Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to address a scandalous claim by WA Premier Roger Cook that I lied about the widespread fishing bans of his contentious South Coast Marine Park. On 24 January Mr Cook slandered me during his whistlestop tour of Albany, where he is scrambling to save the state seat. Recently I wrote to environment minister, Reece Whitby, asking him to rule out a westward expansion of the marine park from Bremer Bay to Albany and Cape Leeuwin. He replied that he has no plans to extend the fishing bans. This is after four years of Labor attacking the fishing, farming and forestry industries on which Albany and other South Coast communities rely. Based on Labor's record, I'd take those weasel words with a generous grain of sea salt.

In Albany before the 2021 state election, former premier Mark McGowan claimed seven times in one press conference that abolishing regional representation in WA's upper house was not on his agenda, yet one of his first acts on re-election was dumping regional representation. This is why my constituents do not trust Labor's plans or agendas and why I'm calling on Premier Cook to give an ironclad guarantee that Labor's current fishing bans will not extend further. I stand with shadow environment minister Neil Thomson, who will move a disallowance motion to reverse these bans when parliament resumes after the March state election.