Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Well, I will—thank you very much:

Mr Crook also criticised Liberal Senator Chris Back … for playing political games while communities are in need of assistance.

This is after it was the much maligned Senator Chris Back who had arranged the payment under the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment scheme for all of the people in the Gascoyne! So the question I have of the minister extends from that. We had eligibility for flood victims in Queensland. That, as the result of Mr Katter’s intervention to win his vote, went from the Brisbane floods up to North Queensland after Cyclone Yasi, as I understand it. He secured $650 million for his vote. Poor old Mr Crook got nothing for his, largely because he came out and said he would support this stupid levy very early in the piece. But my question now is: is it the case, as Mr Crook has quoted, that he has used his relationship with government to negotiate a good outcome for Western Australians affected by disaster, for flood victims in the Goldfields, for fire affected residents—presumably the bushfires surrounding Perth; and I asked the question last night: does that involve the December fires around Cape Preston, south of Mandurah—and for storm affected residents? Those are the questions that I am anxious to receive answers to. I need to know: what is the extent of what the government is offering, to whom and why? Is it because Mr Crook gave up his vote in favour of the levy early that we now see some attempt by government to square the ledger, after Mr Katter was able to get $650 million in consideration of his vote? I ask the minister, through you, Mr Temporary Chairman: how long is the piece of string? Where does it stop? When does it stop? How much will the levy be? How much will people have to pay? And, coming back to a question asked last night: in a properly managed economy, why do we need a $1.8 billion tax grab from taxpayers when in fact we have a $350 billion budget? And why does this have to be dealt with only weeks before the budget for 2011-12 is brought down by the government?