❓ Mr. Logan questions the Minister for Water about misleading Parliament regarding meetings between his staff and a lobbyist concerning water contracts, specifically related to Degrmont. The Minister denies any connection between the meeting and a subsequent expression of interest.
AnsweredQoN 129Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WATER AND
SEWERAGE SERVICES — TRANSFIELD–DEGRMONT–SUEZ CONTRACT
129. Mr F.M. LOGAN to the Minister for Water:
I refer to the answer to a question without notice given last
Thursday, 22 March, in which the minister stated neither he nor his staff had
met with Liberal lobbyist Dean Smith in relation to water or waste water
contracts, and his subsequent partial retraction—only to the media and
not to this house—that his staff had met Mr Smith but that those staff
were no longer with him and had met only in relation to desalination.
(1) Given the
answer to question on notice 6873 that Mr Josh Harris and Mr Neil Thomson from
the minister's office met Mr Smith on 26 June 2011, will the minister
now explain why he misled Parliament last week?
(2) Is Mr Josh
Harris still on his ministerial staff; and, if not, when did he leave?
(3) Given that
the purpose of the meeting is listed in information provided to this house by
the minister as ''Overview of Degrmont's operations on water
and waste''—not desalination or anything related to that—will
the minister now explain why he also misled the media and the Western
Australian public about the purpose of this meeting?
SEWERAGE SERVICES — TRANSFIELD–DEGRMONT–SUEZ CONTRACT
129. Mr F.M. LOGAN to the Minister for Water:
I refer to the answer to a question without notice given last
Thursday, 22 March, in which the minister stated neither he nor his staff had
met with Liberal lobbyist Dean Smith in relation to water or waste water
contracts, and his subsequent partial retraction—only to the media and
not to this house—that his staff had met Mr Smith but that those staff
were no longer with him and had met only in relation to desalination.
(1) Given the
answer to question on notice 6873 that Mr Josh Harris and Mr Neil Thomson from
the minister's office met Mr Smith on 26 June 2011, will the minister
now explain why he misled Parliament last week?
(2) Is Mr Josh
Harris still on his ministerial staff; and, if not, when did he leave?
(3) Given that
the purpose of the meeting is listed in information provided to this house by
the minister as ''Overview of Degrmont's operations on water
and waste''—not desalination or anything related to that—will
the minister now explain why he also misled the media and the Western
Australian public about the purpose of this meeting?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Cockburn for the question.
(1)–(3)
In my answer last week I advised that I had not met with Degrmont and that the
advice I had received from my office was that no-one in my office had met with
the company. As it turns out, in May two members of my staff, Neil Thomson and
Josh Harris, met with Degrmont about, I have been advised, desalination.
Subsequent to that meeting, the Water Corporation, in July 2011, some months
later, put out an expression of interest document.
A government member: Is that a secret one?
Mr W.R. MARMION :
This is a secret expression of interest document. It has 39 pages and it spells
out in great detail what proponents need to do if they wish to be considered
for this particular contract. Indeed, this particular contract also sets out
the requirements for a probity auditor. As a part of this contract, the
government engaged a probity auditor to make sure that everything was done
above board from July 2011 when this expression of interest document went out.
For those members not aware of what a probity auditor does, a probity auditor
sits in on every single meeting during the selection process of contractors,
and that is what is happening in this particular case.
Point of Order
Mr
F.M. LOGAN : My point of order is about the relevance of the answer
to the question. The question was about misleading the house and, specifically,
the exact wording the minister used in answer to a question. He is now talking
about probity. I think that the minister should simply apologise for misleading
the house.
The
SPEAKER : That is not a point of order, member, and the minister has
the opportunity to answer the question.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr W.R. MARMION :
In terms of answering the question, yes, the advice that I received from my
office was that no-one had met with Degrmont in relation to this contract.
Mr F.M. Logan : But
they had.
Mr W.R. MARMION :
Indeed, no-one has met in relation to this contract. My advice is that the
meeting in May was two months ahead of when this expression of interest
document went out and there is no link.
(1)–(3)
In my answer last week I advised that I had not met with Degrmont and that the
advice I had received from my office was that no-one in my office had met with
the company. As it turns out, in May two members of my staff, Neil Thomson and
Josh Harris, met with Degrmont about, I have been advised, desalination.
Subsequent to that meeting, the Water Corporation, in July 2011, some months
later, put out an expression of interest document.
A government member: Is that a secret one?
Mr W.R. MARMION :
This is a secret expression of interest document. It has 39 pages and it spells
out in great detail what proponents need to do if they wish to be considered
for this particular contract. Indeed, this particular contract also sets out
the requirements for a probity auditor. As a part of this contract, the
government engaged a probity auditor to make sure that everything was done
above board from July 2011 when this expression of interest document went out.
For those members not aware of what a probity auditor does, a probity auditor
sits in on every single meeting during the selection process of contractors,
and that is what is happening in this particular case.
Point of Order
Mr
F.M. LOGAN : My point of order is about the relevance of the answer
to the question. The question was about misleading the house and, specifically,
the exact wording the minister used in answer to a question. He is now talking
about probity. I think that the minister should simply apologise for misleading
the house.
The
SPEAKER : That is not a point of order, member, and the minister has
the opportunity to answer the question.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr W.R. MARMION :
In terms of answering the question, yes, the advice that I received from my
office was that no-one had met with Degrmont in relation to this contract.
Mr F.M. Logan : But
they had.
Mr W.R. MARMION :
Indeed, no-one has met in relation to this contract. My advice is that the
meeting in May was two months ahead of when this expression of interest
document went out and there is no link.
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