WESTPORT —
AUTOMATED OUTER HARBOUR
954. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Premier:
I
have a supplementary question. I just want to be clear. The Premier is refusing
to provide the detail. Is that because he does not know the impact of
the outer harbour on Cockburn Sound or he does know and he does not want to
advise the public?
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
I said before that the Leader of
the Opposition's name is on the petition and she denied having signed
it, yet here at the top is the Leader of the Opposition's signature.
She denied having signed it. Her signature is on the document.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Members!
Mr M. McGOWAN: It is on the document!
The SPEAKER: Premier! There
is a point or order.
Mr D.C. Nalder: Premier!
Premier, sit down! Sit down!
The SPEAKER: Excuse me! You
do not tell the Premier to sit down; I do!
Point of Order
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP: The Premier
is clearly impugning the motives of the Leader of the Opposition.
The SPEAKER: No; that is not
a point of order. Sit down!
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP: The Premier
is asserting that the Leader of the Opposition signed the petition. She has to
sign it to endorse it in the first place.
Mr F.M. Logan interjected.
The SPEAKER: Member for
Dawesville, I call you to order for the first time because I gave a decision
and you kept going. Minister for Emergency Services, I call you to order.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr
M. McGOWAN: Mr Speaker, the
petition itself that the Leader of the Opposition tabled—she signed her
name at the top—calls for the construction of Westport and the
construction of a new harbour. That is what it does. It has 10 000 signatures. The Leader of the Opposition said that she did
that only as a formality, yet I have a photograph of her with the
petition, pushing it to the media outside Parliament and calling for the media
to take up this case. There she is with the member for Darling Range and the
proponent of the petition. There she is! Therefore, if it was just a formality —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Members! Members
on my right, your Premier is on his feet!
Mr M. McGOWAN: If it was just
a formality, why did she go outside Parliament and push it to the media and
have her photograph taken while holding the petition? Why did the Leader of the
Opposition do that?
Mrs A.K. Hayden interjected.
The SPEAKER: Member for
Darling Range, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr M. McGOWAN: Mr Speaker, I think
this explains a lot. In four years —
Mrs L.M. Harvey interjected.
The SPEAKER: Leader of the
Opposition!
Ms R. Saffioti interjected.
The SPEAKER: Minister for
Transport! Do you two want to go outside and have a little chat and then come
back and feel better?
Dr A.D. Buti interjected.
The SPEAKER: Member for
Armadale!
Mrs A.K. Hayden interjected.
The
SPEAKER: Member for Darling
Range, I call you to order for the second time. Member for Armadale, I know
you are leaving early, but I call you to order for the first time.
Mr M. McGOWAN: I read the
online story in which the Leader of the Opposition pushed the petition
committing to Westport, signed it and had her photo taken. I read the article
and I note that the member for Armadale—a very good member of Parliament—was able to point out some of the
great things that we are doing down in his community, such as the
rebuild of the TAFE in the heart of town, which we committed to as part of the
recovery project; the Denny Avenue project that was talked about for actually
100 years and that we are doing as we speak; the nearby industrial estate that
we committed funds to to allow for major industrial activity to take place;
and, of course, the Byford rail line, which I note is also mentioned in the
petition. I note that the Byford rail line has been called for in the petition
and I note that on the weekend the Liberal Party was out there protesting
against it. What are we to think? I was doing my press conference on Sunday,
because I do weekend press conferences, and one of the journalists—I
think it was Geof Parry—asked me —
Point of Order
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP: The
question from the Leader of the Opposition was clearly about Cockburn Sound and
nothing to do with the Byford rail line and this government's continual
inaction in listening to the residents of Darling Range.
The SPEAKER: That is not a point
of order. It was a good try, though, but it is not a point of order.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr M. McGOWAN: Mr Speaker, he
asked me about the Liberal Party protest against the Byford rail and, in particular, the Thomas Road overpass. I know
Thomas Road quite well because I have driven it many times. I nearly had
an accident there once. This project is much needed and it is an integral part
of the Byford rail line. One group is out there protesting against it: the
Liberal Party. It is in the petition, like Westport is. Members opposite claim
they do not support either of them, yet they are outside Parliament promoting
it. It is very odd.
In terms of environmental
assessments, obviously, that is an important part of any such project. That
will be undertaken fully and thoroughly via Environmental Protection Authority
processes, as we have committed to and outlined on numerous occasions.