PREMIER — FUNCTION ATTENDANCE
521. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I
have a supplementary question. I thank the Premier for the answer. Does
attending functions like the one on Friday not just show that the Premier is
out of touch with ordinary Western Australians who are struggling to make ends
meet?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Order, please! It seems like we have
about 50 answers here, but we will just take the one.
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
The answer to that is clearly no. I attend
a great many functions and events. The member probably would not understand,
but I attend so many it is hard to remember them all. For instance, yesterday I
attended a major event with the Shop,
Distributive and Allied Employees Association of WA, meeting with a whole group
of shop assistants from across Western Australia. The night before I did
a major event with the Indian community for India's national day. On
any given day, I attend numerous of them—so many, as I said, that it is
hard to recall them all. Sometimes I go to dinner. I will give the member a tip:
I have dinner every night, and some nights I have dinner with a group of people
who are not my family. In fact, most nights that is the case. If the member
does not like me doing my job, which is
meeting Western Australians and encouraging investment in Western Australia,
she does not understand the nature of this state.