Page 845 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 16 March 2010
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line by ignoring the facts and misleading the community. The difference is that in Mr Garrett’s case the Prime Minister had the ticker to act on a situation where he felt that a minister was not doing the job; he benched one of his own ministers. This Chief Minister has kept extremely quiet on this topic all morning. The first time we heard from him was through interjection—just interjection at this late stage of the debate. Yet again, there was no leadership—which we are not surprised about. And we should not be surprised about ministers acting in the way Mr Corbell has when leadership and the lack of adherence to the ministerial code of conduct that is laid down by the Chief Minister are ignored so badly.
Mr Corbell has stated, “How was I to know about every email?” Well, Mr Corbell, the question really is this: why did you not know more about all the emails? Why did you not go looking? Mr Rattenbury has alluded to the fact that this government has not been diligent enough. It is time that we, the opposition and the crossbench, took this government to task. This is what we are attempting to do. It would be very timely for the crossbench to support what the opposition is trying to do. What we are trying to do is to make this government, this minister and this Chief Minister accountable.
This Assembly deserves a far better performance from ministers of this government. The community has every right to expect a more responsible attitude from this minister—and indeed every minister on the government side, including the Chief Minister—to ensure that every effort is made to protect the community. What we were seeking was the introduction of documents that showed us what was being done to protect the community. Instead of getting answers to that, what we got was misleading statements from the very people who should be defending the community’s stance and the community’s safety in this instance.
“How was I to know about every email?” Well, Mr Corbell, you should have been seeking more information, as we said, not distancing yourself and setting up a series of excuses. This government has a history of taking no responsibility and not acting according to the ministerial code of conduct. Again, where is the Chief Minister while all this cover-up and non-performance is coming to light?
Mr Corbell has form on censure motions, as we have already heard this morning. As minister for health, he faced a censure motion in 2005 over the mismanagement of our hospital system. In 2006, he faced another one over his mismanagement of emergency services. What does this tell us about the due diligence adopted by this minister? And what does it say about the Chief Minister, who has not been able to stem the incompetence of this member of this cabinet? Now we have proof of his misleading in this instance—a litany of misleading misleads, in fact.
Mr Corbell has been quoted in this place on numerous occasions denying the existence of any documents relating to the home insulation program. On 11 February in this place, Mr Corbell stated:
The government does not have documents in relation to the home insulation program because we do not run the home insulation program.
That is from Hansard of 11 February 2010. On the same day, he said:
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