Motions
Election result
Motion
Hon Peter Collier (North Metropolitan Region—Leader of the Opposition) (10:02 am) without notice: I move:
That while this house recognises the fact that the Labor Party won the recent Western Australian election, it acknowledges that there are many people throughout the state that continue to struggle and in fact feel ignored by government.
Before moving this motion, I gave a lot of consideration to crafting it the way I did. I did it intentionally. When doing so, I was mindful of the fact this is possibly my last debate. I think we have one more item of non-government business but I give members prior warning that I will be using this opportunity to bring down the government. My argument will be compelling.
Having said that, in all seriousness, I congratulate the government. It was an emphatic win. In no uncertain terms, it was an emphatic win and we on this side of the chamber recognise that. I listened to all the Address-in-Reply speeches yesterday. Someone mentioned that the win was actually even better than in 2021 and, numerically, while it may not have been as comfortable for the government as 2021, I think there is some merit to that.
On behalf of the opposition alliance, I congratulate the government and wish members well in the next four years—although not too well. I like to think that the incoming members of the alliance and the crossbench will do all they possibly can to reverse the situation in four years. So good luck to all my colleagues and the crossbench. I will have more to say on the crossbench later.
After congratulating the government, can I say there are a lot of people in the community who are still struggling. We all know that. One group in particular still feels particularly disaffected, and that is our police force. I do not say that lightly. I worked fastidiously and intimately with the WA Police Force for the last four years. I loved it. We have a wonderful police force; we really do. They are highly professional, diligent and committed people. Unfortunately, significant numbers of our police are resigning, and they are resigning in droves. Over 1,200 police officers have resigned in the last three years. That is against a historical resignation rate of 150 per annum. It should have been 450 compared to 1,200. There is something wrong there. Why are police walking away in droves?
The former Minister for Police said it was due entirely to other opportunities. That is nonsense. What the former minister should have done is listen to police; perhaps he would still be minister if he had listened a little bit more to police. They would be telling him we are living in a complex world and their role in contemporary society is much more profoundly challenging than ever before. I did listen to police constantly. I met with the union very regularly. I went to the opening of an envelope whenever I was given the opportunity. If the former minister had spent as much time listening to police as he did worrying about whether I had a cup of tea at graduation ceremonies and how many police stations I went to, he would probably still be minister. I listened and the Liberal Party went into the election with a comprehensive raft of policies. I would like to give the government some food for thought. I can compare that to the Labor Party's policies in police going to the election, which was zero. There were plenty on justice but nothing for police. Have a look at the Governor's speech from Tuesday, under community safety and justice. The only thing we could possibly think about with regard to police was a $22.5 million commitment to install the latest camera technology and additional resourcing. That is it; nothing at all—zero, crickets for WA police. As I said, I will give government members a little bit of advice here that they might like to listen to. Crime is out of control in a vast number of areas of Western Australia. In the regions, it is the highest on record. These are government statistics, not mine. They are on its WAPOL website. It is the highest rate of crime on record. With that in mind, it is not just the usual suspects up in the north—the Kimberley, the Pilbara and the Goldfields. Have a look at the statistics in the South West and see how parlous they are. Do we have enough police officers? No, we do not. Again, these are not my statistics. They are the government's statistics. There are 15 police districts in Western Australia—eight in the metropolitan area and seven in the regions. Every single police district in Western Australia is understaffed—every single one. What do we have to do about that? Of course, we have to stem the tide of police leaving the police force. Yesterday I got some responses to questions without notice and they went through and gave me these stark statistics that show that, in fact, police are still resigning in droves. At the end there is a flippant little comment that they had 500 new recruits. That is all well and good but it is pointless if the recruits are going out the other door, and that is what is going on.
There are a couple of ways forward. First of all, what we went into was to provide officers below the 26th parallel with the same opportunities to officers above the 26th parallel. That is the opportunity for an additional four hours a week overtime. That is mandated north of the 26th parallel. If the government offered that to 3,000 officers out of the 5,000 available, that would immediately put 300 additional officers back on the streets from day one. That is what it would do and that would work. It had the imprimatur of the union.
Then we looked at offering police officers an additional 2% superannuation after five years and an additional 3% after 10 years. That would give an officer at 45 years of age an additional $150,000 in his superannuation package. For a constable commencing at 20 years of age, that would give him an additional $340,000 for that superannuation bonus. It has been successfully done in Queensland, and I have looked into this extensively. It is a very good policy and it is something that the government should perhaps think about.
The legislation on presumptive post-traumatic stress disorder that this government has now been promising for six years has still not been delivered. I asked a question on notice about this again today. I bet it will come back and the answer will be that it is a matter of cabinet-in-confidence. The Premier and the former Minister for Police went to the Western Australian Police Union of Workers 18 months ago and promised this legislation within six months. Now, 18 months later, it still has not been decided upon. Presumptive PTSD is something that police officers have been calling for for years. Please deliver it; it is this government's commitment as well as ours.
I refer to pastoral care for police officers. You have got to be better, guys. There are six psychologists. We went into the election with a comprehensive raft of pastoral care support for our police officers. They need more psychologists, more chaplains, more psychiatric support and presumptive PTSD legislation. I say to the government: please listen to the police. Do not take my word for it. Have a look at the WA Police Union media release when I released that policy in November of last year. I will just read part of it. It says:
WA Police Union welcomes the Liberal Party's plan to address law and order, thus recognising the welfare of our police officers.
The Liberal Party's plan addresses retention and attrition of police officers, aligning with our upcoming conference theme of Retain + Reward = Respect. The Cook Government has failed in their commitment to legislate Presumptive PTSD for police officers given that commitment was given at WAPU's 2023 Annual Conference, 12 months ago. Meanwhile the Liberals have addressed this as part of their plan. Offering voluntary overtime to all regional officers, no matter their location will assist our Members with the cost of regional living regardless of where they police …
We welcome a 'first time ever' offer of increased superannuation over the standard federal rates, clearly supporting officers who work every day, year in-year out in such a difficult environment.
It goes on. As I said, it got a glowing endorsement from the police union. It is not just the gospel according to Peter or the gospel according to the Liberal Party; our policy was well researched, and I highly recommend that the Labor Party add it to the next Governor's speech. Of course, it will be in opposition at that stage.
That is one area that the government needs to look at. Another area that the government needs to look at, which has been an abject failure for the Labor government, is something that will gain no public attention, and that is corrective services. The government can never win. No government can win on corrective services unless it says, "We're going to go hard." We know and the government knows that we desperately need a new prison—desperately. Every single prison in Western Australia—all 15 of them—are over muster. Every single prison is understaffed. Hundreds of prisoners are on the floor. We can say, "So what? They're prisoners." We can take that hard-line approach, but what happened to rehabilitation? Any form of corrective services has a dual purpose. Number one is the punitive approach, and, yes, they must be punished. There must be consequences for someone who breaks the law. But at the same time, we have to rehabilitate them. Again, that comes from the mantra of the Labor Party as well as anyone in any form of corrective services or justice on the face of the earth. We have to rehabilitate. If not, those prisoners will go out and reoffend and go back into jail, and Western Australia will be a less safe place. I ask the government to please look at corrective services through a different lens. I am disappointed that the same minister has retained that portfolio, but I guess he cannot go wrong, because as long as the government goes hard in corrective services, it can say that it is politically palatable. I just do not know when the Labor Party decided that what was politically palatable was more important than what it actually believes in.
This is the greatest stain on this government. I will give this another crack. I have failed to this point, and this is my one big disappointment in my 20 years in this place. I refer to juvenile justice. I have never felt as strongly about an issue as I do about juvenile justice and the complete mismanagement of that area of corrective services. It is absolutely appalling. Again, do not just look at the hundreds upon hundreds of juveniles who have attempted suicide or self-harm in the last three years. Do not just look at the constant churn of juveniles in and out of juvenile detention. Do not just look at the number of juveniles who leave juvenile detention and go straight into an adult prison, and do not look—may they rest in peace—at those two young men who took their lives in juvenile justice under this government's watch. It is the very first time in Western Australia's history that we have lost a life in juvenile justice. We did not just lose one life; we lost two. That is terrible. That is a shocking stain. It is a shocking indictment of the policies of the government. Again, I know that this government won, and probably its hard line on juvenile justice might have even won some votes, but that does not make it right. Again, these kids are almost exclusively disengaged. A vast number of them have neurological issues. A majority are Aboriginal, and a majority of those Aboriginal juveniles are taken off country, brought down here and put into a cell. How on earth is that, firstly, assisting the juveniles, and, secondly, making Western Australia a safer place? It is not. It is an abject failure.
I get it. All the time, I honestly get it. It used to make my blood boil when the minister would go out and hold up these weapons in the chamber down there and say that they are terrible and how shocking they are, and the former Premier said that they were murderers and rapists and terrorists. I know that a lot of the community will agree with them. I get that. Some members on my side agree with it, and I get that—but I respectfully disagree. I have dealt with the education system and trying to shape someone's behaviour all my life. I have never, ever decided that it is a good idea to smack someone or put someone in a nine-square-metre cell for 24 hours a day and assume that that is going to improve their behaviour. It will not. No wonder they go back on country, pinch cars, go into liquor stores and pinch all the grog et cetera. All we are doing is making them better criminals. It is so wrong, and everyone agrees with me apart from the Labor Party and some members on my side. I want to make one thing perfectly clear. There must be consequences for breaking the law—there must. Yes, I go back to the point I started on with corrective services. Do we want to punish them? Yes, we want to punish them. But do we want to rehabilitate them to make them better people and the community safer? Hopefully, we do. According to the government, it does. It is on the Banksia Hill website and it is in the annual report every year, but its actions do not support that.
In 2022, the government had a good idea. It was going to have an on-country diversionary program. Former Minister for Regional Development Hon Alannah MacTiernan announced that. I thought that was a great idea. Rather than take them off country, put them into a cell and assume they are going to be better, let us have a diversionary program. That was announced going on three years ago, and it is still not open. That was the very first question I asked the new Minister for Regional Development two days ago. I asked: What about Marlamanu? Is it open yet? He said that it is not. I am not for a second going to lay blame on the new minister. All I am saying is he has been lumbered with this terrible thing that is still not open. Members can go back and have a look. I have asked dozens of questions on this, because I know that people talk in the public sector all the time. It has been a disaster, because there is no moral fortitude to get it done. Why would we bother? I will tell members what the government did do. Two months later, it opened the most despicable thing ever in the face of public policy. It is called unit 18, and it is a juvenile justice facility, if we can call it that, aligned to Casuarina Prison. The government is going to put these disengaged kids with neurological problems into a nine-square-metre cell in an adult prison for 24 hours a day—they were in the cells for 24 hours a day—and assume that it will make them better. For goodness sake—really? Point me to one person ever in juvenile justice who says that is a good thing.
I turn with that, as I said, to this disgraceful front page of The West Australian that I am holding up that shows a balaclava-laden police officer pointing a gun at the head of a 16-year-old Aboriginal girl at Banksia Hill. Yes, it served the government’s purpose. Did it solve the problem? Of course not. Was there a reduction in youth crime over that period? No; in fact, there has been an acceleration. It is going in the completely opposite way. Unit 18 is not working so why does the government keep it open? When the Labor government opened unit 18, it said it would be a temporary facility for six months. It has now been three years, and the government is not even close. All the contradictions about how much a new facility will cost are just unbelievable. I could talk about this issue under water for hours. I have talked about it so many times, I am sure that members are sick to death of it. But, guys, please, you are a new government. Can you please close that facility? Do not take my word for it. Do take the President of the Children's Court's word for it or that of their predecessor. Do not take the Commissioner for Children and Young People's word for it. Do not take the Inspector of Custodial Services' word for it or that of their predecessor. Do not take two Labor Premiers' word for it or that of the former Australian of the Year. Take your word for it, guys. I have told you this before—this is not what you stand for. The Labor Party does not stand for this. Government members should read the Labor Party platform, which states:
That every effort must be made to ensure young people do not engage with the juvenile justice system, and that education and awareness are the most effective way to achieve this, rather than punitive measures;
That is the Labor Party's platform. The Labor Party platform also states:
That further resourcing should be provided to the juvenile justice system to cater for appropriate rehabilitation and redirection so as to ensure that young people interacting with the juvenile justice system do not continue to do so;
Well, that is going well, isn't it? When they get out of unit 18, they reoffend—if they are lucky to survive unit 18, that is—and are lumbered straight back there. What about the policy that states that the targeting of young people by politicians seeking to appear tough on antisocial behaviour is wrong? I could not agree more with that; I should join the Labor Party! I agree 100% that the targeting of young people by politicians seeking to appear tough on antisocial behaviour is wrong. But the government continues to do that. Unit 18 was meant to be a temporary facility for those kids. When those juveniles get out of unit 18 and go back to the Kimberley, will they go back to a nurturing family home with a white-picket fence, a mum and dad and a golden retriever? Not on your life. These kids will be lucky to survive until they are 18—that is what will happen. It is happening over and over again. Members should look at the dozens of questions that both Hon Dr Brad Pettitt and I have asked about self-harm. Today I will get a response to another question I have asked about what has happened in the last 12 months. It is not working. So, yes, pat yourselves on the back for your election win. I congratulate the Labor Party for that. But please, look after our police officers or else the number of police officers will continue to haemorrhage and there will be a spike in crime.
Juvenile justice is a stain on the government. Two young men have lost their lives and there has been a constant churn of juveniles in and out of Banksia Hill Detention Centre and unit 18 during that time. The government's strategy of locking them up for 22, 23 or 24 hours a day and putting them in an adult prison is not working. Do not take my word for it. Government members should look at their own Labor Party platform, which is what they stand for. I say to members of the Labor Party—this is the last time I will say this—please draw on your conscience and close unit 18.
Hon Neil Thomson (Mining and Pastoral Region) (10:23 am): I, too, wish the government well over the next four years, especially on behalf of the long-suffering people of the regions. I hope the government does well because what we saw in regional Western Australia over the previous four years was neglect, failure and ongoing challenges. I do wish the government well. I would have hoped that in that moment, in the shadow of victory, there might have been a little less hubris in this place. Unfortunately, we have seen it straightaway. When the propaganda machine promotes a particular position in countries like North Korea, all the acolytes in that country have to follow and diligently say exactly what the propaganda machine says. We saw that on display here the other day during Hon Dan Caddy's presentation on regional Western Australia. Honestly, Hon Dan Caddy, it was an insult to your intelligence to read a speech like that. I know that someone up there in the head office probably produced it for him, but to come into this place in the shadow of such a defeat in the regions and read that speech shows that he did not do the work and due diligence—
Point of order
Hon Jackie Jarvis: President, it is outrageous for Hon Neil Thomson to suggest that Hon Dan Caddy is not capable of writing his own speech. It is an absolute slur.
Hon Tjorn Sibma: That's not what he said.
Hon Jackie Jarvis: He did. He said it was not his own work. I find that quite insulting towards Hon Dan Caddy.
The President: Thank you, deputy leader. The comments do not contravene standing orders, but I invite all members to temper their comments with calm and respect.
Proceeding resumed
Hon Neil Thomson: I was actually giving the member the benefit of the doubt. If he had written that speech, I would be more disappointed. In this context I was hoping that he would own up to the fact that the speech was written for him. I give Hon Dan Caddy the benefit of the doubt and say that he wrote it himself. If that is the case, I would ask the member to do his research.
Let us look at regional Western Australia to see what actually happened because some learnings have to come from this great Labor Party victory. There are some sectional elements within that, and we need to take account of the numbers to understand what went on and reflect upon the fact that in regional Western Australia, the two-party preferred vote was 56% for the Liberals and Nationals versus 44% for the Labor Party. That was the two-party preferred vote, including Mandurah and Dawesville. If we remove those two seats, the two-party preferred vote was 58 to 42. I do my own research. I pull out the spreadsheet and check the numbers to make sure that what I say in this place is accurate. I strongly recommend to the member opposite that he should take note. I alluded to propaganda machines in totalitarian regimes because I see a great opportunity in this chamber in the next couple of weeks. A few members who are departing this place will have no allegiance necessarily to the Labor machine during their presentation. I encourage Hon Kyle McGinn and Hon Rosie Sahanna, regional members who have great concern for and understanding of some of the issues going on in their region, to throw off the shackles of that authority and regime called the WA Labor Party during their valedictory speeches and speak from their hearts and speak the truth in this place. They have a real opportunity to come in here and speak the truth, and that would leave a mark. I know that Hon Kyle McGinn took a trip to Washington, after which he made some comments unshackled by the Labor machine. It is a great opportunity for him to speak the truth about what he believes. I am sure that Hon Rosie Sahanna has many thoughts about the situation in the Kimberley, which I alluded to yesterday in my question. The Labor Party machine was spruiking up Divina D'Anna, the member for Kimberley, about her future and that she could become the first Aboriginal woman to become the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, but that did not transpire. Instead, this government chose to put a senior member over the shoulder of the member for Kimberley to keep an eye on her workings. We have seen the issues in the Pilbara.
In fact, we saw that Kevin Michel MLA won his seat by only 207 votes.
Hon Stephen Dawson: But he won, didn't he?
Hon Neil Thomson: He did win, but, gee, it was close. What did the government do? It had to put the member for Morley —
The President: Order! Can we restore some calm and dignity to the chamber.
Hon Neil Thomson: The member for Morley, the sacked Minister for Health, who also saw a massive swing against her, had to be made the minister responsible for the Pilbara, which is clearly a major problem. In fact, the only regional member who is a minister, Hon Don Punch, got sacked from his position of Minister for Regional Development. We saw this complete failure of the WA Labor Party—
Hon Louise Kingston interjected.
Hon Neil Thomson: He used to be, but he is no longer. An upper house member is now the minister, but I am talking about the lower house.
We have seen ministers sacked from these portfolios. That is a reflection of the challenges facing regional people. As alluded to by the Leader of the Opposition in the upper house, the issue of crime and community safety continues to be a major concern. For example, on average, people in the Kimberley are 30 times more likely to be assaulted than anywhere else in Australia. That is the highest rate of any region or jurisdiction in Australia. It is much higher than the rate in Queensland, where crime has been a major issue. The rate is even much higher in the Kimberley than in the Northern Territory. It is a major problem.
If members opposite would just listen to the people of the Kimberley, they might actually get on with their job. I invite the new minister responsible for the Kimberley to spend some time up there listening to the people of the Kimberley. I am in this place today to encourage the Labor Party to address this issue.
The new minister responsible for the Goldfields–Esperance is clearly concerned. Again, with only 450-odd more votes, Hon David Michael is looking over his shoulder and keeping an eye on the member for Kalgoorlie, Ali Kent, who is obviously not doing her job particularly well, and that is a concern for this government. It is worrying about the fact that these members are not doing their job because they do not get the message. In fact, I feel for regional members because they do not have a message to sell from the WA Labor Party.
I support the motion. Many people throughout the state continue to struggle with the fact that they have been ignored by the government, and that is true no more so than in regional Western Australia. We saw an incredible swing against the member for Albany. I will give a few facts and figures from across the regions to encourage Hon Dan Caddy to do his research, look at the numbers and consider the detail rather than come in here with some North Korean propaganda and start speaking absolute rubbish. We want to lift the standard of debate. I will read out the numbers.
In regional Western Australia, the Labor Party received 111,491 votes. In regional Western Australia, the Liberal Party received 94,040 votes. In regional Western Australia, the Nationals WA received 66,508 votes. If we combine the figures for the Liberal and National parties, it totals 160,548 votes—many more votes than received by the Labor Party. As I said, that is on a two-party preferred basis. We saw swings against Labor members in regional Western Australia. In Albany, there was a 19% swing against the member; a 20% swing against the former Minister for Regional Development, Hon Don Punch; a 21% swing in the seat of Collie–Preston; a 28% swing in Geraldton; a 17.5% swing in Mandurah; and a 23% swing in the seat of Murray–Wellington. Why? The Labor Party must take the opportunity to reflect on those figures and the issues that are affecting regional Western Australia.
We know that many issues affect people in the regions, such as restrictions on fishing grounds. The sacked Minister for Environment was in Esperance just before the election. He could not even face up to the community. We have also seen record rates of low school attendance in our remote communities. We are losing a whole generation of kids.
Another issue is the shutdown of the nickel industry. We can talk about value adding but the most important part of the battery industry is the nickel industry. These are the facts that the government must address. Stop the hubris.
Hon Wilson Tucker (Mining and Pastoral Region) (10:34 am): I, too, would like to congratulate the Cook Labor government on its win. That said, before I get to the main part of my contribution, I would like to focus on certain sections of the community that continue to struggle and feel ignored. I thank Hon Peter Collier for moving the motion today. It might come as no surprise to members that I will focus on renters. It is an issue that has been near and dear to my heart and something that I have had personal experience with over the last four years.
Hon Kate Doust: But you haven't learnt to respond to my interjections, comrade.
Hon Wilson Tucker: I have learnt not to tell the member about my personal circumstances so they do not very quickly end up on the front page of The West Australian. We will talk about it later, perhaps in a more private setting.
Several members interjected.
Hon Wilson Tucker: Do not read into that too much, member.
Several members interjected.
The President: Order!
Hon Wilson Tucker: I have some personal experience in the area of renting. It is certainly a topic that I am interested in. I have tried to make a bit of noise, at least in the 42nd Parliament and in the dying days and weeks of my term. I really hope that it is an issue that other members can champion in the 42nd Parliament and something that a member or members on both sides of the chamber look at and give some serious attention to. That would be fantastic.
We saw the changes that were made to the Residential Tenancies Act about two years ago. The former Minister for Commerce, Hon Sue Ellery, had passage of the amendment bill. There were some good bits to it. The former Cook Labor government sided particularly heavily with REIWA and there was a lot of emphasis on what the institute wanted, not what the other rental advocacy groups wanted, particularly around rent bidding. We heard the minister say that rent bidding would continue under the new provision in the amendment bill. There was a bit of a soft regime in that area. The main recommendation put forward by Shelter WA but ignored by the Cook Labor government related to no-grounds evictions. We have seen some polling that suggests that the big ask of the majority of renters is that they need to feel secure in their living environment.
In the last five months since Parliament sat, we have certainly seen housing prices continue to grow and the cost of living continue to increase. Obviously, there is a lot of global instability with markets right now, with tariffs coming through that can potentially be inflationary in Australia and WA. That will put downward pressure on renters in this state. We continue to be the only state in Australia, the only jurisdiction in Australia, that is not looking to ban no-grounds evictions. That is clearly the big ask of renters.
The former minister said that a second tranche, a second wave, of reform is coming in the rental space for the Residential Tenancies Act. The former minister was a little coy about its timing. I appreciate and understand that given that the government wanted to curtail amending the legislation while it got through the election before coming out the other side and putting some policies and an agenda in place. We heard the Governor set out part of the government's agenda for the next term. I did not hear any mention of renters and looking at the second tranche or second wave of reform in the residential tenancy space. I will certainly ask questions about that. I do not expect a reply during this contribution but I will certainly put a question on notice asking when we can expect the second wave of change. I hope we see it in the 42nd Parliament and that opposition and crossbench members really push the government and be the voice for change and advocacy for renters in this state because it was clearly missing on the government's side. The government certainly looked at the Real Estate Institute of WA and the real estate industry but neglected what Shelter WA, one of the peak advocacy bodies for renters' rights in WA, wanted.
When we look at the federal sphere, the Greens have certainly been making quite a lot of noise around renters' rights and rental reform. Some uniform decisions were made around what other states and other territories would put in place, particularly around genuine reasons for eviction, which intersects with no-grounds evictions. It basically creates more of a social contract and gives up-front clarification of the reasons for which someone can be evicted going forward. I think that is a good thing.
That conversation is ongoing and certainly the Greens have been very vocal in the federal space. Hon Dr Brad Pettitt certainly looked like he had his hands full during the 41st Parliament. I think he did a good job in championing the issues that resonated with him. I congratulate the new incoming Greens members. I think the Greens will have a stronger team in place and they will potentially be a voice for advocacy and change for renters. On renters' rights, I hope that some of the incoming Greens members can look at the issues in this space, champion them and bring them forward.
President, I have some questions around when we can expect the second tranche, the second wave. We have seen housing prices increase quite drastically. I think in WA we have been bucking the national trend over the last couple of years. The last forecast that I saw was that housing prices in WA are expected to increase by about 10% to 11% over the next 12 months. That is obviously going to put more pressure on mortgages and rents, and then downward pressure on renters who are typically at the bottom end of that social contract. If rents go up, there is a cohort of people who will find themselves in rental stress. I believe that statistic is when a person pays around 30% of their income to just basically keep a roof over their head. It is people who are not necessarily able to put food on the table because they are just trying to keep the lights on and keep operating. Given the cost-of-living increases and the increase to housing prices, that pressure will not go away. A lot of renters still do not feel secure and safe in their current living conditions under the first tranche of reform that we saw from the government, and that is something that I seriously hope the Cook Labor government will take forward in this Parliament. There are members of the crossbench and certainly the opposition who do not just side with the real estate industry and who have taken a long hard look at the issue and actually side with renters and the 30% of Western Australians who are doing it particularly tough right now.
Hon Kate Doust (South Metropolitan Region) (10:42 am): I obviously will not be supporting the motion moved by our good friend Hon Peter Collier, the Leader of the Opposition, and I acknowledge this is probably the last time that we will have a bit of an exchange across the chamber.
First of all, I am going to deal with Hon Neil Thomson's free psych session–his vent–that he had in the chamber. Let us talk about some of the numbers that really matter and that come into play here. I am looking at the Western Australian Electoral Commission site for the Assembly. It has counted more than 83% of the vote in the Assembly and the Liberal Party has 428,105 votes and the Labor Party has 633,093 votes. I am not going to go through all the other votes, but let us see what that equates to. The Labor Party has 46 seats in the Assembly, the Liberal Party has seven seats and the Nationals WA have six seats. So for all their huff and puff, you know, they have not convinced the people of Western Australia that they are capable of managing government and delivering positive outcomes for them. Tomorrow, members, once we have the Legislative Council results—I think about 85% of the vote has already been counted—we will hopefully see 11 Labor members on this side of the chamber, maybe 10 Liberal members, maybe two National Party members and the rest will be split up. Again, the vote came to Labor because people in this state do not believe that the Liberal Party has got its act together enough to run the state. In fact, it is a view reinforced by eminent people like Antony Green. He talks in one of his pieces about how if we were to compare the result from 2017 with the one this time, the fact that over that period of time Labor has had a 2.7% increase in the vote speaks very badly for the Liberal Party and shows that it cannot get its act together and convince people that they need a change.
I want talk about some of the things that Hon Peter Collier referenced. I note his passion for trade unionism, which has come at the end of his political career—maybe he can change teams after he leaves this place! That would be very interesting. Obviously, we do support police officers; they are at the coalface; they do an amazing job. It is probably one of the toughest jobs in the state, and the Labor government has been supporting them. There are some things that the member neglected to mention. Since 2017—since he was last in government—there have been 830 more police officers on the beat. There are 7,272 out patrolling our streets. We have doubled the capacity for recruits. New police stations have been delivered in Capel and Armadale, and new stations in Baldivis and Forrestfield will come online this year. A new station is under construction in Fremantle, and I saw that site last weekend. It is in a fantastic location; it is a great size for a new police station. And there is a regional police station in the Kimberley. We now have extended hours in Ellenbrook, Armadale, Cockburn, Belmont, Forrestfield, Canning Vale, Gosnells and Rockingham. I think crime stats were listed as well. The total crime rate has dropped by almost 10%. Burglary offences have declined by nearly 50%. There were fewer than 23,500 property offences in 2024 compared with 2017, and there were 17,285 fewer burglaries in 2024 compared with 2017, which is a reduction of more than 50%. There were 2,090 fewer offences of stolen motor vehicles in 2024 compared with 2017. The police force is locking up more offenders faster than ever before.
The government has also dealt with issues around anti-Semitism, hooning, guns and regional crime, and it put out a whole range of incentives and commitments during the election, which I am sure the minister will respond to and deal with in due course.
What have we heard today? I know that the Liberal Party is simply going through the motions leading up to the end of this time in this chamber and we look forward to seeing new incoming members of the upper house, but Liberal members really have to go back to the speech that we talked about yesterday. The Governor's speech talked about how our key responsibilities are to our constituents and how we should not always be combative and should be able to work together and find solutions because, at the end of the day, it is about getting the best outcome for our state. But that is not the case with the Liberal Party. Let us have a look at some of the priorities and perhaps some of the reasons why Liberal members were not elected. What were the commitments that the newly elected Leader of the Liberal Party promised? He talked about a bigger Bell Tower, harking back to Barnett's time. You know, all the big trophy things. I am not too sure what a bigger Bell Tower would do for the people who are allegedly being ignored by government. They would feel more ignored. Let us move on to the next thing—a cable car over the Swan River to Kings Park. There is a billion dollars or more for redevelopment of the Swan River foreshore. I am not too sure how that will deal with housing, health, education and law and order. It might look a bit fancy, but it will not fix the problems for those who the Liberals alleged are being neglected. He also wanted to have the Commonwealth Games in Perth. That would be billions of dollars of expenditure and it would not fix health, housing, education or law and order. It might have made for a nice bit of TV!
Hon Neil Thomson interjected.
Hon Kate Doust: The member can bellow all he likes; it does not make him sound any more intelligent.
He also called for a dance and music festival.
Hon Neil Thomson interjected.
The President: Order! Can we allow the member on her feet to make her contribution.
Hon Kate Doust: Thank you, President. Here we have the Liberal Party talking about the pretty things, the things of entertainment, the lighthearted things, not the nuts and bolts things that keep families secure, safe, in jobs and with an appropriate health system, a good education system and police on the beat. They are all the things that the Western Australian Cook Labor government is doing and will continue to do. We have been blessed and recognised by Western Australian voters who gave us a historic third term, and you would have to have to say that is because they have faith in this government.
They have faith in a government that is going to put in place changes around housing. I talked about that yesterday in relation to one specific project, but the state government has committed $443 million in joint federal–state funding for 1,800 social and affordable homes and $19.5 million towards community housing outreach services.
We move to health and it is funding $104 million for the redevelopment of Royal Perth Hospital. Regional health services will get a boost with $30 million promised for healthcare initiatives in the Kimberley and $12.4 million for a new residential drug rehabilitation centre in the Great Southern Region. If we look at energy, we have already received rebates. The government has announced $387 million to develop our first residential battery scheme and this is now being backed up by the Albanese government, with a further commitment to support families with a commitment of a $5,000 rebate on home batteries in the metro area, and $7,500 for regional residents.
If we look at education, we see that the Labor government has committed to a $34 million pledge to introduce free kindergarten—I wish my children were much younger—and another $15 million has been committed to support out-of-school care. For working parents, these are two significant changes that will assist with the financial burden they have to carry and the work-life balance of juggling kids and work, a major and significant change that I have never heard come from that side of the chamber, because the opposition does not talk about those things. The government has committed $745 million to schools, including 11 new schools; and some of that funding, I understand, will go to refurbishing a lot of the old schools in the metropolitan and regional areas. I know many, many Labor members are keen on having work done to support their communities in those schools.
Metronet has opened and further changes are coming through, which I see, living in Victoria Park, every time I drive under the overpasses for the train. I was so excited to see a test run on the line the other day. That will be fantastic once the new Metronet lines are running all the way from the city out to Armadale and then branching off to Cockburn and other places. It is a fantastic change and will open up enormous opportunities for people throughout the metropolitan area.
This government is trying to cover all the bases and look after every single person in this state. It has an enormous range of commitments and coverage to try and deal with the issues. We heard from the first two speakers here today and all they had was criticism and negativity. That is all they have. They do not come up with solutions, and part of working together is to offer solutions, not to just constantly be on the attack. I know that they feel that is a natural place for opposition, but it is not.
The other thing I will mention in my last 24 seconds is that the government has a Made in WA proposal that looks to create all sorts of interesting opportunities, not just in the mining sector, but also across the spectrum of employment. I know that my colleague Hon Klara Andric will probably talk about that in detail later today. So do not complain, get with the program, work with the government to make sure that every single person in Western Australia has success.
Hon Tjorn Sibma (North Metropolitan Region) (10:53 am): In light of where we are post election, I thought that the motion moved by Hon Peter Collier was a very well structured and balanced one. The Labor Party won the election, the third in a row. That is something to be proud of, but it is absolutely no justification to turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to people who disagree with it, people who are not necessarily sold on its vision and have deeply held and deeply felt positions of discomfiture or disagreement with what it proposes. I thought it was an interesting avenue that Hon Kate Doust went into when she was criticising the Leader of the Opposition for his commitment and interest in making Western Australia an interesting or entertaining place to live, because it is certainly a sentiment shared by the Treasurer, Hon Rita Saffioti, who has gone through an interesting process of rebranding into being the "Minister for Good Times". The motorplex proposal for Burswood Park is obviously very, very dear to Hon Rita Saffioti, but it is opposed by others, certainly the local government and the mayor, Karen Vernon, I think her name is.
It was interesting that in light of this motion calling upon the government not to ignore people that Hon Rita Saffioti has taken a speak-to-the-hand approach with relation to community consultation. The only kind of consultation that Hon Rita Saffioti is interested in listening to is the kind of consultation that agrees with her vision. If you disagree with her concepts, you are persona non grata and you will be demeaned and diminished not only in Parliament, but also in public discourse. Frankly, that is not a positive reflection on this government so early in its third term. That is an issue to watch, because $216 million for a motorplex and entertainment precinct is not a small amount of money. Personally, I like the idea but, frankly, that might not be the best position for that proposal. We have to consider environmental impacts, community impacts and all the other servicing infrastructure, which is probably not part of or has not been considered as part of the view of the Treasurer; Minister for Sport and Recreation; Transport and a range of other portfolios.
That is a serious issue, but on a more serious note, it is clear that some members of the government who will not be returning also feel ignored by the government. I do not like referring to members when they are away from the chamber on urgent parliamentary business, but Hon Kyle McGinn obviously felt ignored when it comes to the Westport development. Until, I think, 19 March, Hon Kyle McGinn was a parliamentary secretary in the Cook Labor government. That is not to say that a parliamentary secretary has executive responsibility, but they are considered to be a senior representative member of a government given responsibility, at least in this chamber, to represent a minister and probably given also reasonably elevated representational duties in the public, representing government policy, ministers and the like. I was astonished to learn that during the recent state election, the honourable member was missing in action for the Maritime Union of Australia and took the opportunity of a personal trip to the United States to lobby in the halls of Congress against a major state infrastructure project, being Westport. I came across a document, which apparently, allegedly—cautious in my words—Hon Kyle McGinn used. It is this document that I will seek leave to table at the end of this contribution, but for the purposes of Hansard I will read it out. It is called Westport: A Risk to AUKUS?: A Maritime Union of Australia paper on the potential security risk of Westport's construction in Western Australia. This was a document brandished by a member of the Cook Labor government in Washington DC during a state election. The issues that the paper identifies are largely debatable. But here we have a member of the government who obviously has some deep-seated concerns about the Westport project, potentially imperilling a massive national security agreement the likes of which we have not seen or has not been countenanced since the Australia, New Zealand and United States defence treaty was signed more than 70 years ago.
He obviously feels ignored by the Minister for Transport and the Premier to be driven to such acts of desperation. I do not wish my address to be misconstrued or misinterpreted as providing an alibi for Hon Kyle McGinn's actions. I think they were deeply, deeply unwise, and I disagree absolutely with the intent and the argumentation contained within the Maritime Union of Australia's document. But what does it say about the competence of a government that it does not know where its own parliamentary secretary is—that he is freelancing on national security issues in a foreign capital? Perhaps if it had treated Hon Kyle McGinn with a bit more seriousness, or at least entertained some of the concerns, he might not have been driven to an act of desperation like this. In my view, it was a deeply unwise one.
For the last two or three days, I have listened politely to the iron fist in the velvet glove admonishing me and my colleagues for our lack of focus and our lack of hard work. This is evidence of a grand hypocrisy and a juvenile desire to triumph and revel in victory and to diminish all voices. But when an obvious failure such as this was pointed out, Hon Roger Cook, the Premier of this state, sought to downplay and diminish its significance to the media by referring to the member as a retiring member: "Don't worry; he's not a parliamentary secretary anymore." If Western Australia wants to be treated seriously on the national or international stage, the government of this state has to lift its game. If government members want to be treated with respect by the people of Western Australia, they actually have to do something that has so far proven to be far too elusive, and that is to humble themselves, open their eyes and ears and be prepared at least to countenance a different point of view—a different point of view that we are all at least contemplating after the quite measured valedictory statement of Hon Martin Pritchard the other day.
Hon Jackie Jarvis (South West Region—Minister for Agriculture and Food) (11:03 am): I rise to speak against the motion. I will not thank Hon Peter Collier for bringing the motion forward, but I will take this opportunity to thank him for his many years of service to this place and to the people of Western Australia. I also want to thank him for graciously acknowledging the election win of WA Labor. He was very gracious, as was Hon Wilson Tucker and Hon Tjorn Sibma, in acknowledging the win and that WA Labor did indeed win 46 of the 59 seats in the other place. Perhaps less gracious was Hon Neil Thomson, whose contribution could only be described as belligerent. He was eager to start a fight, and perhaps that is the role he is going to play in the 42nd Parliament.
Hon Neil Thomson interjected.
Hon Jackie Jarvis: Within minutes of him starting, he likened the WA Labor Party and this incoming government to North Korea.
Several members interjected.
Hon Jackie Jarvis: Acting President, I will not be taking interjections.
He likened the state to North Korea, which I think is an insult to those people who voted for the Labor government.
Hon Neil Thomson: I likened the speech.
The Acting President: Order, member!
Hon Jackie Jarvis: No, the honourable member likened WA Labor to the totalitarian regime; that is what he said. We can review Hansard tomorrow.
Several members interjected.
The Acting President (Hon Dr Brian Walker): Order, members! I would ask that the member be heard in peace and quiet.
Hon Jackie Jarvis: Hon Neil Thomson stood there, only a few metres away from me, and said that there is no regional member of the WA Parliament who is a minister. I have heard the saying, and perhaps some women might agree with me, that women over 50 are sometimes invisible. I do not know whether the honourable member missed the memo, but I am now the Deputy Leader of the House and a minister and someone who genuinely lives in regional WA.
Hon Dr Steve Thomas: Surely you're not over 50!
Hon Jackie Jarvis: My favourite member of the opposition! That interjection I will take!
Hon Neil Thomson then went on to talk about the long-suffering people of regional WA. Interestingly, he spent a good few minutes chastising the members for Kimberley, Pilbara and Kalgoorlie for winning their seats. Those hardworking members won their seats. Unfortunately, we did lose some seats. As I said, we won only 46 of the 59 seats in the Legislative Assembly.
I think Albany was mentioned. Albany was a hard-fought election battle. It was a three-way contest. I am the first to acknowledge that three-way contests are harder fights to win for Labor. I want to recognise the incredible work of Rebecca Stephens, the outgoing member for Albany. I will take this opportunity to congratulate the new member for Albany. I believe he was a Liberal candidate who was not preselected but was then picked up by the Nationals WA. I welcome the new member for Albany after his win. I will mention, however, that Rebecca Stephens was first past the post. She won 29.85% of the vote. Yes, she unfortunately lost to the Nats and the Libs when their combined vote overtook hers. It is incredibly interesting that in that case, the votes that flowed away from Labor did not go to Hon Neil Thomson's party; they went to the National Party.
He mentioned Murray–Wellington. Robyn Clarke was an incredibly hardworking member of Parliament who served two terms in the other place. Again, she won the popular vote, with almost 35% of the vote in that electorate. She will be sorely missed. I pass on my congratulations to the incoming member for Murray–Wellington.
Similarly, in the electorate of Warren–Blackwood, I worked very closely with Jane Kelsbie. She won the seat from Terry Redman. It was the last seat declared at the 2021 election. My God, she held on tight. Everyone said that she could not win that seat again. In the end, it was down to 950 votes on a two-party-preferred basis. But, again, she won the popular vote; she was the first past the post. Those votes flowed to the National Party not to the Liberal Party. I want to congratulate Bevan Eatts, the incoming member for Warren–Blackwood.
As I said, it was nothing short of a belligerent, attacking speech. I accept that that is the tone that the honourable member wants to take forward.
This motion is about recognising the cost of living. I will just check the wording of the motion—some people do "continue to struggle". I acknowledge that increases in interest rates and rent make it hard for lots of people. I have three adult daughters. I see the struggle. My 21-year-old daughter has recently moved back in with me because she was not able to secure a rental property after the property she was living in with two friends was sold. Not only has she moved in, but also one of her housemates has moved in. I am now living in a shared house with a couple of 21-year-olds, which is delightful in some ways but in other ways it is interesting!
My daughter said to me that she appreciates how lucky she is that she actually had somewhere safe to call home and that her friend, who is also a country girl from the regions like myself, would have been left with very limited options had she not also been able to move in because she is working out of Perth.
We acknowledge the cost of living and we acknowledge that some people are doing it tough. I am particularly proud that we will soon be delivering the second round of the school kids payment. I cannot remember the correct name for it.
Hon Sue Ellery: WASAP.
Hon Jackie Jarvis: The WASAP—WA student assistance payment. As we know, a Treasurer's advance authorisation bill was introduced in the other place yesterday. I have a copy of Hansard and, if you will indulge me Acting President, I just want to read from the Treasurer, who noted:
… the Treasurer's advance provides the authority to meet higher funding requirements, but it does not commit the state to any other additional spending. However, the Cook Labor government has flagged that it intends to use funds authorised through the Treasurer's advance to enable the payment of the second round of the WA student assistance payment in term 2 of this year. The passage of the bill in this timeframe is necessary to enable the government to deliver this cost-of-living assistance to WA families this financial year. However, the Cook Labor Government has flagged that intends to use funds authorised with the Treasurer's Advance to enable payment of the second round of the WA Student Assistance Payment in Term 2 of this year. The passage of the bill in this time frame is necessary to enable the government to deliver this cost of living assistance to WA families this financial year.
It is worth noting, as the Treasurer in the other place said:
Any unspent capacity on the Treasurer's advance will lapse on 30 June 2025, with actual expenditure to be reported in the 2024–25 Annual report on state finances …
There was obviously much debate about that Treasurer's advance bill in the other place. I want to hone in on what the member for Mid-West said referring to the Treasurer. I note that I am referring to the uncorrected copy of Hansard from Wednesday 9 April 2025. He said the Treasurer was:
… making up stories about needing to do that to pay students assistance allowances in term 2.
That is clearly not the case. I was out doorknocking during the election campaign in many regional seats—Geraldton, Margaret River, Manjimup, down to Albany and indeed in Perth seats up in the hills and also in the seat of Jandakot. That student assistance payment means a lot to families. It really does. I had a little laugh when the Hon Kate Doust said that she wished her children were young. I sort of muttered under my breath that I do not think she really does because those of us who have got older children remember the financial burden that comes from putting kids through school, putting kids through sport and trying to do the best you can for them. That is why we have introduced numerous cost-of-living measures.
We know that people are doing it hard. The electricity credits were fantastic. Total power bill assistance over recent years has been at least $2,100. As a regional member who is also a minister—the Minister for Small Business, as I was in the last term of government—I am particularly proud that the electricity credit was also applied to small businesses. Again, I met many small businesses during the election campaign and we know that $750 for small business is sometimes the difference between taking home a wage and not taking home a wage in some weeks when things get tight. On making public transport more affordable—as a regional MP, I do not use public transport very much. I certainly did back in my younger days when I was working in the city, when I was in my 20s. I caught up with a friend just the other day who lives in Leeming. She would normally take the car or occasionally get public transport to work. She needed to be in Two Rocks for something. She was meeting her husband there and needed to get public transport. She raved about it! She raved about getting the train to Yanchep and getting another quick bus ride to take her into the heart of Two Rocks. She could not believe how cheap it was. This is someone who has lived in Perth for over 35 years and does not use public transport regularly. She has the opportunity to work from home a number of days a week. She was just raving about how good the service was, how convenient it was and how affordable it was. I am incredibly proud that we not only capped the public transport fares, but also during the election announced the halving of Transwa fares. Many people certainly in my electorate and electorates around the state use Transwa to get to Perth. I know a lot of pensioners use it and they are able to use the discount. They also get one free trip. It has halved the cost. I can not remember the exact figures, but I think it brings the cost of return travel from Perth to Margaret River to $30 from about $60. It is significant and a lot of people use that Transwa service, whether it is from the South West or from the North West. I am incredibly proud of the work we have done to make public transport more affordable both in the regions and in the metro area.
Hon Wilson Tucker mentioned rentals. Again, I want to acknowledge that he will not be returning to the 42nd Parliament. I think he has stuck to his principles. We had a question yesterday about daylight saving and today he has raised rental matters. I think he has really taken to this place and I am sure he will be sorely missed. I want to mention that we introduced the WA Rent Relief Program to help financially vulnerable tenants at risk of eviction, with rental assistance of up to $5,000.
Other cost-of-living measures include the seniors cost-of-living rebate increase. KidSport vouchers were increased to $500. That is significant. When my kids were doing sport in regional Western Australia, I would often pull aside parents or teenage kids themselves and explain to them that they could get the KidSport voucher. Increasing that is significant. Some sports are particularly expensive; I speak of hockey as a hockey mother. By the time you buy shin pads, a uniform, a hockey stick and all the other bits and pieces. My youngest daughter now has what she calls a sponsorship where she gets one free stick a year! So, it helps.
There are other small things that I think we forget about. One that I think is fantastic is the rollout of free period products in public primary schools, high schools and TAFEs. That makes a significant difference to many vulnerable women, young women and girls in the community and helps their family's budget bottom line. Of course, we also increased the Regional Pensioner Travel Card to $675. Again, that is fantastic. I see people in my community use it. I know when my parents were alive, the Regional Pensioner Travel Card made a significant difference to them. It allowed them to get up to Perth to see their grandchildren on a more regular basis. Another one is the $300 secondary school clothing allowance. I think during the election campaign these things sort of slip under the radar because there are so many announcements, so many good things being rolled out. This is for vulnerable families so that they have one less thing to worry about. Nobody wants to be that kid who cannot afford the uniform or be in the right clothes, so I think that is fantastic. Hon Kate Doust made a fantastic response to police numbers, so I will not go into that in my short time. I will note that in the juvenile justice system, we have a new model of care. It continues to be implemented and is based on learnings from the youth justice system. It is committed to increased staffing, delivering more out-of-cell hours and interventions for young people in juvenile justice. We acknowledge that due to the nature of offending, the courts have determined that highly complex, often violent young people are required to be housed in youth detention. It is not the first option for magistrates and it is certainly not the first option for government, but it is something that we live with.
Hon Dr Steve Thomas (South West Region) (11:18 am): Thank you, Acting President, for five minutes to make a brief contribution to the debate on this motion. First off, obviously congratulations to the government on its victory. It was another significant victory. Unfortunately for us, it was the second-worst result I think in the history of the Liberal Party in any jurisdiction, beaten only by our 2021 result. Just a few quick numbers. In 2021, the two-party preferred vote was 70:30. In 2025, it was 57:43, both obviously to the Labor Party. The election in 2017 is probably a better comparison when the two-party preferred vote was 55.5% Labor Party and 44.5% to the Liberal Party, as I understand it. So it was slightly worse than the 2017 results.
It is a very difficult set of circumstances, but there is one group of people in particular that I want to talk about because there were a couple of variations for them. The people who I think are most disenfranchised—I am sure the Labor Party has worked this out—are people in rural and regional Western Australia where the actual numbers are slightly different.
If we look at the lower house and compare metropolitan and country seats won in the 2017 election, which is probably the best comparison with the 2025 election, the Liberal vote for metropolitan seats actually went down 5%, but in regional Western Australia, it went up 2.5%. The impact on regional seats—
Hon Darren West: They're low.
Hon Dr Steve Thomas: These are all a very low base, member, so let us not get too excited. But we do have an increase there. I think one issue is going to be respect for regional Western Australia. Regional Western Australia appears to be disengaging with the love of the Labor Party faster than its metropolitan cousins, so there is a message for the Labor Party going forward. If there is somebody, according to the motion, who feels ignored by the government, it is without doubt rural and regional Western Australia. What will be the impact of that? There are a couple of bits and pieces in here. I have to say, I had a fairly good indication of what the result was going to be. Here is something that is coming out of school: what happens on a trip stays on a trip, but, in this case, I did some commentary for the ABC, and I met Antony Green, of whom I am a great fan. He came up to me at the start and said, "I've read your predictions, Steve." I had sent in my predictions to the ABC the week before. He said, "You're far too pessimistic." He came up to me at the end of the show and basically said, "Okay, no, you're actually pretty well accurate." In fact, I run a little sweepstake in the South West, and in the last three elections I have got within a couple of seats of the outcome pretty reliably. In fact, although people on my side tend to think I am a pessimist, in the last three sweepstakes I have actually overestimated our result by a couple of seats. But I did expect a significant change in regional Western Australia, and I think that is exactly what we have seen. What is the result of that? I guess that will be the significant question, because the numbers and swings that I gave members before were the lower house numbers—the house of that other chamber that shall not be named—but I think it is interesting to see what is going on in the upper house. We do not actually have the final results yet. Ultimately, if only one seat in the guesses of the ABC changes, I will have won my sweepstake again, so we will see how we go. If the Liberals pick up one more seat in the end, I will be the victor on combined houses.
Let us have a look at this. For the Labor Party, 2021 was a high point. The Labor Party had 10 members of the Legislative Council coming from regional Western Australia in the old system under which we had six regions. The election of 2017 might be a better example, when the Labor Party had six members of the Legislative Council coming from the regions—two each from the Ag, Mining and Pastoral and South West Regions. But what is likely to happen in the current Parliament? It is a pity the minister has already spoken, because she cannot respond, but I would be interested to know how many members of the incoming upper house are going to be from regional Western Australia. Two of the ministers, including my good friend—I nearly said "my old friend"; that would be rude!—the Minister for Agriculture and Food and my good friend the Minister for Regional Development, are both regional members, which is great to see, and my sparring partner of the past, Hon Sandra Carr, I believe still comes from Geraldton way. It appears that none of the other sitting members of the Labor Party from regional WA got a guernsey. I would be interested to know how many of the incoming members are regional members coming into the Parliament. Perhaps by way of interjection, minister, how many of the incoming members of the upper house team are regional Western Australian members?
Hon Stephen Dawson: We have to wait and see tomorrow who's elected!
Hon Dr Steve Thomas: I am expecting the Labor Party to go from 10 at its peak regional members in the Legislative Council to six at 2017, which was still a big win for it, to, what, three now?
Hon Stephen Dawson: Six.
Hon Dr Steve Thomas: It was six in 2017, now it is down to three. What has happened? It is a decimation.
Motion lapsed, pursuant to standing orders.
