❓ Question regarding Premier Barnett's statement about a young offender and the placement of disability justice centres, accusing him of misleading parliament. Premier denies misleading the house, leading to heated debate.
AnsweredQoN 705Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
DISABILITY
JUSTICE CENTRES — PREMIER'S COMMENTS
705. Mr D.J. KELLY to the Premier:
I refer the Premier to his statement
in this house on 12 June 2013, in which he used the example of a young man who
the Premier said had been held in Casuarina for several years for stealing an
ice-cream. The Premier used that example to justify his decision to place two
disability justice centres in my electorate. I refer also to evidence given
today before the Community Development and Justice Standing Committee that
revealed that the Premier had been advised that the person concerned had in
fact also assaulted several public officers, including police and prison
officers.
(1) By
deliberately omitting references to this person's violent offending,
did the Premier mislead the house?
(2) If yes to
(1), by misleading the public on this matter, has the Premier further called
into question his decision to place these centres fewer than 1 000 metres from
Lockridge Senior High School, Lockridge Primary School and Good Shepherd
Catholic School?
JUSTICE CENTRES — PREMIER'S COMMENTS
705. Mr D.J. KELLY to the Premier:
I refer the Premier to his statement
in this house on 12 June 2013, in which he used the example of a young man who
the Premier said had been held in Casuarina for several years for stealing an
ice-cream. The Premier used that example to justify his decision to place two
disability justice centres in my electorate. I refer also to evidence given
today before the Community Development and Justice Standing Committee that
revealed that the Premier had been advised that the person concerned had in
fact also assaulted several public officers, including police and prison
officers.
(1) By
deliberately omitting references to this person's violent offending,
did the Premier mislead the house?
(2) If yes to
(1), by misleading the public on this matter, has the Premier further called
into question his decision to place these centres fewer than 1 000 metres from
Lockridge Senior High School, Lockridge Primary School and Good Shepherd
Catholic School?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2)
No, I did not mislead the house. In the debate, I paraphrased some examples. I did
not have the clinical files in front of me. So, if it was not entirely
accurate, I concede that.
Mr M. McGowan :
Assaulting a police officer? Do you not regard that as important? It is an
important fact.
The SPEAKER :
Leader of the Opposition, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I
paraphrased some examples. If they were not absolutely accurate, I concede
that. But I made the point that some of those offenders have committed very
violent crimes, and some perhaps relatively minor misdemeanours. I take it that
the Labor Party is totally opposed to these two centres. Is that correct?
Mr
M. McGowan : Why not actually answer the question that you were asked? You
misled the house!
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : It is not misleading the house to paraphrase from memory some
examples. Some of the people who might end up in one of these disability
justice centres might be relatively minor offenders. Even in the case of people
who have committed a serious offence, there will come a time when they are
released. There will come a time when offenders, whether they have a mental
health issue or are impaired in some way through a mental health disability,
will be released. There will be a very careful process to determine who would
go into one of these centres. I repeat what I said I think a week ago—the
Labor Party obviously has no sympathy for these people. I do have sympathy for
these people, because there are some people in our community who may have
offended and may also have a mental disability—there are some. It may
have been acquired, or in all probability they were born with that. The
approach of the Labor Party is to ignore those people—marginalise them
and ignore them.
Dr A.D. Buti : What
a load of rubbish!
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : That is their view! What alternative does the Labor Party
offer?
Several members interjected.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : Look at the attitude of members opposite! It is there for all
to see! Because people have made a mistake and committed an offence, sometimes
serious and sometimes less serious, the approach of the Labor Party is to let
those people be marginalised in our community. What is the Labor Party going to
do with these people? Is it going to allow them to be released into a facility
that is open on the street, or is it going to put them in a facility in which
at least they are secure and the public is secure?
This is not an easy area of public
administration. It is a very difficult area. As the Minister for Mental Health,
Hon Helen Morton, has said, great care will be taken.
Ms
M.M. Quirk interjected.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : There is no compassion at all.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen, I call you to order for the first time.
Premier, can you wind it up, please.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : Yes, Mr Speaker.
When we have a difficult and
controversial issue of dealing with people with an intellectual disability who
have offended and who have not faced trial because they are not competent to
face trial, I would think there would be some compassion in the community in dealing
with that. Yet when the bleeding hearts opposite are faced with a real issue of
compassion in our community and a real issue of justice, they are missing in
action.
I understand the concerns of the
local residents whom the member represents.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Face the issue! What do we do with a person with an intellectual disability who
has offended? What do we do? We face up to the issue and try to deal with it in
a fair and proper way, and that is what this government is doing. We have said
that the second one will not be progressed until the first one is built and
shown to be operating properly and safely. That is the position. There are many
people in our community; some have offended, some have not. Some may have all
sorts of behavioural characteristics that are offensive, and that is the
reality in any society. We do not get a result for all those people in the
community by yelling and screaming in here; we get a result by having a sense
of social justice and a preparedness to deal with the issue.
No, I did not mislead the house. In the debate, I paraphrased some examples. I did
not have the clinical files in front of me. So, if it was not entirely
accurate, I concede that.
Mr M. McGowan :
Assaulting a police officer? Do you not regard that as important? It is an
important fact.
The SPEAKER :
Leader of the Opposition, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I
paraphrased some examples. If they were not absolutely accurate, I concede
that. But I made the point that some of those offenders have committed very
violent crimes, and some perhaps relatively minor misdemeanours. I take it that
the Labor Party is totally opposed to these two centres. Is that correct?
Mr
M. McGowan : Why not actually answer the question that you were asked? You
misled the house!
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : It is not misleading the house to paraphrase from memory some
examples. Some of the people who might end up in one of these disability
justice centres might be relatively minor offenders. Even in the case of people
who have committed a serious offence, there will come a time when they are
released. There will come a time when offenders, whether they have a mental
health issue or are impaired in some way through a mental health disability,
will be released. There will be a very careful process to determine who would
go into one of these centres. I repeat what I said I think a week ago—the
Labor Party obviously has no sympathy for these people. I do have sympathy for
these people, because there are some people in our community who may have
offended and may also have a mental disability—there are some. It may
have been acquired, or in all probability they were born with that. The
approach of the Labor Party is to ignore those people—marginalise them
and ignore them.
Dr A.D. Buti : What
a load of rubbish!
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : That is their view! What alternative does the Labor Party
offer?
Several members interjected.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : Look at the attitude of members opposite! It is there for all
to see! Because people have made a mistake and committed an offence, sometimes
serious and sometimes less serious, the approach of the Labor Party is to let
those people be marginalised in our community. What is the Labor Party going to
do with these people? Is it going to allow them to be released into a facility
that is open on the street, or is it going to put them in a facility in which
at least they are secure and the public is secure?
This is not an easy area of public
administration. It is a very difficult area. As the Minister for Mental Health,
Hon Helen Morton, has said, great care will be taken.
Ms
M.M. Quirk interjected.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : There is no compassion at all.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen, I call you to order for the first time.
Premier, can you wind it up, please.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : Yes, Mr Speaker.
When we have a difficult and
controversial issue of dealing with people with an intellectual disability who
have offended and who have not faced trial because they are not competent to
face trial, I would think there would be some compassion in the community in dealing
with that. Yet when the bleeding hearts opposite are faced with a real issue of
compassion in our community and a real issue of justice, they are missing in
action.
I understand the concerns of the
local residents whom the member represents.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members!
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Face the issue! What do we do with a person with an intellectual disability who
has offended? What do we do? We face up to the issue and try to deal with it in
a fair and proper way, and that is what this government is doing. We have said
that the second one will not be progressed until the first one is built and
shown to be operating properly and safely. That is the position. There are many
people in our community; some have offended, some have not. Some may have all
sorts of behavioural characteristics that are offensive, and that is the
reality in any society. We do not get a result for all those people in the
community by yelling and screaming in here; we get a result by having a sense
of social justice and a preparedness to deal with the issue.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.