Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Parliamentary Secretary, during your earlier answer to the member for Solomon you spoke about the benefits to the community which would result from community cabinets being held in those electorates and the feedback that the Prime Minister and cabinet could get from holding those community cabinets within those electorates. I would have been happy to give you feedback from my electorate if you needed it. It probably would have saved the taxpayer a lot of money and airfares. If you cannot answer this question could you take it on notice: were there any direct benefits to the seat of Swan from that community cabinet? Were there any promises made for funding put forward by the local councils? If there were, could I get a copy or a list of the benefits to the seat of Swan during that community cabinet?

The other thing while I am up is on the RSPT. I know there was no consultation with the mining industry prior to the announcement of it but I would appreciate knowing between the Prime Minister and the government how much consultation there was prior to those figures being allotted into the budgets and whether the cabinet were fully aware of the impact it was going to have on the mining sector, particularly in Western Australia. In my electorate I know there are people who have had downturns in business already because of the announcement. Was the cabinet fully aware of what effect that was going to have on the people and businesses in Western Australia?

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