Site Contamination, Clovelly Park and Mitchell Park

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:32): Considering the EPA advises on their website that in relation to site contamination, ‘Residents can expect urgent information to be communicated face to face and with follow up letters’ from the EPA, has this occurred, given that the government has known about this problem for the past six weeks?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:33): As I said, there will be an imminent communication, and if the member was interested in eliciting information rather than seeking to sensationalise and alarm people, he would have taken the opportunity—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —to communicate with me before coming into this place, and he would have been able to get a very simple answer—

Ms REDMOND: Point of order, Mr Speaker.

The SPEAKER: Is the point of order about the subjunctive?

Ms REDMOND: No, it is about the imputing improper motive to the leader, suggesting that he was trying to alarm people—

The SPEAKER: The Premier will be seated. Does the leader claim to have been misrepresented?

Mr MARSHALL: Absolutely; I’ve got a genuine interest in this area, and suggesting—

The SPEAKER: Is the leader seeking a withdrawal?

Mr MARSHALL: Absolutely, sir.

The SPEAKER: The leader seeks a withdrawal from the Premier of the imputation that he does not have a genuine interest in this matter.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Sir, my point is this: after having—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, I don’t. Sir, I don’t withdraw, because what I say is this: if the Leader of the Opposition, after my initial answer—which was that a communication would be imminent about this matter—notwithstanding that, continues to proceed with questions to elicit information about a sensitive matter which could cause alarm and concern if the information comes out in an untimely and uncontrolled fashion, then having pressed ahead with his questions on that matter, I retain my point.

Mr MARSHALL: Supplementary, sir.

The SPEAKER: Well, you have had three supplementaries, so we'll come back to you, leader, and we will go to the member for Taylor.