Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I take note of the contribution from Senator Johnston opposite, and I have a feeling that when he is referring to WA senators across the other side of the chamber he is referring to me. Senator Johnston, it is only fair for us to get a few points very clear. This is not about a personal attack on Mr Buckeridge and BGC. This follows on from 5,500 signatures on a petition from the people of Hasluck around the suburbs of High Wycombe, Maida Vale and Rosehill, where the proposed brickworks will be built. This is not a bunch of union thugs that have filled in 5,500 signatures; it is the people of the electorate of Hasluck. Senator Johnston, you know very well that not only have your colleagues Senator Adams and Senator Lightfoot been pulling out all stops to assist the 5,500 people in trying to stop this brickworks but also the Liberal member for Hasluck, Mr Stuart Henry, has been doing so.

Mr Stuart Henry has been putting out a lot of information opposing the brickworks in the seat of Hasluck too, Senator Johnston, so I do not think that was a fair interpretation of our efforts to try and stop the brickworks, approval for which has been granted to Mr Buckeridge. Whether it be Mr Buckeridge or any other builder who has come from blue-collar grassroots or wherever, congratulations to him. This is what it is all about: it is about trying to stand up for the people of Hasluck who do not want this brickworks in their backyard.

In rising to speak on the motion to take note of questions today, Mr President—I am sorry, Mr Deputy President; that is a faux pas but I hope it will come true in the future—I refer to the question asked of the Minister representing the Minister for Transport and Regional Services. We saw a characteristically underwhelming and pathetic display. I was waiting for an answer to the question I had asked but it did not come forward. You have to wonder why the Prime Minister would hang Mr Stuart Henry, the member for Hasluck, out to dry. The Perth Airport brickworks will drag him down; there is no doubt about that. He has even admitted that, as can be seen in the latest newspaper clipping. The Prime Minister and the transport minister at the time, Mr Warren Truss, bent over backwards in their haste—this is what it is all about—to approve the availability of the airport land for Buckeridge to commence construction of these brickworks. In Mr Henry’s own admission, he went begging and pleading to the Prime Minister for the brickworks not to go ahead, but, sadly, his voice carries no weight within the party room. Unfortunately, there is a long history of Liberal Party ministers bending over backwards to help their mate Mr Buckeridge.

For those who are not aware—all Western Australians will remember—the Peppermint Grove Shire Council issued a stop-work order against Mr Buckeridge’s own company, Homestyle Pty Ltd, when it was found guilty of departing from council approved building plans. The then Liberal minister, Mr Paul Omodie, who is now the Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia, came out and rejected the advice of his own department and overturned the stop-work order. At least Mr Henry has been trying, as I say, but Mr Henry is just collateral damage in the war for campaign donations.

The people of Hasluck are not silly. They know that his voice carries no weight and they will make their decision come election time next year. To make matters worse for Mr Henry, there appears to be a concerted effort amongst his own Liberal colleagues and their strategist to kick him while he is down. In yesterday’s edition of the West Australian newspaper, reporter Mr Andrew Probyn published leaked details of Liberal Party-commissioned Crosby Textor polling which shows that Mr Henry is looking pretty crook. To add insult to injury, the leaker made the claim that Mr Henry was ‘not doing enough to save his seat from being returned to Labor’. It is very hard to be seen to be doing a lot to save your seat when your own colleagues come out, sharpen the knives, whack you between the eyes with an axe and stick a knife between your ribs. That is what has happened in the seat of Hasluck.

Senator Adams and Senator Lightfoot have been pushing out information, using their postage entitlements to get it all out there, and saying: ‘We are really doing a wonderful job. So is Mr Henry. But it is not our fault. It’s the state government’s fault.’ It is a greater insult to Mr Henry that the state government’s voice would carry more weight in the party room or with the Prime Minister than his own. It is a very sad state of affairs. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.