we cannot wait for you to return. That is not a reflection on the person who is in the chair at the moment! I told the Speaker that I would acknowledge him, and so I have. The member for Riverton has provided me with the opportunity of informing Parliament about the state final demand figures for Western Australia, which were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday. State final demand is essentially the state of the domestic economy. Western Australia grew by an incredible 9.1 per cent for the year. It grew by 3.2 per cent in just the last quarter. The excellent figures for Western Australia compare with the national quarterly increase of 1.8 per cent and an annual increase in the same period of 5.6 per cent. Mr J.H.D. Day : That’s the cause of higher interest rates. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Darling Range so much for his insightful interjection. The member has interjected that Western Australia’s economic performance is the cause for higher national interest rates. My God! Pity help us if that level of analysis ever finds its way into a ministerial position again. I tell members that the Western Australian economy is expanding. The expansion of the Western Australian economy is unequivocally good for the national economy, and the national accounts would look very different were it not for the Western Australian economy. I will tell members what is inflationary: a federal government that, as the federal Treasurer said, hands out money and pork-barrels in a desperate attempt to buy its way out of trouble and back into office. That is inflationary; expanding economic capacity through infrastructure investment etc is not. Business investment in this state is still booming. In the June quarter this year, business investment in Western Australia grew by a staggering 7.3 per cent, making it the largest contributor to our own growth figure. There was a 23.3 per cent annual increase in business investment in Western Australia to the end of June. That is a phenomenal figure and a credit to everyone in Western Australia who was involved. It is, needless to say, the strongest figure in the nation. Over the past five years, business investment in Western Australia has grown by 200 per cent. The state that came closest was Queensland, with a growth figure of 136 per cent. There is nothing like what is happening in Western Australia anywhere else in Australia. I fear that the federal government still does not get the point. Our figure of 200 per cent growth compares with the national figure of 88 per cent over the past five years. International trade figures for Western Australia are just as compelling. Western Australia now represents 36 per cent of national exports, and we have doubled that since 1988. Our trade surplus is now 30 per cent greater than it was last year. We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
I thank the member for Riverton for the question. Before I answer the member’s question, may I, hopefully on behalf of members of the entire chamber, wish the Speaker a speedy recovery from his illness. I spoke to him this morning. He is feeling much better. He made me aware that question time is televised by Access 31 and that he will probably be watching. On behalf of everybody, Mr Speaker, we cannot wait for you to return. That is not a reflection on the person who is in the chair at the moment! I told the Speaker that I would acknowledge him, and so I have. The member for Riverton has provided me with the opportunity of informing Parliament about the state final demand figures for Western Australia, which were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday. State final demand is essentially the state of the domestic economy. Western Australia grew by an incredible 9.1 per cent for the year. It grew by 3.2 per cent in just the last quarter. The excellent figures for Western Australia compare with the national quarterly increase of 1.8 per cent and an annual increase in the same period of 5.6 per cent. Mr J.H.D. Day : That’s the cause of higher interest rates. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Darling Range so much for his insightful interjection. The member has interjected that Western Australia’s economic performance is the cause for higher national interest rates. My God! Pity help us if that level of analysis ever finds its way into a ministerial position again. I tell members that the Western Australian economy is expanding. The expansion of the Western Australian economy is unequivocally good for the national economy, and the national accounts would look very different were it not for the Western Australian economy. I will tell members what is inflationary: a federal government that, as the federal Treasurer said, hands out money and pork-barrels in a desperate attempt to buy its way out of trouble and back into office. That is inflationary; expanding economic capacity through infrastructure investment etc is not. Business investment in this state is still booming. In the June quarter this year, business investment in Western Australia grew by a staggering 7.3 per cent, making it the largest contributor to our own growth figure. There was a 23.3 per cent annual increase in business investment in Western Australia to the end of June. That is a phenomenal figure and a credit to everyone in Western Australia who was involved. It is, needless to say, the strongest figure in the nation. Over the past five years, business investment in Western Australia has grown by 200 per cent. The state that came closest was Queensland, with a growth figure of 136 per cent. There is nothing like what is happening in Western Australia anywhere else in Australia. I fear that the federal government still does not get the point. Our figure of 200 per cent growth compares with the national figure of 88 per cent over the past five years. International trade figures for Western Australia are just as compelling. Western Australia now represents 36 per cent of national exports, and we have doubled that since 1988. Our trade surplus is now 30 per cent greater than it was last year. We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
The member for Riverton has provided me with the opportunity of informing Parliament about the state final demand figures for Western Australia, which were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday. State final demand is essentially the state of the domestic economy. Western Australia grew by an incredible 9.1 per cent for the year. It grew by 3.2 per cent in just the last quarter. The excellent figures for Western Australia compare with the national quarterly increase of 1.8 per cent and an annual increase in the same period of 5.6 per cent. Mr J.H.D. Day : That’s the cause of higher interest rates. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Darling Range so much for his insightful interjection. The member has interjected that Western Australia’s economic performance is the cause for higher national interest rates. My God! Pity help us if that level of analysis ever finds its way into a ministerial position again. I tell members that the Western Australian economy is expanding. The expansion of the Western Australian economy is unequivocally good for the national economy, and the national accounts would look very different were it not for the Western Australian economy. I will tell members what is inflationary: a federal government that, as the federal Treasurer said, hands out money and pork-barrels in a desperate attempt to buy its way out of trouble and back into office. That is inflationary; expanding economic capacity through infrastructure investment etc is not. Business investment in this state is still booming. In the June quarter this year, business investment in Western Australia grew by a staggering 7.3 per cent, making it the largest contributor to our own growth figure. There was a 23.3 per cent annual increase in business investment in Western Australia to the end of June. That is a phenomenal figure and a credit to everyone in Western Australia who was involved. It is, needless to say, the strongest figure in the nation. Over the past five years, business investment in Western Australia has grown by 200 per cent. The state that came closest was Queensland, with a growth figure of 136 per cent. There is nothing like what is happening in Western Australia anywhere else in Australia. I fear that the federal government still does not get the point. Our figure of 200 per cent growth compares with the national figure of 88 per cent over the past five years. International trade figures for Western Australia are just as compelling. Western Australia now represents 36 per cent of national exports, and we have doubled that since 1988. Our trade surplus is now 30 per cent greater than it was last year. We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr J.H.D. Day : That’s the cause of higher interest rates. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Darling Range so much for his insightful interjection. The member has interjected that Western Australia’s economic performance is the cause for higher national interest rates. My God! Pity help us if that level of analysis ever finds its way into a ministerial position again. I tell members that the Western Australian economy is expanding. The expansion of the Western Australian economy is unequivocally good for the national economy, and the national accounts would look very different were it not for the Western Australian economy. I will tell members what is inflationary: a federal government that, as the federal Treasurer said, hands out money and pork-barrels in a desperate attempt to buy its way out of trouble and back into office. That is inflationary; expanding economic capacity through infrastructure investment etc is not. Business investment in this state is still booming. In the June quarter this year, business investment in Western Australia grew by a staggering 7.3 per cent, making it the largest contributor to our own growth figure. There was a 23.3 per cent annual increase in business investment in Western Australia to the end of June. That is a phenomenal figure and a credit to everyone in Western Australia who was involved. It is, needless to say, the strongest figure in the nation. Over the past five years, business investment in Western Australia has grown by 200 per cent. The state that came closest was Queensland, with a growth figure of 136 per cent. There is nothing like what is happening in Western Australia anywhere else in Australia. I fear that the federal government still does not get the point. Our figure of 200 per cent growth compares with the national figure of 88 per cent over the past five years. International trade figures for Western Australia are just as compelling. Western Australia now represents 36 per cent of national exports, and we have doubled that since 1988. Our trade surplus is now 30 per cent greater than it was last year. We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Darling Range so much for his insightful interjection. The member has interjected that Western Australia’s economic performance is the cause for higher national interest rates. My God! Pity help us if that level of analysis ever finds its way into a ministerial position again. I tell members that the Western Australian economy is expanding. The expansion of the Western Australian economy is unequivocally good for the national economy, and the national accounts would look very different were it not for the Western Australian economy. I will tell members what is inflationary: a federal government that, as the federal Treasurer said, hands out money and pork-barrels in a desperate attempt to buy its way out of trouble and back into office. That is inflationary; expanding economic capacity through infrastructure investment etc is not. Business investment in this state is still booming. In the June quarter this year, business investment in Western Australia grew by a staggering 7.3 per cent, making it the largest contributor to our own growth figure. There was a 23.3 per cent annual increase in business investment in Western Australia to the end of June. That is a phenomenal figure and a credit to everyone in Western Australia who was involved. It is, needless to say, the strongest figure in the nation. Over the past five years, business investment in Western Australia has grown by 200 per cent. The state that came closest was Queensland, with a growth figure of 136 per cent. There is nothing like what is happening in Western Australia anywhere else in Australia. I fear that the federal government still does not get the point. Our figure of 200 per cent growth compares with the national figure of 88 per cent over the past five years. International trade figures for Western Australia are just as compelling. Western Australia now represents 36 per cent of national exports, and we have doubled that since 1988. Our trade surplus is now 30 per cent greater than it was last year. We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
I tell members that the Western Australian economy is expanding. The expansion of the Western Australian economy is unequivocally good for the national economy, and the national accounts would look very different were it not for the Western Australian economy. I will tell members what is inflationary: a federal government that, as the federal Treasurer said, hands out money and pork-barrels in a desperate attempt to buy its way out of trouble and back into office. That is inflationary; expanding economic capacity through infrastructure investment etc is not. Business investment in this state is still booming. In the June quarter this year, business investment in Western Australia grew by a staggering 7.3 per cent, making it the largest contributor to our own growth figure. There was a 23.3 per cent annual increase in business investment in Western Australia to the end of June. That is a phenomenal figure and a credit to everyone in Western Australia who was involved. It is, needless to say, the strongest figure in the nation. Over the past five years, business investment in Western Australia has grown by 200 per cent. The state that came closest was Queensland, with a growth figure of 136 per cent. There is nothing like what is happening in Western Australia anywhere else in Australia. I fear that the federal government still does not get the point. Our figure of 200 per cent growth compares with the national figure of 88 per cent over the past five years. International trade figures for Western Australia are just as compelling. Western Australia now represents 36 per cent of national exports, and we have doubled that since 1988. Our trade surplus is now 30 per cent greater than it was last year. We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Business investment in this state is still booming. In the June quarter this year, business investment in Western Australia grew by a staggering 7.3 per cent, making it the largest contributor to our own growth figure. There was a 23.3 per cent annual increase in business investment in Western Australia to the end of June. That is a phenomenal figure and a credit to everyone in Western Australia who was involved. It is, needless to say, the strongest figure in the nation. Over the past five years, business investment in Western Australia has grown by 200 per cent. The state that came closest was Queensland, with a growth figure of 136 per cent. There is nothing like what is happening in Western Australia anywhere else in Australia. I fear that the federal government still does not get the point. Our figure of 200 per cent growth compares with the national figure of 88 per cent over the past five years. International trade figures for Western Australia are just as compelling. Western Australia now represents 36 per cent of national exports, and we have doubled that since 1988. Our trade surplus is now 30 per cent greater than it was last year. We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER replied: I thank the member for Riverton for the question. Before I answer the member’s question, may I, hopefully on behalf of members of the entire chamber, wish the Speaker a speedy recovery from his illness. I spoke to him this morning. He is feeling much better. He made me aware that question time is televised by Access 31 and that he will probably be watching. On behalf of everybody, Mr Speaker, we cannot wait for you to return. That is not a reflection on the person who is in the chair at the moment! I told the Speaker that I would acknowledge him, and so I have. The member for Riverton has provided me with the opportunity of informing Parliament about the state final demand figures for Western Australia, which were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday. State final demand is essentially the state of the domestic economy. Western Australia grew by an incredible 9.1 per cent for the year. It grew by 3.2 per cent in just the last quarter. The excellent figures for Western Australia compare with the national quarterly increase of 1.8 per cent and an annual increase in the same period of 5.6 per cent. Mr J.H.D. Day : That’s the cause of higher interest rates. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Darling Range so much for his insightful interjection. The member has interjected that Western Australia’s economic performance is the cause for higher national interest rates. My God! Pity help us if that level of analysis ever finds its way into a ministerial position again. I tell members that the Western Australian economy is expanding. The expansion of the Western Australian economy is unequivocally good for the national economy, and the national accounts would look very different were it not for the Western Australian economy. I will tell members what is inflationary: a federal government that, as the federal Treasurer said, hands out money and pork-barrels in a desperate attempt to buy its way out of trouble and back into office. That is inflationary; expanding economic capacity through infrastructure investment etc is not. Business investment in this state is still booming. In the June quarter this year, business investment in Western Australia grew by a staggering 7.3 per cent, making it the largest contributor to our own growth figure. There was a 23.3 per cent annual increase in business investment in Western Australia to the end of June. That is a phenomenal figure and a credit to everyone in Western Australia who was involved. It is, needless to say, the strongest figure in the nation. Over the past five years, business investment in Western Australia has grown by 200 per cent. The state that came closest was Queensland, with a growth figure of 136 per cent. There is nothing like what is happening in Western Australia anywhere else in Australia. I fear that the federal government still does not get the point. Our figure of 200 per cent growth compares with the national figure of 88 per cent over the past five years. International trade figures for Western Australia are just as compelling. Western Australia now represents 36 per cent of national exports, and we have doubled that since 1988. Our trade surplus is now 30 per cent greater than it was last year. We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
I thank the member for Riverton for the question. Before I answer the member’s question, may I, hopefully on behalf of members of the entire chamber, wish the Speaker a speedy recovery from his illness. I spoke to him this morning. He is feeling much better. He made me aware that question time is televised by Access 31 and that he will probably be watching. On behalf of everybody, Mr Speaker, we cannot wait for you to return. That is not a reflection on the person who is in the chair at the moment! I told the Speaker that I would acknowledge him, and so I have. The member for Riverton has provided me with the opportunity of informing Parliament about the state final demand figures for Western Australia, which were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday. State final demand is essentially the state of the domestic economy. Western Australia grew by an incredible 9.1 per cent for the year. It grew by 3.2 per cent in just the last quarter. The excellent figures for Western Australia compare with the national quarterly increase of 1.8 per cent and an annual increase in the same period of 5.6 per cent. Mr J.H.D. Day : That’s the cause of higher interest rates. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Darling Range so much for his insightful interjection. The member has interjected that Western Australia’s economic performance is the cause for higher national interest rates. My God! Pity help us if that level of analysis ever finds its way into a ministerial position again. I tell members that the Western Australian economy is expanding. The expansion of the Western Australian economy is unequivocally good for the national economy, and the national accounts would look very different were it not for the Western Australian economy. I will tell members what is inflationary: a federal government that, as the federal Treasurer said, hands out money and pork-barrels in a desperate attempt to buy its way out of trouble and back into office. That is inflationary; expanding economic capacity through infrastructure investment etc is not. Business investment in this state is still booming. In the June quarter this year, business investment in Western Australia grew by a staggering 7.3 per cent, making it the largest contributor to our own growth figure. There was a 23.3 per cent annual increase in business investment in Western Australia to the end of June. That is a phenomenal figure and a credit to everyone in Western Australia who was involved. It is, needless to say, the strongest figure in the nation. Over the past five years, business investment in Western Australia has grown by 200 per cent. The state that came closest was Queensland, with a growth figure of 136 per cent. There is nothing like what is happening in Western Australia anywhere else in Australia. I fear that the federal government still does not get the point. Our figure of 200 per cent growth compares with the national figure of 88 per cent over the past five years. International trade figures for Western Australia are just as compelling. Western Australia now represents 36 per cent of national exports, and we have doubled that since 1988. Our trade surplus is now 30 per cent greater than it was last year. We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
The member for Riverton has provided me with the opportunity of informing Parliament about the state final demand figures for Western Australia, which were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday. State final demand is essentially the state of the domestic economy. Western Australia grew by an incredible 9.1 per cent for the year. It grew by 3.2 per cent in just the last quarter. The excellent figures for Western Australia compare with the national quarterly increase of 1.8 per cent and an annual increase in the same period of 5.6 per cent. Mr J.H.D. Day : That’s the cause of higher interest rates. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Darling Range so much for his insightful interjection. The member has interjected that Western Australia’s economic performance is the cause for higher national interest rates. My God! Pity help us if that level of analysis ever finds its way into a ministerial position again. I tell members that the Western Australian economy is expanding. The expansion of the Western Australian economy is unequivocally good for the national economy, and the national accounts would look very different were it not for the Western Australian economy. I will tell members what is inflationary: a federal government that, as the federal Treasurer said, hands out money and pork-barrels in a desperate attempt to buy its way out of trouble and back into office. That is inflationary; expanding economic capacity through infrastructure investment etc is not. Business investment in this state is still booming. In the June quarter this year, business investment in Western Australia grew by a staggering 7.3 per cent, making it the largest contributor to our own growth figure. There was a 23.3 per cent annual increase in business investment in Western Australia to the end of June. That is a phenomenal figure and a credit to everyone in Western Australia who was involved. It is, needless to say, the strongest figure in the nation. Over the past five years, business investment in Western Australia has grown by 200 per cent. The state that came closest was Queensland, with a growth figure of 136 per cent. There is nothing like what is happening in Western Australia anywhere else in Australia. I fear that the federal government still does not get the point. Our figure of 200 per cent growth compares with the national figure of 88 per cent over the past five years. International trade figures for Western Australia are just as compelling. Western Australia now represents 36 per cent of national exports, and we have doubled that since 1988. Our trade surplus is now 30 per cent greater than it was last year. We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr J.H.D. Day : That’s the cause of higher interest rates. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Darling Range so much for his insightful interjection. The member has interjected that Western Australia’s economic performance is the cause for higher national interest rates. My God! Pity help us if that level of analysis ever finds its way into a ministerial position again. I tell members that the Western Australian economy is expanding. The expansion of the Western Australian economy is unequivocally good for the national economy, and the national accounts would look very different were it not for the Western Australian economy. I will tell members what is inflationary: a federal government that, as the federal Treasurer said, hands out money and pork-barrels in a desperate attempt to buy its way out of trouble and back into office. That is inflationary; expanding economic capacity through infrastructure investment etc is not. Business investment in this state is still booming. In the June quarter this year, business investment in Western Australia grew by a staggering 7.3 per cent, making it the largest contributor to our own growth figure. There was a 23.3 per cent annual increase in business investment in Western Australia to the end of June. That is a phenomenal figure and a credit to everyone in Western Australia who was involved. It is, needless to say, the strongest figure in the nation. Over the past five years, business investment in Western Australia has grown by 200 per cent. The state that came closest was Queensland, with a growth figure of 136 per cent. There is nothing like what is happening in Western Australia anywhere else in Australia. I fear that the federal government still does not get the point. Our figure of 200 per cent growth compares with the national figure of 88 per cent over the past five years. International trade figures for Western Australia are just as compelling. Western Australia now represents 36 per cent of national exports, and we have doubled that since 1988. Our trade surplus is now 30 per cent greater than it was last year. We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : I thank the member for Darling Range so much for his insightful interjection. The member has interjected that Western Australia’s economic performance is the cause for higher national interest rates. My God! Pity help us if that level of analysis ever finds its way into a ministerial position again. I tell members that the Western Australian economy is expanding. The expansion of the Western Australian economy is unequivocally good for the national economy, and the national accounts would look very different were it not for the Western Australian economy. I will tell members what is inflationary: a federal government that, as the federal Treasurer said, hands out money and pork-barrels in a desperate attempt to buy its way out of trouble and back into office. That is inflationary; expanding economic capacity through infrastructure investment etc is not. Business investment in this state is still booming. In the June quarter this year, business investment in Western Australia grew by a staggering 7.3 per cent, making it the largest contributor to our own growth figure. There was a 23.3 per cent annual increase in business investment in Western Australia to the end of June. That is a phenomenal figure and a credit to everyone in Western Australia who was involved. It is, needless to say, the strongest figure in the nation. Over the past five years, business investment in Western Australia has grown by 200 per cent. The state that came closest was Queensland, with a growth figure of 136 per cent. There is nothing like what is happening in Western Australia anywhere else in Australia. I fear that the federal government still does not get the point. Our figure of 200 per cent growth compares with the national figure of 88 per cent over the past five years. International trade figures for Western Australia are just as compelling. Western Australia now represents 36 per cent of national exports, and we have doubled that since 1988. Our trade surplus is now 30 per cent greater than it was last year. We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
I tell members that the Western Australian economy is expanding. The expansion of the Western Australian economy is unequivocally good for the national economy, and the national accounts would look very different were it not for the Western Australian economy. I will tell members what is inflationary: a federal government that, as the federal Treasurer said, hands out money and pork-barrels in a desperate attempt to buy its way out of trouble and back into office. That is inflationary; expanding economic capacity through infrastructure investment etc is not. Business investment in this state is still booming. In the June quarter this year, business investment in Western Australia grew by a staggering 7.3 per cent, making it the largest contributor to our own growth figure. There was a 23.3 per cent annual increase in business investment in Western Australia to the end of June. That is a phenomenal figure and a credit to everyone in Western Australia who was involved. It is, needless to say, the strongest figure in the nation. Over the past five years, business investment in Western Australia has grown by 200 per cent. The state that came closest was Queensland, with a growth figure of 136 per cent. There is nothing like what is happening in Western Australia anywhere else in Australia. I fear that the federal government still does not get the point. Our figure of 200 per cent growth compares with the national figure of 88 per cent over the past five years. International trade figures for Western Australia are just as compelling. Western Australia now represents 36 per cent of national exports, and we have doubled that since 1988. Our trade surplus is now 30 per cent greater than it was last year. We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Business investment in this state is still booming. In the June quarter this year, business investment in Western Australia grew by a staggering 7.3 per cent, making it the largest contributor to our own growth figure. There was a 23.3 per cent annual increase in business investment in Western Australia to the end of June. That is a phenomenal figure and a credit to everyone in Western Australia who was involved. It is, needless to say, the strongest figure in the nation. Over the past five years, business investment in Western Australia has grown by 200 per cent. The state that came closest was Queensland, with a growth figure of 136 per cent. There is nothing like what is happening in Western Australia anywhere else in Australia. I fear that the federal government still does not get the point. Our figure of 200 per cent growth compares with the national figure of 88 per cent over the past five years. International trade figures for Western Australia are just as compelling. Western Australia now represents 36 per cent of national exports, and we have doubled that since 1988. Our trade surplus is now 30 per cent greater than it was last year. We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
We were recently visited by the President of the People’s Republic of China, and his visit was surrounded by a flurry of activity. He came here because the state government invited him and because he recognises Western Australia’s importance to the Chinese economy. Two days ago I spent the afternoon meeting delegations from Russia, China and Japan, and we hosted the dinner I spoke about yesterday. I met another Russian delegation yesterday from Norilsk Nickel, a major Russian company that recently bought out LionOre mining in the goldfields region. It is worth noting that that purchase represents the biggest foreign investment acquisition by a Russian company. I also met with the Governor of the Russian province of Tomsk, Viktor Kress. Tomsk has expressed a keen interest in our resource sector. I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
I make one final point; it flows from the ignorant interjection from the member for Darling Range and it concerns the attitude and role of the commonwealth government. I believe there is one very serious piece of the jigsaw missing in our economic picture, and that is the total absence of a national strategy for resource development in Australia. There is no national strategy. The federal government has no idea what to do. It has no idea how to manage the economy that has emerged in Australia over the past five years. There is no national strategy for infrastructure development, no strategy for training, and no strategy for skills attraction. The federal government has no idea what it should do to manage the Australian economy. Western Australia is the western third of the nation, as well as being a state. At the moment we are developing projects that are worth billions of dollars. This should be a focus of attention for the national government. The national government should be working hand in hand with the state government to put in place, with companies, the necessary physical infrastructure, and to help companies to identify where their labour will come from. If it is to be developed nationally, our own training programs need to be adjusted. If it is going to be externally sourced, where will it come from? What training programs will be needed to upskill - Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Several members interjected. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Order! Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr P.D. Omodei : Your greatest failure is your inability to work with the commonwealth government. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : Your greatest failure is your eight years of indolence in government, my friend; eight years of indolence. That was eight wasted years. Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Several members interjected. Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr A.J. CARPENTER : There is no national strategy. When I have discussions with business and political leaders from other parts of the world, they say that they cannot understand why there is no national strategy for the development of Australia’s resource industries. They cannot understand it. It should be done; it is required; it needs to be done. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Far be it from me to call most members of the opposition to order, but the last time I looked none was the member who asked the question. Their persistent questions in interjections that are not asked in an appropriate manner are very unparliamentary. The Leader of the Opposition is called to order for the first time. Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr P.D. OMODEI : Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Does the Leader of the Opposition wish to ask a supplementary question? Does he wish to test his luck? Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
Mr P.D. OMODEI : Not really, Madam Deputy Speaker. I also want to send a get-well message to the Speaker, to wish him a good recovery and to tell him that nothing much has changed in this place: the government is still not answering our questions as it should.
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