Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When we come to this place we represent our constituents, and that's why today I'll be expressing the disappointment of my constituents in the three state Labor MPs who represent our region in the WA state parliament: the member for Mandurah, David Templeman; the member for Dawesville, Lisa Munday; and the member for Murray-Wellington, Robyn Clarke.

Over the last six months or so, I have been reflecting on their performance because they are failing our community. At the 2021 state election, our community trusted them to do one job. Each of these Labor members promised to upgrade the Peel Health Campus—our local hospital which services the Peel region. In the case of Mr Templeman and Ms Clarke, they have been telling us since 2017 that they will fix the Peel Health Campus, but they have not delivered on their promises. Instead of delivering the Peel Health Campus upgrades—up to $160 million worth—they have wasted time by making excuses for Labor's failed Aboriginal cultural heritage laws.

This attack on property rights in WA has impacted many people: local councils, shires, small businesses, farmers and homeowners. In fact every Western Australian with more than 1,100 square metres of land was impacted by these laws. You needed a permit for activities such as clearing trees or building a fence line. Thousands of people in my electorate struggled with these laws. We had a big turnout—more than 250 people—a few months ago on a rainy winter's night to talk about this very issue. It's now over a month since Premier Roger Cook promised to scrap this legislation, but it's still on the books. What have David Templeman, Lisa Munday and Robyn Clarke been doing? They've been campaigning for the Voice to Parliament. Instead of delivering upgrades to our local hospital, instead of advocating to parliament and to their cabinet for funding and for speed of delivery, they've been trying to convince Western Australians to vote on the most radical change to our Constitution in 122 years.

The Voice to Parliament, in the words of the WA Premier Roger Cook, does the same as thing as the Aboriginal cultural heritage laws. Last week Lisa Munday hosted the Attorney-General in the Dawesville electorate. By all accounts it was a sad affair because there is little enthusiasm for the division the Voice would bring to my community. Only a handful of locals went along, but these included a band of 'no' voters who, without any prompting from me, protested with their own home-made 'No' signs. You would think that the member for Dawesville would be proud to advertise a visit to our electorate of the nation's first legal officer, but it was nowhere to be found on her social media and was barely mentioned in her monthly newsletter.

Our state Labor MPs have lost their focus. They were given a very specific task by our local community, which was to fix the Peel Health Campus and deliver the $160 million worth of upgrades. Instead they're focused on state issues like the Aboriginal cultural heritage laws, and now they're focusing on federal issues like the Voice to Parliament. They need to get back to delivering for the Peel region and for the people who sent them to parliament.