OCCUPATIONAL LICENCES

Mr GOLDSWORTHY (Kavel) (15:09): My question is to the Minister for Business Services and Consumers. Now that I have personally provided the minister with the details of the apprentice plumber who has waited over four months for his plumbing licence to be issued (which I highlighted in a question to the minister last sitting week), can the minister explain to the house the reasons for this lengthy delay, and is the minister concerned about reports of tradespeople doing work they are not licensed for?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:10): Yes, thank you, Madam Speaker, and I thank the honourable member very much for his question. Can I say that, of course, any responsible regulator would be concerned about people who do not hold appropriate qualifications performing work for which they are not qualified. Can I also say that the honourable member did raise a question with me here in the parliament in the last sitting week.

Unlike a number of his colleagues, the honourable member chose, rather than to pop around and see me, or to ring me up, or to do any other form of approach, which works perfectly well for a number of your colleagues—I invite you to talk to them about this, they have never found me difficult to speak to—

Mr Goldsworthy: What was the delay? What was the reason for the delay?

The SPEAKER: Member for Kavel, behave! You asked the question.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Just let me finish answering the question. The honourable member decided that, instead of doing that—and if in the end there was no satisfactory approach to bring the matter into the parliament—he chose to bring it into the parliament without contacting me about it, which, of course, he is entitled to do—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.R. RAU: —and I do not have a problem about that if that is—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Do you want me to finish answering the question or not?

Mr Williams interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, behave!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Deputy Premier.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: If you approach, however, the issue the way in which the honourable member did, you put me in a position where I have to ask you for further information so that I can get back to you and provide you with an answer. And, Madam Speaker, the thing that the honourable member has not mentioned and the thing that I think the rest of the people sitting in the chamber might find interesting is the fact that my staff attempted from that day until Friday of last week to get any information at all from the member for Kavel and his office, and we got—

The Hon. I.F. Evans: And you know why?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: —wait a minute—and we got nothing.

The Hon. I.F. Evans: Tell why?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I'll get there. We got absolutely nothing.

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.R. RAU: We got nothing. On Friday at about 11.30 I spoke to the honourable member on the telephone.

Mr Goldsworthy: That's right. You weren't in the office on Thursday.

The SPEAKER: Member for Kavel, you have asked the question; you will listen the answer or you will leave!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Look, if you just let me finish I will; if you interrupt me again I will stop. The point I am trying to explain is that I was given particulars of this matter for the first time on Friday of last week at approximately 11.30am in a telephone conversation I had with the honourable member. I took down notes of that conversation and I have asked to be provided with material about it. I gather now that the reason I was not given that material until then was because there was an article about to pop up in The Advertiser and it would not do for me to be in a position to be able to explain what the story was.

I was told also—this is significant—that the honourable member was prepared to ask the question of me in the parliament knowing full well that he had been told by the complainant not to give me any details at the time because the complainant was worried about his job being placed in jeopardy if any details were given to me. That is not what I understood it to be, a legitimate question offered by the honourable member last week.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!