AAP General News (Australia)
12-22-2006
WA: A tumultuous year in WA politics
By Adam Gartrell
PERTH, AAP - The West Australian government will limp battered and bloodied into 2007,
after a tumultuous year beset with scandal and crisis.
It began with a bang: Just 16 days in, the affable `good news premier', Geoff Gallop,
announced he was stepping down because he was suffering from depression.
The shock resignation left the government scrambling to find a replacement but the
state development minister Alan Carpenter soon emerged as the front-runner.
After he was anointed, the 49-year-old father of four declared he was looking forward
to leading the government into a
new "golden era", as WA continued to ride high on the
wave of the resources boom.
Instead, his first year in the top job has been horrific.
Less than a week after he was sworn in, Carpenter made what would later prove to be
a huge mistake: elevating veteran MP Norm Marlborough to the frontbench.
In doing so, Carpenter symbolically overturned Gallop's ban on ministerial contact
with disgraced former premier Brian Burke, despite warnings he would live to regret it.
Placing his arm around Marlborough's shoulder, Carpenter said he was absolutely confident
Marlborough's close friendship with Burke would not interfere with his job as small business
minister.
Marlborough knew there would be scrutiny of his relationship with Burke but could never
have predicted the state's corruption watchdog would be listening to their phone conversations.
Premier for five years in the 1980s, Burke was jailed for seven months in 1994 for
rorting travel expenses.
His reign is now most commonly associated with the WA Inc era, when his government
had disastrous dealings with big business which cost WA taxpayers big dollars.
The Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) began tapping his phones this year while
investigating his role as a political lobbyist for Canal Rocks, a company which wants
to develop a controversial tourism project in the state's south-west.
The CCC wanted to find out whether Burke, or other Canal Rocks proponents, were exerting
"undisclosed or improper influence" on public officers in their efforts to get the development
approved.
Soon after they began listening in, CCC investigators heard a number of incredible
- and now infamous - conversations between Burke and Marlborough.
During public hearings in November, the extraordinary story emerged: The day after
joining the Carpenter ministry Marlborough went out and bought a second mobile phone,
in his wife's name, which he used as an exclusive "hotline" to and from Burke.
The pair spoke up to 10 times a day on the phone, with Burke urging Marlborough to
appoint a particular woman to a government board and instructing him how to answer questions
in parliament.
It had been an open secret that Burke had wielded some behind-the-scenes influence
within the government since Labor was returned to power in 2001, but few realised the
extent of that influence.
The calls made Marlborough seem like Burke's lap dog: loyal, well-trained and compliant.
Burke, meanwhile, emerged as a Machiavellian puppet-master.
The revelations forced Marlborough off the frontbench and out of parliament. They also
forced Burke out of the ALP after more than 40 years as a member.
But the CCC stepped up its inquiries: Who else was on the phone to Burke? Just who
really is running this state?
Then-resources minister John Bowler was forced to detail a string of dealings he had
with Burke. While he insisted the dealings were legitimate, his otherwise good name was
tarred by the Burke brush.
Later, Labor backbencher Adele Farina told the CCC how Burke approached her to help
him push Canal Rocks' interests.
But instead of becoming another Burke lackey, the head-strong Farina refused his requests
and subsequently fell victim to his wrath.
When she was preparing to seek re-endorsement for her seat for the 2004 election, Farina
says Mr Burke told her her pre-selection was at risk because he and his powerful right
faction no longer supported her.
To win back that support, he apparently told her, she would have to be "more helpful".
Farina believes that a one-off deal between Gallop and the ALP National Executive was
the only thing that kept her from being ousted by Burke's machinations.
While it was heartening to learn there were some people prepared to stand up to Burke,
Farina's evidence was also a disturbing insight into Burke's mind-set, showing he was
prepared to punish and blackmail those he could not persuade.
The Burke scandal hit a Carpenter already wearied by controversy.
In May, Carpenter was forced to strip his former "rising star", John D'Orazio, of the
police portfolio after it was revealed he had been driving without a licence for two months.
But instead of dumping D'Orazio from the frontbench, Carpenter gave him
new portfolios.
Criticism of this half-measure forced D'Orazio to retreat to the backbench.
The plot thickened several months later when D'Orazio was called to give evidence at
a CCC probe into Perth panel beater Pasquale Minniti, accused of using police contacts
to help his friends avoid traffic infringements.
The CCC revealed that D'Orazio met with Minniti in the days after he lost his portfolio.
Though no evidence was presented that D'Orazio actually did anything wrong, it was
another embarrassment for Carpenter.
He asked D'Orazio to resign from the Labor party, which D'Orazio reluctantly did.
Two other ministers were in the firing line in 2006.
Ljiljanna Ravlich spent much of the year on the back foot as education minister.
First, she became the target of widespread discontent over the implementation in WA
of outcomes-based education (OBE).
In October, a damning CCC report into her department's handling of sexual misconduct
allegations weakened her tenuous position further.
Teachers, the state opposition and the general public, whipped up by a relentless media
campaign, called constantly for her sacking.
There were also persistent calls for Sheila McHale's sacking over her years as community
development minister.
In August, the state coroner slammed the Department of Community Development (DCD)
for failing - under McHale's watch - to protect 11-month-old Wade Scale, who drowned while
in the care of his drug-addicted parents.
The opposition called for a royal commission into the DCD, saying scores of young children
known to the department had died of "unknown or unnatural causes" in recent times.
After a month of sustained attack over the issue, Carpenter announced an urgent funding
boost for the DCD. The furore subsided, but McHale was significantly damaged.
Despite all its woes, a recent newspaper poll showed voters still prefer the government
over the opposition under Paul Omodei, who, since becoming leader in March, has struggled
for traction.
But Carpenter realises the government has to lift its game if it is to stay in an election-winning
position. So, in a major cabinet reshuffle on December 13, he demoted Ravlich, Bowler
and McHale to junior portfolios.
Carpenter is hoping a fresh frontbench will signal a fresh start. But instead of looking
forward to a shining
new "golden age", Carpenter will probably be content with just a
bit of peace of quiet.
Of course, if Ravlich or McHale do manage to make a mess of their
new portfolios, it
will be another mark against Carpenter's leadership.
And another storm looms on the horizon: In February, the CCC will hold
new, and much
more wide-ranging, public hearings into Burke's lobbying activities.
Just who else will be ensnared is anyone's guess.
AAP ag/lk/jt/cdh
KEYWORD: YEARENDER WA
2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
