ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AUTHORITY — GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS — BRIEFING NOTES
724. Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS to the Leader of the House
representing the Premier:
I refer to the answer to question
without notice 677 that I asked on Tuesday, 25 June 2019, and my question
yesterday on whether the Premier's office received a briefing note on
the Environmental Protection Authority guideline proposals on greenhouse gas
emissions.
(1) After the 7
March 2019 announcement of the proposed greenhouse gas guidelines, did the
Premier's principal policy adviser, Mr Dave Coggin, inform the Premier,
the Premier's chief of staff or any other staff member of his office,
the Department of the Premier and Cabinet or the Department of State
Development, that he had received a briefing note on the proposed guidelines on
27 February 2019?
(2) If no to (1), why not?
(3) After the
announcement of 7 March 2019, what information did the Premier, any of his
staff or any staff from the Department of the Premier and Cabinet or the
Department of State Development seek from the EPA or the Minister for
Environment, and did this include the briefing note?
(4) Given the
significance of the proposal on the gas industry in Western Australia and the
apparent failure of Mr Coggin to alert anybody in the Premier's office
or the Department of State Development of the risks, what steps has the Premier
taken to improve the poor performance of his office?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1)–(2) The
Premier's principal policy adviser understood that the briefing note on
the proposed guidelines, received a week and a half previously, was no longer
current.
(3) The
Department of the Premier and Cabinet requested a copy of briefing note
DWERME572/19 from the Minister for
Environment's office on Wednesday, 19 June 2019, in order to answer a parliamentary
question.
(4) The Premier's
principal policy adviser acted entirely appropriately by not distributing an
old briefing note that was outdated by the time of the announcement.