ANIMAL WELFARE —
CATTLE DEATHS —NOONKANBAH STATION AND YANDEYARRA RESERVE
814. Hon JIM CHOWN to the Minister for Agriculture and Food:
Does
the minister have any intention of pressing charges for animal cruelty against
the people responsible for the cattle that died of thirst and hunger on
Yandeyarra Reserve and Noonkanbah Station? A yes or no will be fine, minister.
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I will just say that I note that Hon
Jim Chown, together with his federal colleague Rick Wilson, and together with
various of their fellow travellers, have in fact been trying to play a race
card on this issue. I reject that.
Hon Jim Chown interjected.
The PRESIDENT: Order! You
have asked a question; the minister is responding. You may not like the
response, but that is how she is doing it.
Hon ALANNAH MacTIERNAN: And it
is certainly not going to be just yes and no. Investigations are in progress on
both matters.
Withdrawal of Remark
Hon JIM
CHOWN: I disagree with the minister's response in regard to —
Several members interjected.
Hon JIM CHOWN: I find ''race card''
offensive and labelling me and other members of my party as so. I want the
comment withdrawn. It is inappropriate.
The
PRESIDENT: I think it was a fairly broadbrush comment that was made
by the minister and the minister has not had the opportunity to complete her
response. But if you find the comments offensive, I am sure that the minister
will withdraw them and proceed with the rest of her answer.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Hon ALANNAH MacTIERNAN: Thank
you, Madam President. As these answers will bear out, some of the suggestions
that have been made are completely unfounded.
Investigations are in process in
both matters. Once the investigation is completed, the Department of Primary
Industries and Regional Development, aided by the State Solicitor's
Office, will assess whether there have been any breaches of the Animal Welfare
Act and the probabilities of successful prosecutions being made, and make a decision
as to instigating the prosecution. I have instructed the department to apply
the full resourcing of DPIRD into the
investigation. The member needs to be aware of the complexity of these animal
welfare investigations; for example, the investigation into Emmanuel
Exports commenced in February 2018, with charges laid on only 31 July 2019, some 17 months later. The incidents
currently being investigated occurred less than nine months ago.
Withdrawal of Remark
Hon
MICHAEL MISCHIN: Madam President, I draw your attention to standing
order 45, which states —
All imputations of improper motives
and all personal reflections on Members shall be considered highly disorderly.
The Minister for Agriculture and
Food was asked a question. She immediately responded by alleging that Hon Jim Chown
was playing the ''race card'' without an adequate response, and
then launched into her usual speech. I take exception to the fact that she
accused one of the members on this side of improper motives in asking a straightforward
question that could have been answered with a yes or no. I take exception to it
and I ask that she withdraw the remark.
The
PRESIDENT: Member, I note that particular standing order. If the
member recalls, before the minister provided the final part of her response, I did
actually ask her to withdraw that remark. She has not yet, but I am sure that
she will rise to her feet and do so now.
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN: Thank you, Madam President. I will withdraw the
remark to aid the business of the house.