Froggy Highway

Mr M. McGOWAN: He points out in the report that there would be a dramatic impact on fauna and flora along the route of the canal, a dramatic impact on surface hydrology, movement of fauna across the region in the area of the canal, an impact upon national parks and A-class nature reserves along the route of the canal, and a potential impact on the Ramsar Convention’s list of wetlands. In addition, 33 000 hectares of land would be cleared to build the canal. Of course, as the water was transported along the route, 200 gigalitres of water would be lost that this state -

Mr P.D. Omodei interjected.

The SPEAKER: I call the Leader of the Opposition to order.

Mr P.D. Omodei interjected.

The SPEAKER: I call the Leader of the Opposition to order for the second time.

Mr M. McGOWAN: We would lose 200 gigalitres of water along the route every year, which this state can ill afford to lose, and it would be environmentally disastrous. It gets worse. This report directly refers to the canal being an opportunity for what it terms dangerous biota to move along its length. Dangerous biota is basically cane toads.

Several members interjected.

Mr C.J. Barnett: Cane toads coming down the canal! Cane toads in swimmers surfing along the canal!

Mr M. McGOWAN: The member for Cottesloe thinks he is not only C.Y. O’Connor, but also Ferdinand de Lesseps. Now he thinks he is David Suzuki. He knows everything about engineering and the environment. The member for Cottesloe knows everything about these things. There is a prospect that cane toads will come from the north of the state into backyards and the wilderness areas and wetlands of the southern part of this state under this proposal.

Several members interjected.

The SPEAKER: I call the member for Cottesloe to order again and the member for Roe.

Mr M. McGOWAN: This report refers directly to that prospect. Anyone who has seen cane toads will understand that they are an ecological disaster. We do not need a cane toad autobahn transporting them from the north to the south of the state. This canal would be a river of ecological ruin. Fortunately, the people of the state recognised that at the last state election when they gave us a thumping victory.

Subject: Appleyard Report [Legislative Assembly - Questions Without Notice]

Date: 3 May 2006

Hansard reference: pp. 2089c - 2090a [online (pdf)]

Tags: wa, state government, perth, parliament, cane toads

Would you like that straight up, or with tonic?

Mr C.J. Barnett: Where is the Speaker?

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I am sure the Acting Speaker has the same serious concerns as I do about the damage that cannabis does to children. I know that the member for Joondalup, the Acting Speaker, has children, and in the not-too-distant future he will probably have grandchildren.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr A.P. O’Gorman): I hope not.

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Of course you will, Mr Acting Speaker. The not-too-distant future could be five or 10 years; that is not a long time. This is the problem and this is why we on this side of the House do not agree with the suspension of standing orders just so the Leader of the House can guillotine this Bill and go home. I wonder whether the Leader of the House has instructions from the Premier to guillotine this Bill because he does not want to be up all night. He had a lovely kip last night with teddy, and he does not want to be in the Chamber tonight; he wants to be home with teddy again.

The ACTING SPEAKER: Member for Hillarys!

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: That is what I reckon. I am giving the reason that I am opposed to the suspension of standing orders. That is my view. We have had a slight glimpse of the Premier. It looked like the Premier. I think it was the Premier.

Mr P.G. Pendal: We are very worried about teddy. Who is teddy?

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I want to know what teddy’s name is. I think the Premier is one of those people who would have a teddy. I wonder whether this debate will also be gagged. The Leader of the House is a compulsive gagger, because he has gagged debate all night long. So far he has gagged every clause apart from one. We did not take long to deal with that clause and we dealt with it quite legitimately. We felt that that clause should be passed fairly quickly and we scrutinised it very carefully.

Mr P.G. Pendal: He should have been given a GIN.

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: What is that?

Mr P.G. Pendal: A gaggers infringement notice.

Subject: Cannabis Control Bill 2003 [Legislative Assembly - Consideration in Detail]

Date: 16 April 2003

Hansard reference: pp. 6848b-6932a [online (pdf)]

You and I, Cutiepie

Mr P.B. Watson: They know. You went to Albany and said that deregulation was inevitable.

Mr C.J. BARNETT: No, I did not.

Mr P.B. Watson: Yes, you did.

Mr C.J. BARNETT: No, I did not; I know exactly what I said. As the member and I are engaging in debate, why do we not go to Albany in the next couple of months and publicly debate trading hours?

Mr P.B. Watson: No worries.

Mr C.J. BARNETT: It is a date. Can the member for Bunbury and I do it in Bunbury? Let us go to Bunbury and debate trading hours. Is the member willing to do that? Come on, we can debate trading hours.

Mr A.J. Dean: As long as Geoff Prosser and Dan Sullivan are there.

Mr C.J. BARNETT: No, just the member and I.

Mr A.J. Dean: Do you know that the man most likely to win out of deregulation is Geoff Prosser, your number one Liberal in Western Australia?

Mr C.J. BARNETT: Just the member and I. Come on cutie-pie; we can debate trading hours in the member’s electorate of Bunbury.

Subject: Stamp Amendment (Budget) Bill 2003 [Legislative Assembly - Second Reading]

Date: 10 June 2003

Hansard reference: pp. 8479b - 8500a [online (pdf)]

Sands of time

MS K. HODSON-THOMAS (Carine) [4.18 pm]: I was hoping to receive the call in time to acknowledge my son who was in the public gallery; however, he has left.

Mr C.J. Barnett: He is off to the beach; that is what daylight saving is about!

Ms K. HODSON-THOMAS: Yes, he is off to the beach.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am sorry, member for Carine; you were beaten on the voices. I am sure he is here in spirit.

Mr C.J. Barnett: He will be back for dinner in an hour.

Ms K. HODSON-THOMAS: He is lucky if his mother prepares him a home-cooked meal, because she is never quite sure when he will be home!

Subject: Daylight Saving Bill (no. 2) 2006 [Legislative Assembly - Standing Orders Suspension - Motion]

Date: 31 October 2006

Hansard reference: pp. 7886b - 7952a [online (pdf)]

Tags: wa, state government, perth, parliament, dst, daylight saving

Disorganised religion

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: [...] In Western Australia, people can commit a crime and be fined, but they will not need to pay the fine, and they will not go to prison! That is the new slogan from the Attorney General! I am sure the Attorney will get the criminals’ vote, because anything that will save them money they will vote for.

Mr R.C. Kucera: People in prison do not get a vote.

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Not all the criminals are in prison.

Mr R.C. Kucera: No. They are in car parks.

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I would not go down that track if I were the member! The member should not start talking about these things, because he might leave himself wide open! God said: come unto me with clean hands. That is what God would be saying to the member for Yokine.

Mr T.G. Stephens: I do not remember that! Where is that in the scriptures?

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: In other words, the member for Yokine should not make accusations. Unless he is as white as the driven snow -

Mr T.G. Stephens: What section of the scriptures is that from?

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: It is from the “Johnson Bible”. It is saying that we should avoid hypocrisy. The member may not understand the subtlety of the meaning -

Mr T.G. Stephens: I would stick to the authorised version if I were you!

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I am happy to explain it to the member. My colleague, who I believe was going to go into a monastery at one time -

Mr T.G. Stephens: No. You have got that wrong.

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: That is what I heard.

Mr T.G. Stephens: Well, you got it wrong.

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: I thought the member was going to be a monk or something.

Mr T.G. Stephens: No. It was something much more profound than that.

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: What was the member going to be?

Mr T.G. Stephens: What was I going to be?

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Yes - when the member grows up! What was the member going to be when he grew up?

Mr T.G. Stephens: Sorry. I am missing the question.

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: What was the member going to be? The member was going to be something in a religious order.

Mr T.G. Stephens: Was I? You are telling the story. You have got it all wrong.

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: That is what I was told.

Mr T.G. Stephens: You have got it all wrong so far. However, this is off the point. You have digressed by your misquoting of the sacred scriptures -

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: No. I am just quoting from the “Johnson Bible”, which says that God said: come unto me with clean hands. The meaning of that is that if we want to lay a complaint against someone, we should make sure we have clean hands ourselves - we might have some tomato ketchup on our hands, or something!

Mr T.G. Stephens: The thing I have learnt about you is that when you have nothing to say, you become desperate for interjections!

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: Not at all. I am just having a bit of fun. I have just said that I have virtually completed my remarks. If the member for Yokine had not interjected on me, I probably would have finished by now. The member for Central Kimberly-Pilbara then interjected on me, and I could not resist -

Mr C.J. Barnett: It is nearly Christmas! You can make your Christmas speech now!

Mr R.F. JOHNSON: My Christmas speech will come later!

Subject: Fines Legislation Amendment Bill 2006 [Legislative Assembly - Second Reading]

Date: 28 November 2006

Hansard reference: pp. 8857c - 8875a [online (pdf)]

Tags: wa, state government, perth, parliament, bible, religion

Stop.

Mr J.B. D’ORAZIO: [...] I will run through this chart. It summarises the whole daylight saving issue. The bottom of the graph shows the hours of zero to 24, which is normal Western Australian standard time. The hours at the top are daylight saving time, with the one-hour difference. It shows the business times in the eastern states, and the overlap with Western Australia. It shows the enormous benefits that daylight saving will have for business. That might seem small, but it is a huge factor.

Mr R.F. Johnson: Who prepared that graph?

Mr J.B. D’ORAZIO: Dr Hammer.

The green lines show sunrise and sunset. The blue line shows the evening meal time. The recreation time is highlighted here. The evening recreation time is shown as being half during sunlight hours and half not during sunlight hours. This is what it will be under daylight saving. The white part on the graph shows the time that is allowed for people to get home after work. The significant thing from my point of view - this is something that all members should look at - is the meal and recreation time. I call that family time.

Mr R.F. Johnson: Do we all have to eat at that time?

Mr J.B. D’ORAZIO: I would be happy to swap the blue and the orange lines for the member for Hillarys, because he is unusual! They are interchangeable. That shows how daylight saving will have the biggest benefit in giving families time to recreate together and engage in the activities that they enjoy.

There has been an interesting argument that daylight saving will result in a huge difference in temperatures. The graph shows the temperature rise, and also the temperature fall when the sea breeze comes in.

Mr R.F. Johnson: Is that every day? I find that astounding!

Mr J.B. D’ORAZIO: I am glad, member for Hillarys! I hope that at the end of this debate the member for Hillarys will be supporting daylight saving! The difference in temperatures because of the one-hour time difference will be between half a degree and one and a half degrees. It is not significant. The argument has been put that there will be a huge increase in temperatures, and school kids will die in the heat of the school bus. The reality is that the maximum increase in temperatures will be between half a degree and one and a half degrees. It will make very little difference. That is real data, not imaginary data.

Mr T.K. Waldron interjected.

Mr J.B. D’ORAZIO: I am not going to win the argument with the members of the National Party.

Mr R.F. Johnson: You have convinced me, my friend! That graph is absolutely astounding!

Mr J.B. D’ORAZIO: I like the member for Hillarys’ humour! I am very serious about the fact that daylight saving will be of enormous benefit for business. More importantly, it is about lifestyle and families, and about tackling the health issue in our community.

Mr C.J. Barnett: I think we need a photo of you holding up that graph!

Mr J.B. D’ORAZIO: I am sure I will have many to give the member!

Mr D.T. Redman: Is it correct that the hottest time of the day is actually four o’clock?

Mr J.B. D’ORAZIO: On the day shown on this graph, the temperature peaked at four o’clock. It will peak at five o’clock during daylight saving hours. As I have said, the difference in temperatures because of the one-hour time difference will be between half a degree and one and a half degrees.

Mr R.F. Johnson: Do you give a guarantee with that?

Mr J.B. D’ORAZIO: The member for Mindarie has given an unequivocal guarantee that if anyone’s curtains fade because of the introduction of daylight saving, he will replace them.

Mr R.F. Johnson: I have a pair of curtains at home that have faded!

Subject: Daylight Saving Bill 2006 (Legislative Assembly, second reading)

Date: 25 October 2006

Hansard reference: pp. 7648b - 7652a [online (pdf)]

Tags: curtains, daylight savings, parliament, perth, state government, wa