Not the best of weeks

Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: [...] We must go through a raft of minor provisions in the bill. I wanted to speak only on public funding. I understand why some members of the public are opposed to it and I can understand why some members in the house will vote against it. I agree that it will be abused and that the ALP will be the biggest benefactor out of this process.

Mr R.F. Johnson: Then join us, brother.

Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: On the other hand, I want to maintain a strong and healthy democracy in Western Australia. The traditional funding that has flowed to political parties in the past has been drying up. There is no guarantee that union funds will continue to flow to the ALP as they have done in the past. They might also dry up in the future. There has been a change in the public’s attitude about the funding of the political process. There has been a significant drop in the standing of parliamentarians among the community. These types of bills and debates contribute to the perception of members of Parliament. I am in favour of public funding as matter of principle. If members will nail me down -

Ms S.E. Walker: I am not going to marry you.

Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: I am very disappointed! Is our engagement officially off? It is a bad week when the Dockers and Eagles lose and my engagement is called off!

Mr R.F. Johnson: Which is the biggest disappointment?

Mr M.W. TRENORDEN: Definitely the engagement! I was looking forward to losing my pension!

Mr B.S. Wyatt: Can I have some of yours?

Subject: Electoral Legislation Amendment Bill 2006

Date: 13 September 2006

Hansard reference: pp. 5881c - 5893a [online (pdf)]

Tags: wa, state government, perth, parliament, pension, public funding

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

A bit too excited about the budget

Mr T.R. BUSWELL: I think something has happened to me since I became a member, because when I go to bed I now read such things as this consolidated financial statement. I ask that the Treasurer put his photograph on the inside of the cover as a memento.

An opposition member: Something for you to read before you go to sleep.

Mr T.R. BUSWELL: Perish the thought.

Mr E.S. Ripper: I do not like the idea of you looking at my photograph when you are in bed.

Mr T.R. BUSWELL: I may already be doing so! If I have seen a woman’s face in ink spots, I can see the Treasurer’s face on the flyleaf. Who knows what could be happening in my mind since I came into this place?

Mr R.C. Kucera: No wonder he has a blue hand!

Subject: APPROPRIATION (CONSOLIDATED FUND) BILL (NO 3) 2005 (WA Legislative Assembly, second reading)

Date: Thursday, 24 November 2005

Hansard reference: pp. 7730b - 7743a [online (PDF)]

A brush with nature

Mr B.K. Masters: In the few minutes left available to me I will make a couple of comments. In some respects it is unfortunate that this debate is not taking place next week, because this Sunday I will lead about 30 people on a 15-kilometre walk through the proposed Yelverton state forest. Wearing my hat as the President of the Busselton Naturalists Club, this year in the cooler winter and spring months we will do 10 walks of between 15 and 20 kilometres through the proposed Yelverton, Bramley and Forest Grove National Parks.

Several members interjected

Mr B.K. Masters: The members are being rude; I can tell.

Mr B.J. Grylls: We didn’t know what you were president of.

Dr J.M. Edwards: Or what you would be wearing!

Mr B.K. Masters: I know what the members are suggesting. It is far too cold to do what they are suggesting that maybe I do!

Mr B.J. Grylls: It is called getting back to nature.

Mr B.K. Masters: The word is "naturalist" not "naturist".

Mr B.J. Grylls: We will check Hansard!

Mr B.K. Masters: Yes, I think it is important that the member do that.

Contributed by Dave

Subject: Reserves (National Parks, Conservation Parks and Nature Reserves) Bill 2004 [Legislative Assembly, second reading]

Date: 19 August 2006

Hansard reference: pp. 5305b - 5318

The world is not Greenough

MR G. WOODHAMS (Greenough) [5.27 pm]: It gives me great pleasure to have the opportunity to reply to the Treasurer’s budget speech. This is perhaps an appropriate gathering, as there is an intimate number of people in the chamber, and it is a suitable venue to provide some inspiration and thought, and perhaps also some provocation.

Mr R.F. Johnson: I disagree!

Mr G. WOODHAMS: I will pay the member for Hillarys afterwards! With all due respect to Don McLean and his epic song American Pie, I present to members this evening an ode to the budget, “Budget Pie”-

A long, long time ago . . .
I can still remember
How the budget used to make me smile.

And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make the country dance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for awhile

But the Treasurer made me shiver
With that sad paper he did deliver.
Mandurah rail was the headline
Putting more people on the breadline.

I can’t remember if I cried
When I saw the Treasurer talk about this ride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the budget died.

So bye-bye, divide up the pie.
Drove my Hyundai to service station
But the cost was too high.
And them good old Labor boys were ridin’ nigh
Singin’, “Mandurah rail or I die.
“Mandurah rail or I die.”

Did you write the rail dept off?
And do you have faith in Kym above,
If the Budget tells you so?

Do you believe in standard gauge,
Can ticket inspectors save your mortal soul,
And can you teach me how to tunnel real slow?

Well, I know that you’re insane
’cause I saw you sittin’ on the train.
You both had come from caucus
A ripper of a budget had made you raucus.

I was a lovely middle age Nats’ buck
Wearing my houndstooth jacket driving a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck,
The day the budget was . . . deep fried.

So, bye-bye, divide up the pie.”
Drove my school bus to the primary,
But it was closed for all times.
Them Labor boys were drinkin’ Chablis Dry
And singin’, Mandurah Rail or I die.
Mandurah Rail or I die.”

Now for six years they’ve spending the large
Throwing money on the city like there was no charge,
But that’s not how it used to be.
When real electorates were provided for all
Not one vote one value tricking the soul
But a vote that came from you and me,

But while the people were looking down,
The budget stole every small town.
Parliament was adjourned;
No money was returned.

And the Premier spoke to the Legislative Clerk
Jim, John, and Eric practiced in the park,
And western Power left us in the dark
The day the budget died.

We were singing,
“bye-bye, budget pie.”
Caught the ambulance to the hospital
But no beds could I spy.
Them Labor girls were demanding portfolios from guys
And singin’, “Mandurah Rail or I die.
Mandurah Rail and I die.”

Helter skelter in a spending swelter.
The Ministers flew off to the Mandurah shelter,
Thirty miles long and failing fast.

The budget landed foul as it was cast
The back bench tried for a forward pass,
But their voices were muffled, the votes already past.

Now the budget speech was sad, obscene
While the front bench played with a train set keen
We all got up to speak,
The situation was bleak!
’cause the house battled to hold a quorum
The big 2 billion spend on boredom
Clickety Clack Clickety Clack Clickety Clack
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the budget died?

We started singing,
“bye-bye, divide up the pie.”
I’m riding my horse to the levee,
But the Yarragadee was dry.

The Labor were saving for tickets to buy
And singin’, Mandurah Rail or I die.
Mandurah Rail or I die.”

There they were . . . all in one place,
Generation Labor lost in space
With no time left to start again.
So come on: jackhammer be nimble, jackhammer be quick!
Jackhammer under the causeway and be damn quick
Cause surplus is the Ministers only friend.

And as I watched her on the toil
Justifying blowouts like a kettle will boil
No angel born in hell
Could break that Ministers spell.
And as the figures climbed high into the night
To light the railway station light,
I saw the Premier laughing with delight
The day the budget died

He was singing,
“bye-bye, budget pie.”
Drove my govvy car to the footy
But the Dockers made me cry.

The back room deals caught me on the fly
singin’, “Mandurah Rail or I die.
“Mandurah Rail or I die.”

I met a member who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just said return or one way
I went down to the sacred floor
Where I’d heard the budget years before,
But the man there said the Treasurer wouldn’t pay.

And in the streets: the children screamed,
Nothing for them and the places they dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The spirit of the future broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
Couldn’t catch the train to the coast
Still not finished, another blowout at the Minister’s roast.

And they were singing,
“bye-bye, divide up the pie.”
Drove my solar powered yacht to the Swan,
As a salt slug went by.
Under the river the tunnel workers were dry.
Singin’, “Mandurah Rail or I die.
Mandurah Rail or I die.”

They were singing,
“bye-bye, we’ve eaten the pie.”
Drove the train to the station,
As the Labor Party went by
Their near sited leaders were drinking diet coke - you want fries with that? - with a sigh
Singin’ their new mantra, “Mandurah Rail or I die.”
Mandurah Rail or I die.

Several members interjected.

Mr G. WOODHAMS: That was a one-off performance. Many members will appreciate that it will not be repeated.

[...]

Mr G. WOODHAMS: [...] I seek leave for an extension of time.

[Member’s time extended.].

Mr R.F. Johnson: Only if you tell us the poem again!

Mr G. WOODHAMS: A long, long time ago - I can still remember it! It is only a monotone, which matches my “monoceps”. That is the way I am cast.

Subject: Appropriation (Consolidated Fund) Bill (no. 1) 2006 [Legislative Assembly, second reading, cognate debate]

Date: 17 May 2006

Hansard reference: pp. 2794b - 2848a [online (pdf)]

Tags: budget, budget pie, don mclean, parody, parliament, perth, state government, wa

Old hoons

HON DERRICK TOMLINSON (East Metropolitan) [7.47 pm]: [...] Every time I drive down Onslow Road these days I find myself driving at 44 kilometres an hour.

Hon Graham Giffard: It happens when you get old.

Hon DERRICK TOMLINSON: No, it does not happen when people get old; it happens when good behaviour is positively reinforced.

Hon Graham Giffard: My mother does 44 kilometres an hour everywhere.

Hon DERRICK TOMLINSON: If I were the member’s mother I would be very cautious too, because look what happened once when she was not paying attention

[...]

HON DERRICK TOMLINSON (East Metropolitan) [7.47 pm]: [...] I have heard reference to hoons and burnouts. I think I know what a burnout is. I have seen young people do burnouts. I am not quite sure what a hoon is. I went to the Oxford English Dictionary, and the nearest definition I could get to “hoon” was “hooligan”. A “hooligan” is the name given to Irishmen of south London who were associated with ruffian groups. I do not know whether “hoon” is an abbreviation of “hooligan”, but there is no reference to hoons in the dictionary. I understand that these hoons do burnouts in particular places in Perth, such as the car park at Scarborough Beach. I understand also that these hoons do drag-racing along Leach Highway and in Rockingham.

Hon Jim Scott: I think a hoon is a hooligan at speed.

Hon DERRICK TOMLINSON: I see. I do not know who they are. All I know is that I can recall as a 16 or 17-year-old fellow meeting a group of my peers every Friday night at the Bright Spot at Sandringham Hill. They were not called hoons. They were called the boys. The boys used to meet at the Bright Spot, and they all drove hotted-up 1936 Ford V8s -

Hon Peter Foss: Great stuff!

Hon DERRICK TOMLINSON: They were. I saw one being driven on the road ahead of me just the other day. It was an absolutely beautiful vehicle - a hotted-up 1936 Ford V8. The boys would stand around getting high on hamburgers. They were real hamburgers in those days - not Kentucky Fried hamburgers, but real hamburgers. [...] We are told that these hoons are driving these $50 000 vehicles and are doing burnouts in the car park at Scarborough Beach, and are racing along Leach Highway at three o’clock in the morning and are a danger to everyone else on the road. Anyone who is on the road at three o’clock in the morning would need to explain why he or she is there. As for people in the car park at Scarborough Beach, I do not know that that represents a threat to life and limb on the road. These hoons are doing exactly what the boys of my acquaintance were doing.

Subject: ROAD TRAFFIC AMENDMENT (IMPOUNDING AND CONFISCATION OF VEHICLES) BILL 2004 (WA Legislative Council, second reading)

Date: Tuesday, 1 June 2004

Hansard reference: pp. 3064d — 3076a [online (PDF)]

The village idiot

Ms S.E. WALKER (Nedlands): That was why I was concerned about JPs. I endorse what other members have said about JPs; they do a great job. However, they do not have any regular or mandatory ongoing training.

Mr J.A. McGinty: But this legislation will require them to do the initial training course.

Ms S.E. WALKER: Yes, but they could do that training course and then not know anything about, for instance, the laws that the Attorney General introduced that relate to the Sentencing Act. [...] Has anyone, in looking at this package, done any research into whether this could act unfairly on people in the community when they are sentenced? For instance, does the Attorney General have any statistics on how many people have been sentenced by justices of the peace in Western Australia, and for what and how long?

Mr J.A. McGINTY: I do not have those statistics with me. There is no change in terms of the eligibility criteria proposed in this Bill. One might make the same comments about members of Parliament. We could ask what is the requirement to be a member of Parliament. The only requirement is that a person be elected. That does not mean that that person has any knowledge, ability, skill or capacity. A person could be the village idiot and be a member of Parliament. Perhaps some are.

Ms S.E. Walker: Some are. I am looking to my left.

Subject: Justices of the Peace Bill 2003

Date: 1 April 2004

Hansard reference: pp. 1536c - 1558a [online (pdf)]

Broome People

Ms K. HODSON-THOMAS (Carine): To return to the issue of the camel operators and the beautiful camels -

Mr R.F. Johnson (Hillarys): I would not say “beautiful”.

Ms K. HODSON-THOMAS: I think camels are very interesting animals.

Mr T. Buswell (Vasse - Deputy Leader of the Opposition): It depends whether you’re at the front or the back of the queue!

Ms K. HODSON-THOMAS: For the person sitting on the back, they are very interesting animals.

Mr G. Snook (Moore): They are an animal designed by a committee.

Subject: Cable Beach - Camel Tourism Operators

Date: 30 August 2006

Hansard reference: p. 5479 - 5495 [online]

Tags: broome, camels, parliament, perth, state government, wa

Opening Statement

Houses & Motions is not a political blog. Well, it is, in that it deals with the goings-on in W.A. State Parliament. It does not seek, however, to focus on any one party, to promote the agenda of one part of the political spectrum. If it's in Hansard, it could end up here, regardless of whether the speaker is Liberal, Labor, National, Democrat, Greens, Independent, or a dog.

The contents of the blog do not represent the views of the people responsible for collating it, but refer to things that are said in either House of which the electorate might not be aware. Views for or against possible legislation are not being pushed.

Generally what will be featured here are the relatively humorous exchanges, the asides, the witty banter, or things that are just odd, dug up from the Hansard archives. Sometimes it will be current, sometimes not.

This is not a guide for the placement of votes at the next state election. It may well be a waste of time, but hopefully it will provide some amusement.