House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-05-08 Daily Xml

Contents

PRISONS

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (14:03): I have a supplementary question. Was the Premier's—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The leader.

Mr HAMILTON-SMITH: In light of the Premier's answer to that question, was his rack 'em, pack 'em and stack 'em policy approved by the Public Service Association on behalf of corrections officers or by Monsignor David Cappo and the Social Inclusion Unit before it went to cabinet and caucus for approval?

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) (14:04): That's the difference. If he was Premier, the unions would tell him what to do. That is what he is saying today. But he has written letters to other people saying that he and the Liberals are going to pass the WorkCover bill without one single amendment, but he is not going to do it even though he has agreed to pass all of it because he would rather play games for the next month. That is the difference. Basically, game playing is what this man is about.

We make no apologies for being tough on law and order. We make no apologies for introducing DNA testing of criminals, even though we were opposed, even though the Liberal spokeswoman said that we should not DNA test von Einem, for God's sake! That is the difference between us. We have also gone in much harder, with more police—record numbers of police. You can oppose us on law and order if you like, but go out and meet some real people out there who want to see violent criminals locked up, and that is what we are doing.