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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-10-26 Daily Xml
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Question Time

JULIA FARR ASSOCIATION

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg) (14:49): My question is to the Minister for Education. Did the minister, in his capacity as Minister for Disability, authorise payments for disability equipment totalling $5.1 million in June 2007 and June 2008 to the Julia Farr Association, an organisation which does not provide disability equipment? In this year's report the Auditor-General has identified these payments as being made, and the evidence provided by the current Minister for Disability during budget estimates identified and confirmed that all grants for payment of disability equipment valued at $1.1 million or more must be authorised by the minister.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development) (14:50): I thank the honourable member for her question. If the accusation is that towards the end of the financial year we found ourselves in a position with a—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: A question which implies an accusation. If at the end of the financial year—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Can you let me say a few words and you can then work out what you want to say.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, Treasurer!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: If the contention is that towards the end of the financial year this government, finding itself with sufficient resources to do so, decided to apply some of those resources to one of the most vulnerable sections of our community, that is—

Ms CHAPMAN: I rise on a point of order. The member is clearly impugning improper motive of another member by asserting what he interprets the basis of this question to be. The question is very simple. The question is: did he authorise these payments? That is the question.

The SPEAKER: I will listen very carefully to his response. A minister can answer a question in any way they choose. Minister, can you think carefully about what you are saying.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I am coming to the member's point, and she will get a full answer. If the contention is that somehow finding ourselves in a position to do so we decided to apply $5 million of resources to one of the most vulnerable—

Ms CHAPMAN: I rise on a point of order. The minister has started his continued answer by saying, 'If the contention is,' etc. That is clearly reflecting, in breach of standing order 127. If he is not going to answer the question, then let him sit down.

The SPEAKER: Sit down, member for Bragg. There are always contentions in every question, otherwise why would you bother to ask them?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: If the contention is that this Labor government decided, as the end of the financial year approached, that it had the capacity to apply $5 million to one of the most vulnerable sections in our community, that is, people with disabilities, and that it sought to apply to that group in the community $5 million to meet a whole a lot of needs that exist in relation to disability equipment—and that money was actually spent on disability equipment—then I must say that we have to say, yes, that is right. We take responsibility for that action. I must say that we would—

The Hon. M.J. Wright: We are proud of it.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Not only are we proud of it, I am sure that we would do it again. The other part of the answer is that not only was it a matter that I promoted, it was a matter that was decided by cabinet. I understand that there has been some criticism of the process that was used in the Auditor-General's Report, and I understand that that has since been remedied, but let's be clear about what happened here: $5 million was found because we had the capacity to find it, it was applied to disability services equipment and spent on disability services equipment.

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