Barry Haase (Kalgoorlie, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Roads and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

I think that it is appropriate that the member for Lingiari be here in the chamber because he needs to hear the question and then maybe we will get an answer. We have just seen the departure of the member for Solomon. Much was said by the minister about his capability as the new member for Solomon. Perhaps the question of how he got his seat bears asking. Did he get the seat, for instance, on the propaganda that was spread prior to the election about there being free medical and dental facilities to be established on defence bases? Were the people of Darwin, for instance, encouraged to vote for that party because they were told that if they stayed in the defence forces they and their families would get that free medical and dental attention that they so richly deserved? I know that the members of the Taylor Barracks in Karratha in the Pilbara, in the electorate of Kalgoorlie, were absolutely disgusted that a promise that they took to heart when they went to the polls is, in reality, now a watered down, a Claytons, service of medical and dental attention. They were promised that the government would give some attention to their retention within the defence forces because their families would be get free medical and free dental attention.

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