Grievance Debate

North East Public Transport Study

Mr BOYER (Wright) (16:32): If there was any doubt at all that this government might be a bit fearful of their re-election prospects next year, I can tell you that has been well and truly put to bed now. The panic has set in and, as we know, when governments panic they overreach—and, boy, have they overreached in the north-eastern suburbs. I have waited seven months for an opportunity to speak on this matter, seven long months to respond to one of the most spurious and desperate attacks you will ever see hit a letterbox.

On 23 October last year, I was on FIVEaa talking about the government's highly anticipated and much-lauded North East Public Transport Study. The previous minister for transport told The Advertiser way back in September 2019 that the North East Public Transport Study 'recommended extending the O-Bahn to Golden Grove'. That is what he said. At that stage, the study was complete but not yet publicly released.

Fast-forward 13 months to October last year, when I gave my interview on FIVEaa, the study was still secret. And that was the topic of my discussion with Tony Pilkington: where is this highly anticipated study, this panacea for all the traffic woes in the north-eastern suburbs, and will it mean an extension of the O-Bahn? My comments were as follows:

I would like to see it extended to the Village if that were possible. The question of how much it costs is the big concern and I'd very much like to see…some of the detail from this public transport study released so we can see precisely what the costs—

and then I went on to say, '[But] …the opposition is not…committing to do it.' Lo and behold, a few weeks later we saw flyers in letterboxes across the seats of King and Wright and paid Facebook advertising that said:

Labor has a plan to demolish DOZENS of properties—will your home be one of them?

Then on the reverse side it said:

Under Labor's plan to extend the O-Bahn, dozens of properties will need to be demolished.

Don't let Peter Malinauskas and Blair Boyer Destroy Your Home.

It goes without saying that we were confused about where the basis of this claim came from. By way of background, in October 2019 we put in an FOI application seeking access to the study. That was denied. We applied again in July 2020. Denied again. We applied for a third time in October 2020 and were denied for a third time. In December 2020, we applied to the Ombudsman for access, and finally on 25 March this year we received a copy of the North East Public Transport Study. Lo and behold, the plan for extending the O-Bahn, which would actually result in the demolition of homes, came from the Liberal government's own study. Its own study was the only place that has recommended that.

Well, five days later the Electoral Commissioner handed down his findings in respect of that flyer. The commissioner did not find just one statement to be misleading, he found seven—seven statements on the Liberal flyer were misleading or inaccurate. Just one day after that finding was handed down, the member for King delivered a speech in this place, which now appears to be a pre-emptive move to shield herself from the finding of distributing misleading and inaccurate material. On 31 March, the member for King said, and I quote:

My experience has been that they will do anything to win. They lie constantly, and why do they do this? Why not rely on winning seats and debates based on good policy that could win support from their community?

The member for King said this most likely knowing full well that the Electoral Commissioner was investigating the flyer and that her Liberal Party was going to be caught out for its lies. The Electoral Commissioner has now directed the Liberal Party to letterbox homes withdrawing their statements and admitting that they made misleading and inaccurate claims.

Have they done this? I can tell you that there were many thousands of people in the north-eastern suburbs who received this flyer. When you get the North East Public Transport Study and have a look at the proposed route that is included in that study, it included people who live nowhere near the proposed route. These people got a flyer from the Liberal Party saying, 'Your home could be demolished by the Labor Party.' There was absolutely no basis for saying that, and understandably people were very, very upset.

None of these people yet have their retraction from the party, so there are many people in the north-eastern suburbs who are still concerned that the abject lies included in this paraphernalia from the Liberal Party might still be accurate.

Mr Malinauskas: Everyone's going to know about the lies.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The leader is called to order.

Mr BOYER: And how does the member for King defend this grossly misleading flyer, especially after her statements in parliament that we should rely on winning seats and debates based on good policy and not lying? This was a blatant attempt by the Liberal Party—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

Mr BOYER: —to frighten people into believing that their home could be demolished—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Wright—

Mr BOYER: —and it does not get more disgraceful than that.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Wright's time has expired.

Mr BOYER: Thankfully, the independent umpire, the Electoral Commissioner—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Wright's—

Mr BOYER: —has called the Liberal Party out for its lies.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: —time has expired.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: And I am calling the leader to order. Minister, do you have a point of order?

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: No, I am waiting for my opportunity to speak, sir.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Wright has completed his contribution.