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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-05-07 Daily Xml
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APY LANDS INQUIRY

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:09): My question is again to the Premier. Was he genuine when he told the media yesterday, in regard to abuse in the APY lands, that he wanted to 'lock the bastards up' and, if so, will he support the opposition's call today for an immediate intervention in the APY lands to ensure that there is a significant police, medical and child protection presence in the lands within weeks?

The Premier proposes to respond to Mullighan's report in three months. The government's response announced by the Premier in the house yesterday proposes a range of measures that will take a long time to implement while permanent accommodation is built. Temporary accommodation for police and other workers of the same standard which exists in mining sites can be set up at short notice, thus enabling immediate support for families suffering through—

The Hon. P.F. CONLON: Point of order! It is one thing to explain a question, but putting a contrary argument is not explaining the question.

The SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order. The Premier.

The Hon. K.O. Foley: Only you would politicise tragedy, Martin.

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Hamilton-Smith: Give us a break.

The Hon. K.O. Foley: You did nothing for eight years.

The SPEAKER: The Deputy Premier will come to order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:11): What a dishonest, disgraceful question. This is the man who sat in a cabinet that had zero police on the lands. This is a man who sat in a cabinet that had zero child protection officers. This is a man who sat in a cabinet that pulled TAFE out of the lands that gave people employment opportunities. Under the Liberals there were no police on the lands. Under the Liberals there were no child protection officers. And the Liberals pulled out TAFE.

What is just as bad, in the 1980s a bipartisan committee (the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee) was set up to deal with issues in the lands; to go up there representing the people of the state and this parliament to report on what was going on. It was banned from going into the lands by the former Liberal government of which you were a member. What a disgrace!

There is a difference between zero police on the lands and the fact that we had the guts to intervene. We had the guts to put police on the lands; we had the guts to put child protection officers on the lands. Can I just say this: never has there been a greater phoney in terms of his pretend interest in this issue. The bottom line is that you wanted the cover-up to continue. We have broken the cover-up and we intend to act, because we actually care about the issue. During the time that you were in government, nothing was done. You wanted the cover-up to be maintained, and those days are over.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

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