STANDING COMMITTEE ON
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION —INQUIRY INTO THE DELIVERY OF AMBULANCE SERVICES
IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
690. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the obvious conflict of
interest regarding Hon Pierre Yang who is leading a parliamentary inquiry into
the delivery of ambulance services in Western Australia —
Ms A. Sanderson interjected.
The SPEAKER: Order, please!
Minister for Environment, please do not interject.
Ms
L. METTAM: I refer to the obvious
conflict of interest regarding Hon
Pierre Yang who is leading an inquiry into the delivery of ambulance services in Western Australia. Will the
minister ask the chair to step down, given his conflict as a member of the United Workers Union; and, if not, how can
the minister reassure the public that this inquiry is not operating with a predetermined
outcome, much like the Ministerial Expert Committee on Electoral Reform?
Point of Order
Mr W.J.
JOHNSTON: I have a point of order on behalf of the absent Leader of the
House. The minister can only be asked
questions around his ministerial responsibilities. The decision about the chair
of an upper house committee is not a matter under the purview of the
Minister for Health.
The
SPEAKER: The minister's point of order is upheld. The member
for Vasse's question is out of order.
Ms L. Mettam: Can I rephrase
it?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Order, please,
members! You have a quick opportunity to rephrase it, yes.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Ms L. METTAM: Minister for
Health, I refer to the inquiry looking into the delivery of ambulance services
in Western Australia. Will the minister rule out the union sector's
support for a public sector takeover of ambulance services in this state?
Point of Order
Mr W.J.
JOHNSTON: I have a point of order.
The
SPEAKER: I will listen to the point of order, yes.
Mr
W.J. JOHNSTON: Again, the member
is asking the minister to reflect on the outcome of a Legislative Council
committee inquiry and I do not understand how that would be the minister's
responsibility.
The SPEAKER: I do not believe
that the member for Vasse referred to the inquiry this time around. I think she
was just asking about —
Ms L. Mettam: That was the
topic of the inquiry.
The
SPEAKER: I will give the minister
the opportunity to respond. I am sure the minister knows what is appropriate and
inappropriate. I will ask him to provide a brief response but not reflect on
the upper house or its inquiry.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr R.H.
COOK replied:
I certainly would not, Madam
Speaker, reflect on any of the activities of any of the committees of
Parliament. That is not what governments do.
Parliamentary committees are masters of their own destinies and, certainly,
committees in the other place are very much not the business of a minister
in the lower house to tell them what they should or should not be doing. I will
reflect on the member for Vasse —
Several members interjected.
Mr R.H. COOK: I will reflect
on the member for Vasse and what she is essentially alleging in terms of this
particular question. What she is alleging is that there is somehow some sort of
conspiracy to cook up some sort of concocted parliamentary committee outcome in
order to fit some sort of narrative from a union that has a particular
position. I must say that rivals some of the conspiracy theories of those
camped outside this building as we speak. It is extraordinary that the member
should invite us to waste the Parliament's time on such subject matter.
She should, perhaps, spend more time on her feet disavowing the Liberal Party
of any connection with what the shadow Attorney General is saying and actually
for once do the right thing—support the government in its efforts to
protect Western Australians and stop this trivial ridiculous behaviour, which
just really exposes the flaws in her own actions not those of others.
The
SPEAKER: Before I call the
supplementary—I will give you a supplementary—I take it that
what the minister was doing was
reflecting on the question asked by the member for Vasse rather than reflecting
on member for Vasse.
Mr R.H. COOK: Absolutely,
Madam Speaker.
The SPEAKER: Keeping that in
mind, I ask the member for Vasse to ask her supplementary.