Hansard

Address-in-Reply

Address-in-Reply

Motion

Resumed from 21 May on the following motion moved by Hon Dan Caddy (Parliamentary Secretary):

That the following address be presented to His Excellency:

To His Excellency, the Honourable Christopher John Dawson, Companion of the Order of Australia, Australian Police Medal, Governor in and over the State of Western Australia and its dependencies in the Commonwealth of Australia.

May it please Your Excellency:

We, the members of the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Western Australia in Parliament assembled, beg to express our loyalty to our most gracious sovereign and thank Your Excellency for the speech you have been pleased to deliver to Parliament.

The President: Members, this is Hon Dr Katrina Stratton's inaugural speech and the usual courtesies of the house apply.

Hon Dr Katrina Stratton (2:21 pm): Thank you, President. Let me first offer my congratulations on your election again as President of this place. I of course already know you to be a warm and wise colleague and mentor, and I look forward to continuing to learn from you.

I congratulate all my parliamentary colleagues who have been sworn in today, particularly those sworn in for the first time. What an honour it is to stand with what is indeed a rare opportunity—that of a second inaugural speech. It is always an honour to be on Whadjuk Noongar boodja, and I pay my respects to elders past and present as we continue the path to genuine reconciliation.

In my inaugural speech to the Legislative Assembly, I told a little of my story of what brought me to politics and the women on whose shoulders I stand, and I want to acknowledge some of those women in the gallery today. Hon Kay Hallahan AO was the first Western Australian woman to sit in both the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly, serving as a minister in three Labor governments, and, perhaps most beloved to me, is a fellow social worker. I welcome too Hon Cheryl Davenport. It was her private member's bill in 1998 decriminalising abortion that laid the groundwork for the abortion law reform that the Cook Labor government delivered in the last term—legislation that I was very proud to speak in full support of for its treatment of reproductive care as the health care that it is. It means that we can get out of the way while health professionals are able to freely and expertly respond to women's reproductive choices. I welcome too Christine Tonkin, the former member for Churchlands, and I am going to talk shortly about the very important and powerful inquiry that we were both involved in in the last term; and, of course, Hon Dr Sally Talbot, whose claim to be a former member is not even 24 hours old yet, and I will come back to Sally.

It was a privilege to serve as the first Labor member for Nedlands in the last term, and there is much that I am proud of having achieved in that role in the community that I grew up in and the place where I continue to raise my own children, Catherine and Oliver. I am proud of being able to support public schools, including Shenton College, of which both my children are or will be alumni, and Bob Hawke College. The leadership at both those schools has meant that they are both highly regarded for their educational experiences, their outcomes and, perhaps most importantly, their culture. Shenton College is the reason that we moved to Nedlands 15 years ago. I know both those schools to be places that value diversity, strive for inclusivity, create safe spaces for students of all abilities and all identities, are as proud of their vocational education and training students as they are of their ATAR students and encourage students to be their best—to be more than their marks.

Can I just note that there are four of us in this chamber who are Hollywood Senior High School alumni. It is a very special honour to welcome Chris Hill, who was my politics teacher in year 12, as well as Hon Stephen Dawson's. That there are four of us here from such a magnificent public school is surely a testament to the way public education instils values in its students and their communities—values of service, of an appreciation for diversity, of critical thinking, of independence and of a willingness and a capacity to stand up and have your voice heard, but not just to have your voice heard, but more so to use that voice in service of the community and of the planet.

Another proud achievement was saving the Mount Claremont playing fields, which are protected now as green playing space, with the hardworking and dedicated Friends of Mount Claremont Fields. Your thankyou card takes pride of place on my desk and will continue to do so. I am also proud to have been part of the working group progressing WA's first urban greening strategy for the Perth and Peel regions, protecting and enhancing our tree canopy and more, and there will be much more to say on that later this year.

My team and I created a strong learning space in the electorate office. You can never take the educator out of the MP! We hosted McCusker interns, social work students, parliamentary research program participants and many local high school interns, and I want to thank my team for their contribution to all those students' learning. I particularly want to thank Trena Bunkle, who also joins us in the gallery today, for so ably supporting and challenging the social work students and encouraging them to think of the different ways that we can be involved in political life and social activism. There are, in fact, three social workers serving in the Cook Labor government.

Another highlight was collaborating with researchers, policy experts and menopause practitioners on continuing to put menopause on the policy and research agenda—another neglected area of women's health and bodily autonomy. That work was inspired by a project completed with a parliamentary research program, and I encourage all my colleagues to engage with this magnificent program.

Student Basira Khan took my proposal for a project exploring the impact of menopause in the workplace and advocated instead to consider the cross-cultural experiences of menopause. Her work invited further conversations, so, together with Clare Feenan and Paul Maginn from the University of Western Australia Public Policy Institute, Grace Molloy from Menopause Friendly Australia and new WA academics and advocates Dani Barrington and Antonia Hendrick, we collaborated on the policy brief Menopause Matters. In that brief, we evidenced 10 policy calls to action to provide better education, understanding, workplace responsiveness, care and care accessibility to menopausal people. I look forward to that ongoing collaboration and continuing to grow a thriving network of people concerned with progressing change in this area of women's health.

In the last term, alongside Christine Tonkin, the former member for Churchlands, I was a member of the Community Development and Justice Standing Committee. We held an inquiry into how Western Australia had responded to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse—work that I was familiar with, having served on the board of Tuart Place, a small but extremely mighty not-for-profit organisation that works with survivors, former child migrants and care leavers. As part of that inquiry, we spoke to many survivors and survivor support and advocacy organisations. While acknowledging again their bravery in sharing with us their story, I want to say to you that we will go beyond sharing your story—that I, alongside other members of that committee, including Hon Dave Kelly in the other place, will continue to honour your stories by actively working towards the fulfilment of the recommendations from that inquiry.

I express again my disappointment, but, sadly, perhaps not my surprise, at the decision of the Christian Brothers to refuse to appear at the inquiry. We are not the only ones to encounter their wall of silence—their moral failure in trying to hide information on the abuse of children under their care and hide, therefore, from their responsibilities to those children, to those survivors. The royal commission had identified the Christian Brothers as among the worst offenders. Their continual obstruction of dialogue and justice is an affront to survivors and all of us who walk alongside them in the ongoing pursuit of justice. Unfortunately, the Christian Brothers were not lonely in prioritising their institutional wellbeing over the wellbeing of children abused in their care. There are too many walls of silence, too many stories of justice unmet. As we come to legislation in this place that is about the rights of people to live and love freely, to create families and to live with dignity as who they are, I hope it is free of the unkindness, the lack of justice and the hypocrisy that I witnessed from the religious institutions in the inquiry.

Perhaps one of the things I am most proud of is standing up for the values of my Nedlands community, a community that I know to be kind, compassionate and generous, because it was all of those things to us when it mattered. When the City of Nedlands said no to a children's hospice this community came to me distressed and disturbed as to how we were being represented. It also was distressed and disturbed that families of children with a life-limiting illness were being told, "You are not welcome here." The reasons articulated for knocking back first the hospice and now the adjacent playground are as bizarre as they are unkind, and they are anything but astute, rather, lacking in an understanding of evidence-based practice. Variously, the hospice is apparently at risk of being bombed by a hostile foreign power or of being turned into a licensed premise, and in a deliberate misunderstanding of the purpose of a hospice, there was a claim that many of the children would dare not actually die in the facility. More recently, we have heard council leaders question the ethics and generosity of donors, a suggestion that there is something to be gained from their donation, something other than, apparently, kindness and compassion. The hospice is under construction in Allen Park, ocean side, as is best practice for hospice care. The Perth Children's Hospital Foundation, which has diligently planned the hospice for WA children, including concerted fundraising efforts, stakeholder engagement and drawing on best evidence, is now offering a comprehensive playground and nature area adjacent to the hospice. This area would be for use by the entire Western Australian community. This is of course a core reason for reserve tenure to be applied to land, intrinsic community value, but the council has said no to this also. The council leaders make much mention of the area being a class A reserve, yet have treated it with nothing but contempt and neglect. It is literally a dust bowl. They have since treated the families of sick and dying children with the same contempt, wanting to deny them access to best practice care and to deny the WA community an accessible playground at home in natural surrounds.

I want to state very clearly that a number of councillors stood against these decisions, and I thank them for the difficult fight they have taken on. Hundreds of locals signed my open letter in support of the hospice, and some of the personal comments were simply heartbreaking. There are memories that are decades old, of siblings lost and the enduring intergenerational impact of that loss on a family, and more recent memories of death in sterile, albeit caring and compassionate, hospital settings not of the families' choosing—stories of not being able to gather and celebrate life and mourn loss as a family. I have been a social worker for 30 years and those stories still have the power to move me. It is also true that in that 30 years I have seen many of the awful things that human beings are capable of doing to each other, and this act by the council's leadership I put up there. To those families and to the people of Nedlands, I commit to continue to stand up for our shared values and to stand in solidarity with families as they are enduring the very worst and say, "You are welcome in our neighbourhood."

I want to continue on the theme of kindness and inclusivity. As a social worker, as I said, I have borne witness to the human impact of systems that are inaccessible and unjust, of service responses that are economically rather than human based, that are essentially unkind. This Saturday 17 May was IDAHOBIT Day, the International Day Against LGBTQIA+ Discrimination—discrimination that we see on the rise on the global political stage where people use their words and power deliberately to punch down. The day celebrates the removal of homosexuality from the World Health Organization (WHO) International Classification of Diseases, a change that occurred the year I finished high school. Marriage equality was finally achieved during my children's school years. I was asked once whether my children were proud that I was part of the generation that voted yes for marriage equality, and I said, "Actually my kids were surprised that it had not always been so." In fact, many of the positive, progressive changes for the LGBTQIA+ community have happened only in recent times, and there is still much to do, as indicated by the fact we have some key reforms on the agenda in this coming term of government. It has always been and will only be a Labor government that legislates and leads justice for the LGBTQIA+ community. As I stated before, as we consider those reforms in this term, I hope that the principles of kindness and fairness and human dignity will be the manner in which we proceed with that legislation.

In reflecting on my time as the member of Nedlands, I hope it gives members a sense of what I wish to bring to this chamber—that is, a keen interest in what research says, as well as what communities say about the things that are important to them—the values of fairness and equity, particularly issues of gender equity, and an endeavour to always be kind.

I have many people to thank and acknowledge for the opportunity of standing here, beginning with the Australian Labor Party. All of us elected to this place have that privilege because of the amazing teamwork of our committed branch members, our volunteers, our campaigners, our supporters, the mighty union movement and our party's leadership team. And of course, we all bring our own personal cheerleading squads.

I turn to the Nedlands Labor branch. We grew from an initial meeting in 2021 of 25 people to now having over 80 members. I want to make some individual thankyous, and I am going to just use first names here as I am mindful that people have other lives and identities. I thank our inaugural executive team of that branch, Renee, Oliver, Francesca, Henry and Peter, and the extraordinary volunteers who over the last four years made such a difference to our community's experience of an active local member. To Leone, Jules, Gwen, Sue, Elaine, Matthew, Steve, Jeremy, Neva, Peter, Ric, Henry, Pauline, Viv, Rob and Wendy, thank you for all the poster rolling, the envelope stuffing, the phone calling, the letterboxing—the real glamour work!—the coffee morning hosting, the news scanning and the doorknocking that you did for the people of Nedlands. I am especially proud of the effort that we made during the Voice campaign. While we all know that that outcome was not what we had worked for, we all remain proud to live in a community that did indeed vote yes, a community that continues to work actively for reconciliation.

I joined the Labor Party after completing research at Wanslea, a Western Australian not-for-profit organisation where I was the manager for research and evaluation. That research was about the impact of the caring role on grandparents who are raising their grandchildren full time. That research showed that every aspect of a grandparent's health—social, physical, financial, mental and emotional—is impacted by their caring role. That research also told us that grandparents take on that role with much love and pride, knowing they are keeping their grandchildren safe and secure. As I, with others, formulated the recommendations from that research, it stood out to me that real change could only ever come through government action, and that for people who are experiencing vulnerability when issues of equity and access and of injustice prevail, change would only ever come about through a Labor government. Given that the average grandparent carer is a single woman over the age of 65 with less than $4,000 in superannuation, I imagined that Perth Labor Women might be the right branch for me to land in, and indeed it was. It picked up and continued to progress the needs of grandparent carers as a policy issue. Perth Labor Women also provided support and structure to participate in party life, to speak up in party forums on policy issues and to take leadership roles in party structures. Helen Tuck, who is in the gallery today, I want to acknowledge your leadership in creating those opportunities. I shall be forever grateful.

I would also like to thank EMILY's List for its early support in my fundraising efforts for Nedlands in 2021, at that time considered an unwinnable seat for us, and for the ongoing collaboration and championing of female candidates and members. I am proud to be a member of a party that has long committed to affirmative action and that in 2025 does not have to consider how to address a woman problem. It was wonderful then to bear witness to and vote for our first all-female leadership team for WA Labor. To Hon Lauren Cayoun and Senator-elect Ellie Whiteaker, I look forward to working with you in different ways. They are both strong, intelligent, engaged and articulate women.

Of course, many congratulations to our Premier, Roger Cook. Your determined and thoughtful leadership is exactly why Western Australians entrusted you with their wellbeing and prosperity.

I have a number of personal thankyous. First of all, happy birthday to Lyn Sherwood. It is a reasonable reason not to be here. My birthday wish is that you know what your guidance and faith has meant to me. You have helped me stay true to my values and integrity, reminding me of what I came here to do and who I am while I am doing it. To Michael and Jenny, for a different kind of question time. Jenny, I cannot wait to celebrate your coming transition after decades of service to the children and families of Western Australia at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children and Perth Children's Hospital. Here's to more travel adventures, although I think we agree that the Cape to Cape was a one-off! To Denise, from the back steps of Armadale child protection, we have travelled many of life's ages and stages together. Despite our different ways of engaging with politics, I do know that you are always my cheerleader. Thank you for your enduring love and humour and for keeping Steve alive for us in safe and loving ways. To Karly and Samantha, two women who have shared the same but different journey of widowhood together with me, I most certainly would not be standing anywhere without your friendship, your guidance, your faith. And to Dr Bailey, let us have more of those ocean swims and solve the problems of humanity and the planet while we float and laugh together.

I want to give a special shout-out to two of my parliamentary colleagues, two great friends. I appreciate the risk in singling out just two, because in the Labor caucus there are just so many of us to choose from. To the member for Cockburn, David Scaife, and Hon Dan Caddy, you have both taught me so much about navigating the political world and this political life. I have appreciated your counsel, your wisdom, your humour, your status as critical friends, and the at times honest but always helpful feedback and the learning. It is an absolute joy to serve with you both.

And to my team members, Francesca, the OG, who was my first meeting after my election in 2021. I knew that I wanted to have this intelligent, energetic, warm and innovative young woman on my team, but I also knew it would never be for very long. I am so proud, Fran, of all you are achieving, working in the Victorian Labor government and charging your own path. Do not let anyone take that away from you.

And to the team of the last few years—Louise Knox, Bronwen English, Adam Gilbride and Jules Hutchison—I will never forget the fun and camaraderie, alongside the hard work and community engagement, that we enjoyed together. You have all in your way been an absolute gift to me. Jules and Bronwen, I wish you all the very best in your next adventures in our movement. Adam and Lou, I am so happy you are coming on this next adventure with me. And Sam, welcome to the crew. I have to say, you had me at homemade sausage rolls.

When my son turned 21 just last year, I asked friends and family to provide a list of what they wished they had known at his age about money, and I compiled that advice into a book. There was lots, as you can imagine, about starting early and the magic of compound interest. There was even a suggestion of building a time machine and getting into the property market in the 1990s. There was also excellent advice about being good to your mother. But Michael Berry, you provided the stand-out piece of advice—that things have only ever improved for workers through the collective action of the union movement. Join your union. I have been a union member my entire working life and as a middle-aged woman I, in fact, look like your average union member, despite what the stereotypes might tell you. So variously, to the Health Services Union of Western Australia, the Community and Public Sector Union—Civil Service Association of WA, the National Tertiary Education Union and now the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, I say thank you. Some have helped me individually but all have helped collectively, workers, workforces and communities alike. It is the union movement that has made great strides for gender equity, securing improvements in narrowing the gender pay gap, greater parental leave entitlements, which in turn support women's economic participation, ensuring equal pay for work of equal value, securing better rights for women in traditionally feminised sectors such as early childhood education and aged care, advocacy for flexible work, enshrining paid family and domestic violence leave in the National Employment Standards, securing reproductive leave, including for people experiencing pregnancy loss, outlawing pay secrecy clauses and a new positive duty for employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.

When unions work with different workforces, it is with the community in mind. So when the CPSU worked with us in the 1990s—it is an ongoing challenge—to develop case load models, that was so vulnerable children in the care system could receive due time and attention from their child protection worker. When the NTEU (National Tertiary Education Union) negotiated for us during COVID-19, when the federal Liberal government decided an educated Australia was not valued, it was to ensure that students continued to receive the educational support they had enrolled for and that the people they would ultimately serve could be assured that they were appropriately qualified. When the AMWU, alongside many other unions, worked towards a just transition Collie as we move from coal to renewables, it is so the community of Collie–Preston, the workforce, our energy system and our environment not just survive but thrive.

I owe a particular debt of gratitude to the AMWU, not just for this opportunity but for the opportunity and the active support to pursue issues of social justice and equity. I want to say a particular thankyou in that regard to State Secretary Steve McCartney. It was not long after being elected in 2021 that I sat down with Steve and we talked about what had motivated me to enter politics. I talked about grandparent carers, and I will tell members now that I talk about them a lot. When I talk about grandparent carers, people often assume that I am talking about grandparents who are babysitting. That is of course, a very, very valuable role and one that I could not have survived without, but Steve knew exactly what and who I was talking about. We discussed some ideas about how to progress their cause, and I am pleased that we have made some progress. Steve's innate sense of fairness and, more importantly, drive to take action towards what is right means there has never been a policy issue that he is afraid of or would back away from as being too hard or too messy.

In 2021, when I gave my first inaugural speech, we were allowed 20 people in the gallery due to COVID restrictions. There are two people missing from the public gallery today from that original group, and I want to acknowledge them. This is the hard part, the part that I have not even been able to say in my head without tears. But grief is a normal part of life. As the tragic events of this last weekend have perhaps showed us, not only do we have to have a better and a different conversation about men's mental health, but I think we probably should be more open about how we do grief in all its messiness and all its enduring pain. To my dear friend, Katie Bennell, I miss you every day. There was an immediate recognition between the two of us before we even shared our stories. We were both missing a Stephen. It is because of you, Katie, that Aboriginal grandparent carers had such a prominent and meaningful voice in our research that we are able to talk about and advocate for the unique experiences and needs of Aboriginal families. You were the most patient, generous and respectful teacher about Aboriginal culture and kinship ways with that big beautiful heart. Red velvet cake will never taste the same.

In August 2023, my mother-in-law passed away and we had also spent 10 years together missing our Stephen. Later in 2023, along with some dear friends including Pauline and Denise who are upstairs today, I went through the process of sorting her house for sale. I really understood that your home tells a story of who you are and who Joan was, first and foremost, was a beloved granny. Of course, she had photos of our Oliver and Cate everywhere. That she loved them dearly was beyond doubt. It was the love notes that they wrote for her, the handmade gifts, the bedrooms used weekly for sleepovers, even well into their teens, the years of worksheets from playing schools—she had kept every one—the homemade cards and drawings that told her why they loved her; they all told a great love story. When someone has the job of sorting out my house, of course they will understand that I dress from the shoes up and that I buy books at a much faster rate than I can ever hope to read them. I hope that it also tells a story of being as loved as Granny Joan was. She was a woman of immense kindness, generosity and humour, and we will always miss her. Both she and my mum and dad, Jenny and Richard, who are upstairs today, have played such an active and loving role in the lives of my kids. They did before I became a sole parent, but even more so afterwards. Again, I would not be standing here today if they were not just in my village; they are my village.

But Joan, as does Steve, lives on in the two young people who loved her so dearly—in Cate's wicked sense of humour, her affectionate and loving ways and the courage to beat her own path and in Oliver's kindness, his generosity, and that amazing imagination and creativity. When I think of the changes the last four years have brought to our lives—I wonder if from here we will note our lives in parliamentary terms—not just the losses but the adventures too, I think about what the next four years will bring for the both of you. Oliver will graduate university, Cate school and TAFE, and we already have plans to visit some new and some old places. Perhaps you will fall in love. Maybe you will move out and, if you do, you will probably move back in again. I cannot wait to see who and what you continue to become in the world and always know that wherever I am and whatever I am doing, I am always busy loving you.

Finally, can I pay homage to the woman who just on Tuesday gave a stunning valedictory. There are too many of us to count in the Labor movement who owe a debt of gratitude to Sally, as do many people and communities in Western Australia. She has shown us what it means to be an activist who is intelligent and fierce, warm and strategic, someone of great integrity who gathers people to the cause, always with a steely eye to doing the next right thing. If you were here on Tuesday, you perhaps heard her say that I had the good fortune to meet two key criteria to follow her into this place—a PhD and veins that, if tapped, would bleed tea, with milk in first, of course! Sally also wove poetry into her final offering to this place, and so I too will finish my contribution with a few lines from my favourite poem. Sally's poetry choice was about being an activist, and mine is too, but in a different kind of way. It is about an enduring quality all activists need, especially when we are struggling against a dark tide and a quality those of us who walk with grief must always hold. I leave you with Emily Dickinson's words:

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,

Thank you.

(Applause.)

The President: Members, I think our gallery is settled. We are considering the Address-in-Reply and the question is that the motion be agreed. This is the valedictory speech of Hon Andrew O'Donnell.

Hon Dr Steve Thomas: The inaugural speech.

The President: Wow, that was quick! We have been considering a number of valedictory speeches in the last few weeks, but of course this is Hon Andrew O'Donnell's inaugural speech and the usual conventions and courtesies of the house apply. Hon Andrew O'Donnell.

Hon Andrew O'Donnell (2:58 pm): President, I want to start by acknowledging that we meet here on the lands of the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation. I want to pay my respects to the traditional owners and their elders past, present and emerging.

I am humbled by the opportunity to be in this place like only so few people before me. I find it difficult to get my head around being included among such a number, but I will do my best to do it justice. A good friend of mine, who is actually in the gallery, gave me some advice when I was putting my speech together. Knowing me fairly well and that I loathe to speak about myself, he offered this, "Andy, this is the one and only time in your parliamentary career that people want to hear you talk about yourself, so you better do it." Through my working career, I did not really set out to hold public office. More than anything, I think that the people who influenced me along the way set me along this path. I have worked hard. I have tried to make a difference where I could. Most of all, I have tried to help people when they needed it. To understand me, you really need to know about how I grew up and some of the people who have influenced me and inspired me along the way.

Growing up it was just my mum, Christine, my brother, Ben, and me. We did not always have it easy, but it certainly was not as hard as some other people have it. We always had each other. My mum worked really hard to support us, but it is only looking back now as an adult that I can really tell how much she gave up and how much she sacrificed for us kids. When my parents separated, my mum had the challenge of re-entering the workforce after a significant period at home with kids. I never fully knew it at the time, but we lived week to week. I went to a private school and I knew that it was a struggle for Mum to cover it. On the week she could afford it, I would take a $50 note in an envelope to the school office. On the week she could not, she would work out where it would come from the next week so she could catch up.

My mum always found time to do her bit for the community. When my junior baseball club did not have a coach for our team, she put her hand up. The next year, when the committee did not have anyone to run the club, she put her hand up, and she also found a couple of other mums to help. She has always been one to give back. In amongst this, through about 15 years or so of hard work and perseverance, my mum built the solid foundations of a business that now thrives under my brother, Ben. Ben has always been reliable and he takes care of the family. These days, my mum has taken a step back and is now president of the Tumbi Umbi branch of NSW Labor. All I will say to the opposition on that is this: she is pretty motivated and she has got a lot more free time on her hands, so you should tell your mates to watch out. My mum's story is one of hard work, perseverance and community service. These were all important lessons for me.

One of the biggest influences on my life is someone who departed from it far too long ago—my pa, Frank O'Donnell. He influenced me in many ways, like a father. In fact, so much so that after I became an adult and he got sick, I changed my last name to share his. After a difficult start to life in a boys' home during the Second World War, Frank O'Donnell did everything he could to give his family a comfortable life. He built a life for his family, working on the docks in Sydney from the time he was 21, in 1954. He was a proud member of the Waterside Workers' Federation, working on the docks until his retirement in 1991. He taught me the value of hard work and the difference between something you want and something you need. He taught me many life skills, like basic carpentry, general handyman skills and gardening, which are still useful—except for gardening. I do not think that one really stuck as much as I would have liked it to! Most of all in our talks as I was growing up, he would challenge my beliefs on everything. He would rarely tell me I was wrong or tell me what his view was, but he would always challenge me to defend my position. He wanted me to justify why I felt a certain way, why I thought that way even when I was right, or perhaps to highlight that maybe I was not. This was incredibly frustrating, but they are some of my most cherished memories looking back.

My nan, Suzanne O'Donnell, was just as impactful on me, and thankfully I got to spend longer with her. Those who know me know that I love home life. I love spending time with my family. I love to cook, to play games and to make them happy. This is the influence of my nan. She was selfless and warm, and for her there was nothing more important than family.

I suppose I should probably talk about myself now. Looking back, I first got involved in politics during the 1995 New South Wales election. I was nine years old and in year 4. I was sitting in the playground dutifully eating my lunch with some classmates. I am really not sure what sparked the conversation, but I do remember making some impassioned remarks, definitely far too impassioned for school lunchtime. In any case, they proved persuasive because they did lead to a rousing chant of "Bob Carr! Bob Carr! Bob Carr!" My journey into the Labor Party and progressive politics did not feel like a fait accompli, though, in hindsight perhaps I was here all along. I felt no end of joy when in February this year, my own son, Liam, who is nine years old and in year 4, came home and told me about a civics class that day. He said that his class was learning about elections and that they had gone around the room saying who was the person they would vote for. Some kids nominated other friends in the class, others Spider-Man. When it came around to Liam, he said, "my dad". It is my proudest moment ever.

In my schooling, I excelled when I tried, but I never really found my footing until university. I did not know what I was looking for when I arrived, so I picked subjects in philosophy, ancient history and politics. They all seemed fun. What I found was a lifelong love of politics, its history and of contesting ideas. I am not sure that my work ethic improved, but my love of the coursework certainly motivated me. I quickly found that the structure of university suited me far more than school ever had, and of course I got to argue with people a couple of times a week. It was pretty great. I cannot say I was the first in my family to go to university. I was the second. But as I will remind my brother for the rest of our lives, and in future now refer to Hansard, I was the first to graduate.

While I was at university, I worked at Woolworths, where I met my amazing wife, Steph. In 2010, my then girlfriend, Steph, moved to Perth for a year for work. We did long distance that year. We talked every day and we were both on a plane very often. At the start of 2011, I joined Steph in Perth, originally for just a little while, while we looked for jobs on the east coast. When we moved, we were planning to stay for only a year or two. We never really made a decision to stay; we always just put off leaving because we liked it here and we had an ever-growing life. We now have two beautiful children and Perth is their home and it is our community. We have built our lives and careers here. We cheer on the Scorchers every summer, we love a conti roll and terms like "the eastern states" roll off the tongue naturally.

When I moved to Perth, I really started to think about my career for the first time. I did some volunteer and casual work with the Red Cross in tenancy support and homelessness prevention, and it was incredibly rewarding. Before long, though, I was connected with someone who I would later work for and altered the course of my career. I had a coffee with Gary Gray at WA Labor state conference in 2011 and then started working for him a couple of months later. Since then in one capacity or another, I have undertaken an apprenticeship in politics. It is brutal at times, but it is always fulfilling. I have had extraordinary experiences with each member who I have been fortune to work with and learn from. In my time working for Gary Gray, I learnt the fine art of political campaigning. Gary is an extremely warm and fiercely loyal person. I was a very green staffer and he was very generous with his time and his experience. I learnt many skills in the five years I worked for Gary that have served me well since.

I did not work for Madeleine King for nearly as long, although I am just as grateful to her. Simply put, Madeleine taught me to relax and chill out a bit. She taught me that a relaxed workplace could be a productive workplace.

Then came David Michael. For the past eight years I have worked for the member for Balcatta and the year before that I ran his campaign. I actually did not know David very well back then. His partner, Lenda Oshalem, asked me to do it, and anyone who knows Lenda will know that it is hard to say no to Lenda.

I quickly realised that I liked David and we formed a great team including the amazing Magenta Marshall, now the member for Rockingham. The election went well, and I took David up on his offer to work in the office. In part, I wanted to take a step back in my career so I could stop going to Canberra, be closer to home and be around for my family some more. There is one thing I learnt from David that, quite frankly, changed me. If he sees a problem, he has this insatiable need—almost a compulsion—to fix it. It is one of the things that has driven him in politics, and it is something that caught on with me. It is also one of the things that makes him an extraordinary local member, something the electorate seems to agree with me on. Working in the office with David, Magenta and, later, Ben Coates, remains professionally one of the best times in my life.

They say a week is a long time in politics. After 15 years, I suppose I know where my hairline has gone. One other pivotal event that has helped shape my outlook on life happened a little over 10 years ago. Steph and I were visiting our family in New South Wales, and life changed in an instant with a car crash. A drug-affected driver going the wrong direction down a freeway drove head-on into our car. In a moment, my wife, my brother, my mother and I nearly died. Thankfully, in large part due to the rescue team airlifting my mum to hospital for emergency surgery, the four of us all survived. On that night, I broke my neck and my spine in a dozen places, and, as members can imagine, suffered a bunch of other things. I spent the following two weeks in hospital. It is all a bit of a blur. But there was a moment when my orthopaedic surgeon was about to take me in for surgery, and I remember him sitting there with his face in his hands apologising for what he had to do to me. That moment has stuck with me ever since. I laughed at him. Maybe it was the painkillers, but I actually found it really funny. He looked at me puzzled, and I said, "You've got to be kidding. I'm lying here with a broken neck, but at the end of this, I will get to walk out of here. I'm the lucky one." While that night has left me with plenty of scars, some visible and some not, that moment gave me a new and improved perspective on life, and I am thankful for every day that I have had since.

When I reflect on my life to now and the things that have steered me and enabled me to get here, I have a lot to be grateful for. I am grateful to the people who have been with me on the journey and the lessons that I have learned. I am grateful to the Labor movement and for the progressive policies it implemented that helped me do it.

A higher education contribution scheme (HECS) loan enabled me to study at university. I never would have had the opportunity to further my studies if I had to pay up-front. I never would have had the opportunities and experiences that my degrees opened up for me. When opportunity is limited, people are held back from their potential, and when opportunity is limited, our society suffers. I have been lucky. The lessons I learnt and my hard work paid off. Not everyone is rewarded as I have been for their hard work.

We owe it to the next generation to make sure that upward social mobility is not just possible, but easier with every generation. I passionately believe that the circumstances you are born into should not predetermine the circumstances of your life. I am proud to be here as part of the Labor movement. I have seen firsthand the exploitation of vulnerable workers. I had friends who were given no choice but to sign an Australian workplace agreement brought in under John Howard's WorkChoices under the guise of adding flexibility to the industrial relations system. I watched as people I knew—young workers and students with no bargaining power—were given AWAs eroding their rights and conditions. They all knew they had no choice; if they did not sign, they would be sacked. The Labor movement was there for them. The Australian Council of Trade Unions ran a relentless campaign, and a Labor government removed WorkChoices and AWAs.

I have thankfully never needed my union to fight for my rights, but I am thankful for all the things the union movement has already fought for and won for all of us. It is worth reflecting on some of these because they are hard fought gains and we all benefit from the outcomes. The eight-hour workday, paid holidays, sick leave, equal pay for women, long service leave and superannuation, to name a few, are all union movement–led gains. When someone asked me why I am a union member, that is my answer.

At heart, I am a pragmatist and I am a consensus builder. I want good government to make good progressive reforms to make people's lives better. There is a time for grandstanding to achieve a result, but, unfortunately, in the theatre that is politics, the politics of grandstanding is all too attractive for some. The new make-up of this chamber is diverse and reflects the diversity of the desire for representation from the electorate. While there are many diverse views in this chamber, I genuinely believe that everyone here has come because they want to make WA a better place. The challenge in the cut and thrust of politics is ensuring that we all remember what we are here for; we are here for people and for our community.

Echoing the sentiments of the Governor this morning, trust is earned. The right to govern is earned. This is where I think Labor governments shine. Labor governments are best when they meet people where they are and have a real conversation about what will make their life better. It is Labor governments that make lasting changes that restructure our society and level the playing field. It is Labor governments that deliver real change that can give another child better education, another family a home or improve our health services. I am proud to take this opportunity to be a part of that legacy.

Ultimately, the values that my dear family and friends all taught me through my life—hard work, resilience, community service and that compulsion to help solve problems—got me, and that is why I decided to seek out this place. I decided that I could not leave it to someone else when I had a contribution to make.

Now for some acknowledgements, because none of us who are here got here on our own. We all had help, support and encouragement, and I have had plenty. First, I want to thank the people of Western Australia and the Western Australian Labor Party for placing their trust in me. I especially want to thank the thousands of volunteers who went door to door having real conversations about how a Cook Labor government could make a difference for them. The list of people I have to thank is far too long for the remainder of my time here today. There are certainly dozens of people who deserve a mention. Many are here today in the gallery or watching online. Some managed to get across after question time in the other place. I will reserve my time, though, for just a handful.

There are a lot of new members in this chamber, and that means a lot of people who vacated their seats. I want to acknowledge each of them for their service to Western Australia. Regardless of party colours, everyone came to this place wanting to make a difference for their community. I want to take a moment to recognise Martin Pritchard on his first day as a private citizen once again. Martin has never sought the spotlight, and he has always been a loyal servant of our Labor family. He has always put working people, the Labor movement and the Labor Party before himself. He has lived a life of Labor values, first as a unionist with the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association of WA, and then as a parliamentarian. Thank you, Martin.

Tim Dawson, Brad Gandy and Mick Buchan, you have all been a tremendous support to me over the past couple of years. Each of you has at different times and in different ways encouraged and supported me. I really appreciate it.

I would like to thank Dom Rose for our semi-frequent arguments, but also because of the mutual respect we have built over the years, which helps us find common ground.

I cannot go any further without recognising Lenda Oshalem. When I met Lenda, she had joined the WA Labor team and made a contribution to our party that very few can match. Despite being employed outside the movement for a fair while now, she always finds a way to contribute. To some, she is a campaign director. To some, she is a mentor. These days, to me, she is a friend. Lenda has always been there for me when I needed advice, and, unfortunately, as is a little more often the case, when I need some unsolicited advice! But I am better for it.

Ben Harris, we grabbed a coffee five years ago and we talked about making things better. I am not sure in hindsight whether we were two slightly younger idealists talking about what could be, but a lot more coffee, a presentation over lunch and an awful lot of hard work in the years in between and I would say we had an impact in that time. What I did not realise at that time, though, was that I would also gain a friend. We have been through a lot together and I do not think I would have come on this journey had it not been for you, and I definitely could not have come without your support and without the support of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association of WA.

Another friend I gained along the way who will get one more mention is David Michael. When I was first introduced to the member for Balcatta, he was reluctant to even send me an InDesign file. Over the last nine years, we have spent a fair bit of time together and he has become one of my best friends. He is genuine and supportive to those around him—and he shares my love of spreadsheets!

My children, Liam and Erin, are here today in the gallery. The most rewarding experience of my life has been being a part of you growing up. Liam, you are amazing, capable and inquisitive. Erin, you are fantastic, creative, funny and strong willed. I am incredibly proud of the kind and compassionate people you are growing into. I hope that when you are older, you are able to look back with pride on what I do with my time here, and I hope that I am able to teach you some of those important lessons that were given to me.

Finally, to Steph, my darling wife, words really are inadequate to express how much I love and adore you. I try to show you each and every day how much you mean to me. We have been through a lot together and you are my partner in life in every way. We both have our shortcomings, but we fit together perfectly. I love you and thank you for taking this walk through life with me.

President, serving in this place is a privilege and an honour. I take on the task with humility, enthusiasm and a great deal of excitement. Thank you.

(Applause.)

The President: Members, we are considering the Address-in-Reply and the question is that the motion be agreed to. This is the valedictory speech—I did it again. I am glad this is our last sitting day! This is the inaugural speech of Hon Lauren Cayoun. The usual courtesies and conventions of the chamber apply.

Hon Lauren Cayoun (3:24 pm): I begin by acknowledging traditional owners from across Western Australia, but particularly the Whadjuk people of the proud Noongar nation.

I offer my congratulations to you, President, on your re-election as President of this place. Thank you for so warmly welcoming the new members and helping us to feel slightly less terrified.

To be elected as a member of Parliament representing the greatest state in the greatest country on Earth is an honour like no other. WA has always been my home. I enjoyed a pretty idyllic WA childhood in suburban Belmont, roaming the streets until dusk with gangs of neighbourhood kids, riding our bikes down to the beautiful Swan River at Cracknell Park in Rivervale and falling asleep to the gentle roar of aircraft overhead. I spent countless school holidays in Augusta with my grandparents Frank and Elsie Price, watching Grandad feed the magpies on their bush block and fishing with Nanna on the Blackwood River, and camping holidays up to Nanga Station, Exmouth and Karratha, with my mum often remarking that we had the whole camping ground to ourselves—possibly because it was January and no-one else was keen to camp in 45-degree heat! From snorkelling at Coral Bay, lunches at the Whim Creek Hotel, helping baby turtles reach the water on the beaches near Wickham and trawling for prawns in the Swan River on hot summer nights to going to Perth Glory games with Dad back when "The Shed" was still "The Hill", I have been blessed to have a truly Western Australian upbringing. WA is home and I know firsthand that there is no better place in the world to live, work and raise a family.

My mum, Judy, is a born-and-bred Western Australian. While serving abroad in the Australian Army in World War I, her grandfather met her grandmother in London and he convinced her to join him in Western Australia, impressing her greatly when he told her that both his parents were in banking. She later found out that they were the night cleaners at the Commonwealth Bank in Perth! After the war, they established themselves on farmland given to returning soldiers near Morawa, and there they raised their young family in a tent, later making the move to Perth. Five generations of my mum's family have called Belmont home, from a time when it was a mixture of paddocks and cheap postwar housing backing onto bush to the bustling inner-east community that I call home today.

My dad, Guy, came to Australia from France in the late 1970s. His parents were born in Algeria, escaping to France during the Algerian War when it reinstated the right to citizenship for Algerian Jews following World War II. They lived in Paris, where my dad grew up in a family of 10 children in a very small apartment. In his early 20s, my dad left France to travel, and, after a chance encounter with my mum on a kibbutz in northern Israel, he moved to Australia for love. He took his oath at the citizenship ceremony at the Belmont council, where some 30 years later, he watched me take an oath to serve as a City of Belmont councillor.

From my mum, I have a proud WA history and from my dad, I am a child of the world, but from them both, I have inherited a deep love of travel. I regularly visit my family in France and the United Kingdom and my dear Uncle Richard in Vietnam, who I believe is watching today, no doubt preparing to sledge me via WhatsApp for my appalling left-wing politics! Hello, Uncle Richard. But my favourite place to visit my family is Israel—the country that dozens of aunties, uncles and cousins call home. There is something about visiting Israel that I feel deep within. Its holy sites and its timeworn streets tell the stories of our shared human history. That the world's most persecuted people could, after such a suffering, build a thriving and modern democratic state where they could speak their language, practise their culture and watch their children grow old stands as an example of the power and resilience of the human spirit.

I felt a yearning to travel from when I was very young, so just before my 18th birthday, I packed up my very few belongings and headed north to Darwin to study nursing at the then Northern Territory University. My school friends thought I was mad. In hindsight, they were absolutely right! The Top End will always hold a very special place in my heart, Darwin in particular. It is a magnificent city that has changed a lot over the decades, but back in the early 2000s, it truly felt like a frontier town.

I had lived a pretty sheltered life. As a young nursing student, I was forced to learn some tough lessons very quickly. I suddenly found myself confronted with some of the harsh realities of life for Aboriginal people in remote parts of Australia: poor access to health services and schools, extreme poverty and the challenges of raising kids to walk with confidence in what could seem like two worlds. I worked for a period at an aged-care facility for Aboriginal people, the majority of whom spoke little or no English, having spent most of their lives in Arnhem Land. The centre was underfunded and under-resourced, the staff underpaid and the patients had little or no possessions and were rarely visited by family, who found it near impossible to regularly travel the hundreds of kilometres to the city. These patients had found themselves in the city for their final years, often lonely, hooked up to dialysis machines or similar, and surrounded by strangers. Even something as simple as a basic conversation about their care needs was often impossible. The cultural clash was very stark. Just across the road were the Parap Village Markets, a tourist attraction and cultural melting pot of food, performances, art and more—the magnificent multicultural tropical lifestyle of the territory on full display. They were very different faces of Territory life side by side. There are many parallels here with parts of WA, particularly in our north—extremes of poverty and wealth in the same community, opportunity abounding but too often reserved for a lucky handful and some of the starkest examples of that most unfair and unjust gap that persists between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australia. I will always carry the lessons of my short time in the Top End with me, lessons and experiences that have given me a great love for our many Aboriginal cultures and a sincere respect for the resilience, perseverance and unique perspectives of our first Australians. If I can use my time in this place to play even a small role in creating more opportunity for WA's Aboriginal communities, I will know I have spent my time wisely.

I enjoyed my time as a student nurse, but I found myself struck by the challenges faced by patients when they left a healthcare setting, and the inequalities and hardships that meant they would likely soon return. Deciding that social work was a better fit for me, and missing home, I applied to Curtin University for the following year. I had just turned 20, and in so many ways I was very young for my years. The day that I received the letter in the post saying I had been accepted to Curtin was the day I found out I was pregnant. I was thousands of kilometres from family working part time at Woolies. My bank account was very frequently in arrears, my car was on the verge of blowing up and I knew absolutely nothing about raising a baby. I remember being scared to tell my parents back in Perth. They had worked hard to give me an education and I knew that they dreamed big for me, wanting me to travel the world and revel in all the wonderful freedoms of youth. But after the initial shock wore off, Mum and Dad were nothing but supportive, and such they have stayed for the almost 20 years since my daughter Isabelle was born. It was best thing that ever happened to me. Being a single parent is tough and often lonely. In those early years I studied full time at Curtin to get my degree while working two jobs in retail and disability care to make ends meet. I stayed up late finishing assignments so that I could work as many hours as possible during the day. There were countless days when I dropped my toddler off at daycare early in the morning and picked her up after dark. With a couple of exceptions, I lost most of my school friends. They were young and carefree and I was not.

It was tough, but I know that I had it so much easier than most because of the generosity and sacrifices of my parents. I moved back in with Mum and Dad when Isabelle was just a baby. They literally put a roof over our heads until I could afford to do so myself. When I needed help with school runs, karate and football pick-ups and drop-offs, they were there. Later, when I took an interest in local politics and ran for council, they were nothing but supportive. Long nights in the council chamber at the City of Belmont were only possible because I knew my daughter was at home with Mum and Dad being fed, bathed and read a bedtime story. I have no doubt that I would not be standing in this place today without them.

Along my path from that scared kid in Darwin to the person that I have become today, Mum and Dad made sure that I have never felt alone, I have never had to say no to opportunity, I have never had to suppress my ambition and that my daughter has never suffered for my shortcomings as a parent. I thank them sincerely from the bottom of my heart. Whatever I may achieve in this place and beyond is your achievement too.

Throughout my time in the workforce I have had a great many single parent colleagues, and while it may be some bias talking, I found them to be among the hardest workers that I have ever come across, able to juggle tasks, manage time, create efficiencies and demonstrate great resilience in times of stress. Wherever possible in this place, I will be a fierce advocate for single parent families, acknowledging the unique challenges that they face in raising young Australians.

While I have been blessed as a parent, my friends often tease me about being unlucky in love, but how wrong they are. The year was 2007. The talk of the Curtin uni campus was a looming federal election. In the momentum of Kevin '07, I decided to join the ALP and in doing so I found what was to become the great love of my life—the Australian Labor movement. What really got me all those years ago was not the star power of Kevin Rudd, the catchy slogans, the exciting possibilities of change, it was the warning of the "Your Rights at Work" campaign, the threat of WorkChoices, the capacity for those laws to fundamentally change the foundations of working Australia forever, foundations that generations before me had fought so hard to establish. It shook me. During that moment it was the union movement that reached out through our TV screens and through our radios urging us to fight for what was ours. As a single mum to a toddler working two low paid jobs and as daughter to a union man, I already knew that what little job security I had I owed the union movement. So from uni I went to work as an industrial officer at the Australian Services Union (ASU) alongside great trade unionists Sue Pethick, Wayne Wood and Pat Branson. There, I had the opportunity to contribute to Australia's first equal pay case. Using a section of the new Fair Work Act, which recognised gender pay based deficiencies, the union won award increases of more than 40% for low paid social and community service workers like youth workers, domestic violence counsellors and crisis accommodation workers. I cannot begin to describe how much this meant to the people who I had studied alongside at uni studying social work—hardworking professionals who had honed important and specialised skills, still not even earning enough to begin paying off their HECS debts. The union's fight meant that these workers did not have to choose between a career they loved and financial security, and it meant that the industry could hold on to valuable skills. This is the power of a strong union, working with a strong Labor government to make positive and lasting change for working Australians.

I would like to speak about the Australian Workers' Union, of which I am a proud member, but before I do, I will tell you a little about a typical WA family in the late 1990s and early 2000s, my own. Growing up I never felt we were poor, but on reflection I know life was not easy for Mum and Dad. Dad a sparky and Mum a homemaker, they worked hard to pay the mortgage and meet the cost of raising three young kids. They owned a single car, there were lots of vegetarian meals and school uniforms and toys were often second-hand. When I was a teenager, Dad started FIFO work on mine sites in the Pilbara and Mum soon followed working in admin roles. They would spend weeks away from family, living in dongas without the comforts of home, and I know they spent long hot days toiling in the heat and the dust. The work was hard and the sacrifice was great, but so was the reward. In what seemed like a short time, life for my family began to change. First it was a little things, more mod cons around the house, better fishing rods, new school uniforms, then a better car, a better school, eventually an investment property and overseas holidays. We often hear the mining industry talked about as the engine room of our economy, and it is. One look at the Perth skyline and the bright lights of Woodside, BHP and Rio Tinto will tell you that we are a mining state. We hear about big profits and the scale of the wealth generated for WA, but for my family and many others, mining is so much more. It is the industry that allowed them to create a better life with more security and more dignity. They were rewarded for their hard work and contribution to WA's prosperity. In so many cases it has lifted WA families out of poverty. It is the industry that has delivered true economic justice for so many working families across WA.

But of course, that justice does not just happen, and it has not sprung from generosity or even duty. It is something that workers have fought hard to win and maintain over generations. The Australian Workers' Union, of which I am a proud member, stands shoulder to shoulder with workers in our mining industry. This includes workers in iron ore, gold, nickel and lithium, and other workers the that the industry relies on to keep it ticking like mine site village cooks and caterers, cleaners, housekeepers and maintenance workers.

It covers workers in aluminium, mining and refining and in the oil and gas industry. The AWU stands with these workers to make sure they get a slice of the pie, a slice that properly reflects their critical work towards our state and national economies.

I also acknowledge workers in other AWU industries, including agriculture, food, food processing, meatworks, shearing and wool classing; and in civil construction, like roadworks, bridges and traffic control; and in manufacturing—glass, steel and timber. The AWU is a strong and moderate trade union, understanding the benefits that come from productive relationships with employers but always working towards fairer rights at work. As one of my great political idols and former National Secretary of the AWU, Bill Shorten, recently said in his valedictory speech:

… the right of workers to organise for fair wages and decent conditions must move in concert with the imperative for employers to create the wealth that pays fair wages.

A moderate union, the AWU, understands this.

In our modern world, work changes constantly and unions like the AWU know how to keep pace with that change. At the union's national conference recently held here in WA, for the first time in the union's more than 130-year history, I heard delegates and organisers from the offshore oil and gas industry talking about moves by their employer to restrict the times they could access their annual leave to their off swings. This is akin to telling a Monday-to-Friday worker that they can only take annual leave on the weekend. Modern problems like this require action from modern trade unions like the AWU.

When the WA Labor Party was formed at a trade union congress in Coolgardie back in 1899, it did so with a goal in mind—to represent the interests of working people in Parliament. All those years ago, those men understood that it was not enough for working people to have strong representation at a workplace level. That was only the first step. They needed strong representation in Parliament to have their say on the issues that impacted them and to shape the future so desired by the working majority. More than 100 years later, Labor members of Parliament, supported by our friends in the trade union movement, come to this place with that same goal—to represent the interests of working people, bring their values to this place and make decisions with those values front of mind. While working in Mark McGowan's office during the COVID years, I saw firsthand what this looks like in practice. I will always remember the urgency, the pace of change and the horrifying worst-case scenarios we were faced with. But what I will remember most is the way the values of the people around the decision-making table directly informed our response to the pandemic. As a Labor government, our focus was on protecting not just people's lives but also, crucially, their livelihoods to make sure that through the pandemic and when we came out the other end, people had the opportunity for meaningful work in a healthy economy.

It was a true honour to work as a political staffer in government, especially during the pandemic. I saw firsthand the vast network of committed and dedicated staffers who kept government going, from the public service through to ministerial officers. The pandemic years brought out the best in so many of them and showed what a compassionate, caring and brave government can do with a dedicated machine of staffers underpinning it. I saw so many give up countless hours with their families, at a time of anxiety and uncertainty, to do their duty. They are all great Western Australians, but I particularly acknowledge the work of Premier's office legends Guy Houston, Jo Gaines, Kieran Murphy, Mark Reed, Stacey Hearn, Patrick Ashforth, Jasmine Williamson and Sarah Keegan. It was an honour to work alongside you.

I recall an event I attended with Kim Beazley some years ago when he was reflecting on his time as Australia's Ambassador to the United States. Someone asked him what the biggest difference was between Australian and US politics, and he said that while the most fundamental value underpinning America's politics is freedom, Australia's is fairness. In my time in politics and life, I have come to learn that what people want most for their families and their communities is a fair go. It is as simple as that. By extension, what they expect from their politicians is that we discharge our duties in a way that is fair because Western Australians are a fair bunch. We are people who want good quality, well-paid and stable jobs, decent schools for our kids, affordable TAFEs to give them the skills they need to undertake meaningful work, a government that understands the importance of a strong safety net to support those who cannot support themselves, a government that is sensible, responsible and disciplined in a way that it spends their money, a government that is measured in mainstream, one that rejects the extreme left and the extreme right and is moderate in how it governs, but one that is ambitious for WA and its people, and a government that puts economic justice for working people at the heart of all it does. That is what true fairness looks like. These are the principles on which I plan to base my time here: fairness, compassion and an unshakable respect for the importance of dignified and meaningful work.

Before I conclude, a few thankyous, first and foremost, of course, to the people of WA for placing their trust in me. The honour and the privilege is not lost on me. To my friends in local government across WA, it was an honour to serve as a West Ward councillor for eight years, the community that raised me, and to learn from so many excellent councillors and officers across the sector. Being involved in local government can be thankless work, but I thank you here. The work you do literally changes lives. You taught me important lessons about representing people on the sorts of everyday issues that affect them—neighbourhood development, crime prevention, planning and, of course roads, rates and rubbish. I thank Mark Elliott, John Gangell, John Christie, Peter Feasey and others who served in local government and have since found their way to Parliament, like John Carey, Stephen Pratt, David Michael and others. And of course my good friend Robert Rossi, the first popularly elected Mayor of Belmont. I thank him for his support and friendship throughout the years. As a proud "Belafornian", it is fantastic to see someone with such energy and heart leading our community.

To the membership of the WA Labor Party, it has been an honour to serve as your Assistant State Secretary for the past three years. Being a party official was a job like no other. Yes, the campaigning, the research and the strategy were fascinating and fun, but nothing compared to the very humbling trust that you placed in me to be an official and custodian of the great WA Labor Party and our proud traditions. Those of us fortunate to be party officials and politicians may be more visible, but we are not more important than the rank-and-file members who comprise our great party. The work they do, turning up to build the party and contest elections in the good times and the bad is what makes Labor governments possible in the first place. I will never forget that.

To Premier Roger Cook, on 8 March Western Australians made it clear that your leadership and the plan you put forward for a stronger WA is a plan they wholeheartedly endorse. It will be an honour to serve as a member of your government, making sure we keep WA strong, deliver cost-of-living relief for Western Australians and build a future in which we manufacture more things here in WA.

To State Secretary Ellie Whiteaker, it has been a pleasure to work with you and win with you. You have been an outstanding leader for our movement and I am so proud of our many achievements together, winning elections, setting up the party's financial future and purchasing our forever home on Havelock Street. I know you will be a fierce advocate for our state as a senator for WA.

To the party office team—in my view, the best and strongest party office of all time—you guys are all legends, but a special shout-out to the local campaigns team of Ally White, Gareth Thomas, Ebony Short, Mark Fahey, Brock Oswald and Dani Simotos. It is because of your work and passion, WA Labor can truly claim the crown of being the best campaigning outfit in the nation. Thank you to Progressive Labor for your support and guidance. To Brad Gandy, Ben Harris, Tim Dawson and Mick Buchan, I am sincerely grateful.

And to my Labor family—too many of you to mention, but I cannot pass up the moment to thank a few in particular: Ally White, Claire Comrie, Caitlin Collins, Gareth Thomas, Mark Reid, Rebecca Stephens, Tom Beyer, Craig Dunne, Mark Elliott, Mitchell Goff, Jon Man, Merrilyn Ercegovic, Harry Burrows, Cat Milbrandt, Varun Ghosh, Hannah Beazley and Sue Pethick. We have a joke at party office that each of us has an emotional support MP. I thank Matt Keogh for serving his time as my emotional support MP with great distinction. Matt, you are a true friend and mentor. Through the good times, the bad times and the downright weird times, these people have been an endless source of fun and support, and I thank them sincerely.

Now they say there are no such things as friends in politics, but whoever they are must not know Adelaide Kidson or Mat Dixon—two excellent political strategists, outstanding campaigners, committed unionists but even better mates. Adelaide, I am so glad you joined Mat and I in the best club with the worst acronym, the Assistant State Secretaries Club. You both know I could not have done this without you, and I thank you deeply.

Thank you to my dad. You raised us kids to think critically, test our opinions, debate ferociously and learn as many capital cities as possible. And mum, you raised us to work hard—no-one I know has a stronger work ethic than you—and to be kind, compassionate and communitarian.

I thank my siblings Jessica and Yannick for their support, for the important job of taking me down a peg or two from time to time, and for teaching me valuable early lessons about how factions work!

To my daughter Isabelle, my roommate and best friend, I have loved watching you find your place in the world. Thank you for putting up with me and putting the bins out every week when I forget. You are the best baker in the family and the second-best campaigner! Our movement is the richer for having young people like you involved. Also, on a personal note, I love you.

My final thankyou goes to my union family, the mighty Australian Workers' Union, to my dear friend Brad Gandy, to Paul Farrow, Craig Beveridge, Andy Hacking and the rest of the A-dubs. The honour of representing the values of our members here is not lost on me. It is from our members that I have learned the most important lesson of them all—that we are truly stronger together. Thank you.

(Applause.)

Hon Nick Goiran (Leader of the Opposition) (3:52 pm): I rise, and in doing so, of course want to acknowledge your earlier election today, Deputy President. It was a pleasure to be able to move for that election, and I note for the record that it was supported unanimously. I also note for the record your comments in response to that and I wish you all the best. It was a pleasure to move your nomination on behalf of the opposition earlier today.

Before I go further into the Governor's address to Parliament that was delivered on 8 April 2025, and provide a reply, I want to draw one matter to your attention, Deputy President. I hope that these comments might then be taken to the President. I also acknowledge her re-election as President earlier today and it was a pleasure to second that motion on behalf of the opposition. Deputy President, I want to draw to your attention—and if you could draw it to the attention of the President—an episode that occurred yesterday. I have only recently given a radio interview where I was asked about an episode that happened in the chamber, whereby a member gave a valedictory speech that concluded, for those who are unaware, by the member pouring a beverage into his shoe and then drinking from that shoe. There has been some debate about in public, which is of course entirely fair. We do not quibble with that at all, Deputy President. However, it does draw to my attention the standing orders, and I look at standing order 4 particularly that talks about the authority of the President. It states:

(i) Order shall be maintained in the Council by the President.

I also note in the standing orders that schedule 4 sets out certain matters that might be considered to be in contempt of the Council and talks about disturbance of the Council. It states:

(5) A person shall not wilfully disturb the Council or a Committee while it is meeting, or wilfully engage in any disorderly conduct in the precincts of the Council or a Committee tending to disturb its proceedings.

I do not intend to take very long on this, Deputy President, but I would simply like the matter drawn to the President's attention and your attention, because it is clearly a matter of public discussion. There is either a standard or there is not. It is not for me to deal with that; it is a matter for the Presiding Officers. I am simply concerned, Deputy President, that if nothing is said about this matter, then perhaps it sets a precedent for other members that at the conclusion of their speeches, it will be acceptable for them to do the same thing. I make the quick conclusion on this point, Deputy President, that that type of conduct, I can say with confidence, would not be accepted in a court of law. If a person was to do that in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, there is no doubt in my mind that they would be found in contempt. I simply make that observation, and I wish you and the President every success in the very noble and honourable task that you have to deal fairly with the order of the Council—not in a partisan fashion as your predecessors have not done, but in a way that continues to ensure the integrity of this institution. I can say on behalf of the opposition that both you and the President will have our full support in that regard.

I move on to the Governor's address that was delivered on 8 April 2025. It was a pleasure today—indeed, it was an honour for all 37 members in this place—to be sworn in as members of the 42nd Parliament and to now have a duty on the part of Western Australians for the next four years. What a pleasure it was to have the Governor in attendance for that ceremony earlier today. I look back at His Excellency's comments, made in this place on 8 April 2025 at the opening of the Parliament, and commend all members to have a look at that address, particularly new members who will in due course give their inaugural speech in reply to that speech by the Governor. I note that amongst other things, the Governor had this to say early in his remarks. I quote from Hansard:

The election held on 8 March delivered a clear result to continue with a WA Labor government, led by the honourable Premier, Roger Cook, MLA.

On behalf of the opposition, we acknowledge the outcome of the election. We congratulate the government on its re-election. Understandably, in an adversarial system, it will not surprise members opposite that we are deeply disappointed with the outcome, but we absolutely respect it. I would say, however, that the opposition continues to be concerned about the process that unfolded during the election, and clearly we are not alone because I know that a large number of parties—in fact to my knowledge, all non-government parties and indeed the government itself—have expressed some concerns about circumstances whereby there were insufficient ballot papers and the like. I commend to members' attention a petition that was tabled earlier this week. It was on Tuesday, if my memory serves, that Hon Tjorn Sibma tabled a petition in this place addressing that matter. There was a large number of signatures on that petition. Members may be interested to know that, on average, a petition in this Parliament typically has about, let us say, 3,000 signatures. As I understand it, that particular petition exceeded that number. The number of signatures on a petition does not necessarily demonstrate the merit of the matter, but we can see that there are literally thousands of Western Australians who are concerned with the process, albeit that we can respect the outcome even if we are disappointed with it.

I also quickly pass my congratulations to the ministers in this place, and I will begin with the one minister who is here, noting that the other two are away on urgent parliamentary business. I congratulate my learned friend Hon Matthew Swinbourn in what I and many would say is a long-overdue promotion. We commend him to the very honourable and important task that he has. I ask him to please also pass that on to his two colleagues, who I know will make best endeavours to be responsible to this house for the decisions, spending and legislation of the government, aided by their parliamentary secretaries. For the sake of Western Australia, we wish the ministers and ministerial teams the best. It is sometimes a strange thing in this adversarial system that we want the ministers to perform to the best of their abilities; it is because Western Australia is more important, and so we commend them to that very important task over the next four years.

I note that on 8 April this year, the Governor in his address to Parliament also said:

To all the newly elected members, congratulations on reaching this position. I am sure it is an honour and a thrill to be chosen by the people to serve them and your state.

In that regard, Deputy President, apart from your good self from the Liberal team, I want to acknowledge my continuing colleagues, Hon Tjorn Sibma, Hon Dr Steve Thomas and Hon Neil Thomson, and express my appreciation for their continuing contribution in this Parliament. I think we have already seen earlier today that they are honourable members who will be a force in this Parliament. They will bring issues to the attention of the Parliament and I have every confidence that each of those honourable members will continue in that stead over the next four years.

Of course, it is an absolute delight for the opposition that we have, as of today, another five members joining us on the Liberal bench here on the opposition. I recognise each of the five of my new colleagues, Hon Simon Ehrenfeld, Hon Phil Twiss, Hon Michelle Hofmann, Hon Michelle Boylan and Hon Anthony Spagnolo. Congratulations to each of you on your election and being sworn in today. We are absolutely delighted to have each of you here. I might note for the record that in the case of each of these honourable members, this election was not their first, so it is a true testament to the perseverance of each of them that they are here today. I commend them to their honourable task.

Also in the spirit of the Governor's address in which he spoke of newly elected members and his congratulations on reaching this point, I particularly want to take a moment to acknowledge my two political cousins from the Nationals WA, Hon Julie Freeman and Hon Rob Horstman. We are very much looking forward to working collectively with them as part of the Liberal–National alliance in opposition in our important job together to hold the government to account. We congratulate both of them on their appointment.

In addition, I also acknowledge the election of what I might describe as numerous crossbench MLCs, and I will say this. This is now the fifth Parliament that I have had the honour of serving in. For the first two, my party was in government. For the following two, the fourth of which has just concluded, we were in opposition. It may sound like a strange thing to say, because, of course, when one is a member of a major political party, one always wants to be in government—of course. But I will say this. That third Parliament in which I served, in which we were in opposition and there was a large crossbench, was probably the most rewarding Parliament that I have participated in. As I hasten to say, we would much rather be on the government bench, but in terms of the Parliament doing its job, that was an excellent example. The simple point is this: nobody in the Parliament had the so-called numbers. They had to work collaboratively, they had to persuade one another, and if they did that—the crossbench were absolutely critical in that regard—then they had a chance of getting amendments and motions passed, forming select committees and the like. I like to think that for the honourable members who have been either re-elected or are newly coming in from the crossbench, that will be a serious possibility in this Parliament. They certainly have the opposition's dedication to achieving those goals. Of course, we will not agree on every occasion; that is normal. Otherwise, we may as well all be part of one party. That is what makes this place so rich and a true modern democracy.

I also congratulate, of course, each member of the Australian Labor Party, whether they are continuing or being newly sworn-in today, and commend them to their task over the next four years.

In his address to Parliament on 8 April this year, the Governor also said:

I hope and anticipate that this Parliament's experienced members will set the standards you all should strive for.

For a member now serving his fifth term, that was a daunting comment to hear from His Excellency the Governor, and it is one that I take very seriously. At the outset, as the longest serving Liberal in both houses of Parliament, I want to particularly acknowledge Hon Kate Doust, who is now, if memory serves, serving her seventh term of Parliament, which it has to be said is quite an achievement. I would say this to any member of any political party: if for some reason you are not inclined to pick up the phone and chat to me or have a cup of coffee with me to discuss how Parliament might work and so on and so forth, I commend to you Hon Kate Doust. She is a person who is honourable in title and in character. I might add, I think she was the inaugural winner of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Parliamentarian of the Year award some years ago. She is somebody I can certainly say you would be able to approach no matter what your political flavour and from whom you would get a genuine appreciation for the workings of Parliament and how a modern democracy should work.

Hon Kate Doust: Thanks, member. I think you just cruelled the rest of my career!

Hon Nick Goiran: Yes.

In response to the Governor's comment, "I hope and anticipate that the Parliament's experienced members will set the standards you should strive for", I am happy to make myself available but I would quite genuinely commend that honourable member to your attention.

Equally, I might say, Deputy President, many of you will have experienced former members you might be able to approach to discuss these things and get their view of the standard we should all be striving for. Certainly, can I say to the newly elected Greens—I note that we now have an experienced member of the Greens here in Hon Dr Brad Pettitt but for his three colleagues who are away on urgent parliamentary business—they could do a lot worse than pick up the phone to call or have a cup of coffee with Hon Alison Xamon. She is a person who I served with in two Parliaments. A bit like Hon Tim Clifford, she had a term of Parliament and then went away, not necessarily of her own want, but that was the will of the electorate, and then came back again. She is a person with an incredible work ethic and certainly a very good understanding of Parliament.

In the same vein, I would commend Hon Adele Farina to my Labor colleagues across the chamber. I served with her in multiple Parliaments. I say this quite sincerely. I do not think that I have seen a better scrutiniser of legislation than Hon Adele Farina. If you were to pick up the phone to call her or have a cup of coffee with her, I think you would do yourself a great service.

As the Governor said in his address, he hopes that experienced members will set the standards that members should all strive for. That makes me wonder: What are these standards that we should all strive for? I would couch the question as: What exactly is our duty as members of the Legislative Council? It is a little trite to say that the Legislative Council is the house of review. I imagine that members will know that, and if they did not before, they certainly will as a result of what I understand was an extensive induction process for new members. I say that also quite sincerely. I have had a little insight into some of the induction that new members have had, and let me tell members it is a world apart from what we had. I do not know what induction was available in the days of Hon Kate Doust, but I can tell members that in my case five terms ago—I am getting an indication from my honourable colleague that there was not much at all, basically nothing—we had something but it was very, very light on. Again, no disrespect. We really appreciated what we received. To my recollection, it was a day of lectures and the like. Clearly, new members have had a lot more than that. I know members will not take that for granted, but sometimes you do not know what you do not know. New members have certainly received some outstanding induction. I think that the Parliament of Western Australia will be the better for it. I thank the Clerk and his assistants and staff for that initiative, no doubt also capably governed by the President, who should also be commended.

What exactly is the duty of a Legislative Councillor? In the short time that I have today, I would like to put to members five points. There are five things that it seems to me are the duty of a member of the Legislative Council. The first is to scrutinise new laws. The second is to look for bipartisan opportunities. The third is to keep the government to its commitments. The fourth is to persistently ask the questions that need to be asked. Last is to require the government to justify expenditure and adhere to the rule of law. I will endeavour, in the time allowed to me, to try to unpack each of those five points. I will say at the outset that it will be more obvious to members of the opposition and the crossbench—in other words, the non-government party members—that the five things that members would want to do are to scrutinise new laws, look for bipartisan opportunities, keep the government to its commitments, persistently ask the questions that need to be asked and require the government to justify expenditure and adhere to the rule of law. It would be pretty obvious as a non-government party member that that is the type of thing that they would want to do. Maybe it is not as obvious, if one is a member of the Australian Labor Party and, therefore, a member of the party that supports the government, why one would then have that same duty. I would put to them that the duty does not change. I say that as a member who has served for eight years while we were in government. The job of members opposite, as it is with ours, is still to scrutinise new laws. They will do it differently than we will. Ours will be more adversarial in the form of the chamber and the questions that are asked. But the job within the members opposite's own party and caucus is crucial. I remember in my second term in 2013 when the Liberal–National alliance had achieved a massive result; perhaps it was not necessarily only because of the good government in the previous term. Then Prime Minister Hon Julia Gillard had quite a bit to do with why we won such an overwhelming majority in favour of our party, I might add. I remember after that election saying to my colleagues in the Liberal party room that we had an extra duty to perform because, Labor, the opposition at the time, could say whatever it liked; it did not have the numbers to achieve anything in the Legislative Council. So we needed to very seriously consider what we were going to do in our own party room, our equivalent of the Labor caucus. We had to ask the questions that needed to be asked in that room. Having done that for eight years, I can tell members that if members want to do that diligently and fulfil that duty seriously, it is painful. It is a lot easier to keep your mouth shut. I would say that my observation is like this; regardless of the political party, in the major parties that is the norm. The norm is to keep your mouth shut in the caucus or in the party room. The norm is not to challenge the ministers with respect to the legislation that is put to them. It is hard to do that, but I put to members that no matter which side of the chamber they sit on, we have a responsibility to scrutinise those new laws.

I want to call out or make a plea, perhaps is the better phrase to use, for the role of the Standing Committee on Legislation. In the 40th Parliament—we have now just embarked on the 42nd Parliament—the Standing Committee on Legislation, by my count tabled 15 reports in this place. That was in the 40th Parliament. Hon Tim Clifford was in that Parliament when 15 reports were tabled by the Standing Committee on Legislation. In the last Parliament, the 41st Parliament, one report was tabled by the legislation committee. There had been 15 reports in that previous Parliament, which I have described to members. As a member from a major political party who was in opposition at the time, and I have said in the 40th Parliament that that was when the Parliament worked at its best, not because we were in opposition, but because of the composition of the Parliament—nobody had the numbers—there were 15 reports by the Standing Committee on Legislation. In the last Parliament there was one.

Ironically, the one bill that the Labor government decided in its good grace to send to the legislation committee in the last Parliament was a bill called the Sports and Entertainment Trust Bill 2023. I suspect that there was probably a smart alec in the back of government somewhere who said, "Look, it's getting a bit annoying that the opposition keeps exposing the fact that taxpayers are paying for this Standing Committee on Legislation, and it's doing nothing. So, we'd better make sure that we send at least one bill off to the legislation committee." It is a suspicion on my part that there is probably a smart alec in the back of government who probably came up with that idea, and so the government referred this bill off to the Standing Committee on Legislation. How truly ironic it is that that report then came back indicating that the government had failed to comply with section 46 of the Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1899. Clause 56 of that bill was what we refer to as an appropriation clause, and somebody in government obviously forgot that if the bill has an appropriation clause, it cannot be started in this place and it has to start in the other place, and so that bill gathered dust thereafter. The government had to reintroduce a bill into the other place to get it started. That was the one bill. That was the one time that the Standing Committee on Legislation did anything in the last four years.

I also make this observation: just think to yourselves for a moment, honourable members, what would drive a government of any persuasion not to refer legislation to the specialist committee to review legislation—not to do that—in circumstances in which the government has the numbers on the committee? No matter what the committee comes back with, the government has the numbers in the chamber so it can decide whether to agree or disagree with any of the recommendations from that committee. What would drive a government to be so fearful of any bill going to the legislation committee in those circumstances for the last four years? I cannot provide members with an explanation. It does not make rational sense. In fact, if the government has the numbers, it should be even more enthusiastic about sending it to the committee because it is going to get the outcome at the end of the day that it wants, and the outcome will be improved. Trying to get that through the skulls of some of the members opposite in the last four years has been mission impossible.

My hope is that either something has sunk in as the 42nd Parliament has started, and there will be more of an appetite by the government to refer matters to the Standing Committee on Legislation, or if not, I am comforted by the fact that the government no longer has a majority in this place. I plead with members of the crossbench to give serious consideration to, as we start this 42nd Parliament—let us get it off on the right note—what should be the criteria by which a bill should be referred to the Standing Committee on Legislation.

Clearly, I can tell members that it is not going to work to send every single bill to that committee. That simply is not going to work because the volume of the work would be completely unjustifiable. It is also not necessary to do that. Perhaps we could look at whether a bill has a certain technical aspect to it or is particularly contentious or gigantic. What has troubled me over the last 16 years is the sheer volume of legislation that passes through this place that people do not read. We are the 37 Western Australians who have the final say on whether or not something will become law. The proposed law is presented to us is in the form of a bill. Most of the time, most members have not read the bills, yet we are saying on behalf of the Western Australians who have entrusted us with this job that this is going to be the new law. I put it to members that that is not good enough. That is not the standard. When the Governor says he hopes and anticipates that this Parliament's experienced members will set the standards we should all strive for, I suspect that the government probably knows that this is the house of review and that the house of review ought to do its job in considering technical bills, contentious bills and gigantic bills. We need to do our job properly, and so I plead with the government and the crossbench to work collaboratively with the opposition to make sure that the house of review does its job. The single best way we can do that is to make sure that the Standing Committee on Legislation is busy—not overburdened, but busy. In the last Parliament, it produced one report. That committee was not busy. That was an absolute farce. In the previous Parliament, it produced 15 reports. I was on that committee. That was busy. Fifteen reports in four years gives members some idea of what might be achievable.

I also note that we have the very important role of the Committee of the Whole House. When a bill is being progressed, we have the opportunity to consider in detail the clauses of the bill via the Committee of the Whole House process. My simple plea to the government at this time in the 42nd Parliament is this: please make sure that it has the right advisers at the table. I have lost count of the amount of times when ministers have stood in this place and said, "Sorry, honourable member, I don't have those advisers with me here today." I have lost count how many times that has happened. It is not good enough. Let us start the 42nd Parliament the way that we should. Let us start it on the right note. That applies to all of us, but includes government members and, in particular, ministers and parliamentary secretaries. They must make sure that they have the right advisers at the table. It is probably a cue if I hear the words, "Sorry, I don't have the right advisers at the table," that it is going to be a long and contentious debate. We will all do a lot better if we can avoid that.

The third and final point I will make about scrutinising law being the first duty of a member of the Legislative Council is this: it is my view that we should consider making more efficient use of the Standing Committee on Uniform Legislation and Statutes Review. I note that my good friend Hon Dr Steve Thomas has returned from urgent parliamentary business. He is a super experienced member of Parliament who is now, as a result of the motion moved earlier today, the chair of that standing committee. I hasten again to add, for the benefit of the honourable member and others, that I am not suggesting we want the Standing Committee on Uniform Legislation and Statutes Review to be overburdened; I am asking whether there is a way we can be more efficient with the use of that committee. What is perhaps not well understood is that some bills stand automatically referred to that committee. By my recollection, two bills are currently with that committee. But in the—not peculiarity—specificity of the standing orders, that committee has a very, very narrow focus. It can look at things such as whether any provisions in the bill impinge upon parliamentary sovereignty, and it is very important that the committee does that. But my question for 16 years has been: why is it that we ask taxpayers to fund four members of this place, with the assistance of clerks, to spend time to look at a bill, but we say to those members, "By the way, if you find a problem, don't tell us about it, because that would be outside the scope of your job. Your job is just to tell us things like whether it impinges upon parliamentary sovereignty."

I think we can do better than that. I think we could consider—perhaps it is a matter for the Standing Committee on Procedure and Privileges to consider these things in the 42nd Parliament—how we could make more efficient use of the Standing Committee on Uniform Legislation and Statutes Review. I accept that there is not necessarily a simple solution to that, but, for example, I know that there is a gigantic bill in the other place at the moment that, once it gets here, will stand referred to the Standing Committee on Uniform Legislation and Statutes Review. The good thing about that is that it started in the other place. That means that members of this place already know of its existence; it is in the public domain. If one of us has a view that it should be inquired into—it might be one that gets referred to the Standing Committee on Legislation—let us not go through the charade of first of all sending it off to the uniform legislation committee for it to go about its important work for 45 days and table a report in here, and then bringing the matter back on for debate and then having another debate about whether the Standing Committee on Legislation should do a full inquiry into it. To me, that is not an efficient use of the committee, and I do not think it shows respect to the members and the clerks and the taxpayers of Western Australia. I am just asking whether there is a better way to do that. I might hasten to add, should there be any fear by anyone in government who is handling that bill, that I am not suggesting that that gigantic bill needs to go to the Standing Committee on Legislation. I am simply using it as a practical example.

Noting that my reply speech will shortly be interrupted, I will quickly move to the second of the points that I was making about what might be the duty of a member of the Legislative Council, apart from the first duty, which is to scrutinise laws. The second suggestion I have is to look for bipartisan opportunities. In that spirit, I draw to members' attention that in 2013, I established with Margaret Quirk MLA, the then member for Girrawheen, the Parliamentary Friends of Palliative Care group. The circumstances in which that bipartisan parliamentary friendship group started—it might surprise a few members to hear this, particularly as a lot of us heard about this topic during valedictory speeches—was post the voluntary euthanasia debate that occurred in 2010. The then member for the Greens Hon Robin Chapple brought in a private member's bill, and members can see the history of that. That bill was defeated. Whatever a member's view is on that particular topic—I accept that all members were contributing to the debate on the basis of compassion—mine at the time was that it was unfortunate that there was disagreement, the bill was defeated and there was nothing more that we could do. I said, "Isn't there a better way?" I reached out to Margaret Quirk MLA, a then member of the Labor Party in the other place, and said, "Why don't we establish the Parliamentary Friends of Palliative Care, because surely that is an area on which we could all agree?" Surely that is a bipartisan area. There does not need to be a political divide on whether a person at the end of life should be able to access expertly practised palliative care. I would have thought that should be a non-debatable issue, no matter your political flavour, yet we were far from that in 2010. In fact, when the friendship group started in 2013, we were far from that, and I put to members that in 2025, we are still far from that. It has been a topic that has been conveniently talked about when it suits certain elements of our society, and then once they receive their treasured possession, which is the so-called VAD laws, we never ever again hear them talk about palliative care or the need to make sure that resourcing is good in that area.

Along with my new co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Palliative Care, Hon Kate Doust, I commend to members' attention that they are all invited—hopefully, they have received an invitation from us—to hear from Dr Ashwini Davray on 28 May in the Parliamentary Library an update on palliative care from the front line. I commend that for members' consideration.

Debate interrupted, pursuant to standing orders.

(Continued at a later stage of the sitting.)