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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-07-16 Daily Xml
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STATE ADMINISTRATION CENTRE CAR PARKS

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:14): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of the Government a question about government waste.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: On 3 June I raised a question in this council with the leader about the decision by the Premier and the Deputy Premier to spend public money on a rain or sun shade for their cars parked at the back of the State Administration Centre. Members will not be surprised to know that, six weeks later, I still have not had an answer to that particular question. Nevertheless, undeterred, I lodged FOI requests with various government departments and agencies. As a result of those FOI requests, I have been provided with a copy of a number of emails which involve the Chief of Staff to the Premier, Mr Alexandrides. An email on 2 January from one of the departmental officers states:

I have been approached by the Premier's advisor regarding the provision of some form of shade for the Premier and Treasurer's cars which are parked at the rear of the State Admin Centre.

On 8 January, there was another email, from Mr Alexandrides to Mr Peter Rebellato from DTEI, stating:

Any news on the sun protection at the rear of the SAC?

Regards, Nick...

Then there was a follow-up email on 8 January to Tim O'Loughlin who was the acting senior officer, I think, or possibly the CEO of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, seeking just under $30,000 for the provision of some shade and rain protection for the Premier and the Deputy Premier. It is a bit hard to ascertain whether it was just under or just over $30,000 by looking at the various documentation provided by the various departments and agencies; the quote seemed to change throughout the documentation.

Other aspects of the documentation reveal that, prior to that, the decision had also been taken to install boom gates and closed-circuit television in relation to providing a greater degree of privacy or protection for the Premier and the Deputy Premier when they park their cars at the back of the State Administration Centre. I note that former premiers and deputy premiers did not have the extra privacy and protection of boom gates and closed-circuit television at the back of the State Administration Centre when they parked their cars.

My question to the minister representing the Premier and the Deputy Premier is: what was the total cost of installing boom gates and closed-circuit television at the back of the State Administration Centre for the additional protection of the Premier and the Deputy Premier, and anyone else who uses that particular park at the back of the State Administration Centre when parking their cars?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (15:17): The speculation is that, of course, the Hon. Rob Lucas will be returning to the front bench in the very near future and, again, we have seen an example of the sort of new focus that the Liberal Party will have in relation to certain issues.

In his question the honourable member talked about former premiers not having extra privacy and protection. My office in Terrace Towers, which was the office of the former premier, has very elaborate security arrangements within that part of the building. I do not use them any more but they were—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: What I think is different is that the current Premier has been taking a very courageous stance in relation to many of the criminal elements in this state and, in particular, motorcycle gangs. I think the police would be quite properly concerned in relation to that.

This morning there was a statement at the start of question time that a person at the South Lakes threw mud at the former premier Dean Brown. What was most unfortunate was that ABC Radio almost complimented that individual instead of condemning them, as any reasonable person would have done, for that sort of behaviour. This is the sort of environment we live in now: where someone is encouraged, if they do not get their way, to literally throw mud or indulge in other sorts of behaviour, and the media will apparently give you publicity and virtually encourage you to do it.

I think that is regrettable, but I think that is the way our society is moving. I think that the fact that security people should be looking at protection, given some of the threats that have been made and given the courageous stance this government is taking in relation to those who indulge in criminal activity, is not surprising, and I do not think the public of the state would be particularly concerned—

The Hon. R.I. Lucas interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Well, do you really want your premier going to events dripping in sweat?

The Hon. R.I. Lucas interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Do you want a premier turning up at events—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: What I will say about our Premier and Deputy Premier is that they are extremely active. They go out; they visit and they go out amongst the people. We have community cabinets. The Premier and the Deputy Premier of this state are always out there visiting people, and I do not think that the public of this state would expect to see them coming in dripping in sweat because they are in and out of the car all the time.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: The attacks of the Hon. Rob Lucas are typically petty. They are so typical of the sorts of attacks he has made over nearly 27 years in this place and this is his biggest issue.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: When one thinks about other states where their governments have private aircraft and all that sort of thing, I would have thought that a premier, who is active and goes out there, having a bit of shade on the car so that he is not dripping in sweat wherever he goes is a very modest requirement.

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