BURNSIDE COUNCIL

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (14:24): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for State/Local Government Relations a question regarding the Burnside council.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: In his ministerial statement yesterday, entitled 'Independent Inquiry into Burnside Council', the minister stated that he had met with the Mayor of Burnside and that they had agreed that 'beyond the Burnside council matters, there are a number of issues that need to be discussed in relation to our system of local government', implying that the mayor agreed with the minister that the investigation should cease. Last night, the Burnside council issued a media release entitled 'Burnside community deserves to know,' which reads:

Burnside Council has expressed its disappointment in the State Government's decision to conclude the independent inquiry into the former Burnside Council. Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Russell Wortley, today announced that the report would not be released, despite the current Council's support to release it.

City of Burnside Mayor David Parkin said that Council had asked Minister Wortley to complete and release the MacPherson report and expressed disappointment that this will not occur. [The mayor said] 'I'm disappointed that the residents of Burnside won't get to see some form of the report but have been assured that Police will identify if any prosecution should be launched and that the Government and the Local Government Association..will review the act...

My questions are:

1. Has the minister assured Burnside council, directly or indirectly, that police will identify whether any prosecutions should be launched?

2. What processes does the government propose for that review by police?

3. In particular, do police have a copy of the draft investigator's report, and will they have access to all records and documents of the investigator, Mr MacPherson?

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (14:26): I had a meeting with Mr David Parkin yesterday, and I had a discussion about the views of the Burnside council. He expressed the view that there was a view in the area that the—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Lots of views—that is the problem: there are so many views. That is one of the reasons I got rid of it: everyone has a view. I have a responsibility to make sure that it is all done properly with the proper processes. I assured Mr Parkin that, outside the Burnside council and this issue, there may be issues with certain parts of the Local Government Act that could be looked at between myself and the Local Government Association—

The Hon. S.G. Wade interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: I am answering the question.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Well, let me finish, and I will answer the question.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Let me finish the answer.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Obviously, they don't want to hear the answer, so I am quite happy to sit down.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Lensink has a supplementary.