Thursday, 24 March 2022

Adjournment matters

Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (18:12): (1843) President, I am sure you are going to enjoy my adjournment tonight. My adjournment matter is to the Minister for Health in the other place, and the action that I seek is for the minister to respond to my outstanding adjournment matters and to commit to doing so in a more timely manner in the future.

Now, the daily adjournment debates allow members to raise matters to be considered by a minister, whether that be a complaint, a request or to have a matter clarified. Those matters are often raised with us by constituents. Standing order 4.13 states that adjournment matters must be answered within 30 days. Yet I have, as of the end of the last sitting week, 16 that have not been answered. This again shows total disrespect for members of this house as well as my constituents.

Now, in looking at the data for adjournments, I am not the only one who is having these problems. It shows that other members have the same issues with the ministers, with over 100 adjournments still waiting for responses. And some other ministers have not responded to adjournments.

The PRESIDENT: Order! Dr Cumming, it is not about me enjoying your adjournment, it is that your adjournment should be done within the standing orders. Now, your adjournment should be directed to one minister. I do not know which minister. I do not know how many adjournments you have got there.

Dr CUMMING: President, the action that I seek is for the minister—it was to the Minister for Health in the other place—to respond to my outstanding matters. Just he, the Minister for Health, has 16 of mine that have not been addressed. So clearly I have stated it within my adjournment. I understand that I might have started, because you did the call, but I am pretty clear on the amount of outstanding adjournments that I have—and that other members do—because they are in the Hansard.

And some other ministers have not responded to adjournments. I have another three outstanding that go back to February of last year. I understand ministers’ offices are busy with COVID, but this just is not good enough. Matters raised in this house, matters that are concerns of our constituents, have to be answered, and answered in a timely manner. In this place—we have brought this up numerous times—ministers need to actually respond to our constituency questions and to our adjournments. And it is very clear, the times that they must be answered—two days, 14 days or 30 days, not months, and not so many outstanding. That Minister for Health is not that busy that he cannot answer my adjournments, my constituency questions or my questions without notice. He does not do anything.

The PRESIDENT: I will get back to you on your adjournment.