Mr FILING (12:08 PM) —I am grateful for the opportunity to finally speak on this report.

Mr Slipper —How many times have you rehearsed this speech?

Mr FILING —I do not need to rehearse speeches because I speak from the heart, as the member for Fisher knows, and on behalf of my constituents.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Hon. N.M. Dondas) —Order! I would ask the honourable member to direct his remarks through the chair.

Mr FILING —Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am always prepared to represent my constituents in a sincere and efficient manner without fear or favour, and, for that matter, without the fear of the party whip interfering with me, because I am an Independent. I am grateful for this opportunity.

In this report, parliament recognises the legitimate roles of local government in the areas of service delivery and various other functions to which it is suited. These are crucial functions, as the third tier of government in our system—that of local shires and city councils—is essential in the provision of basic services, ranging from waste management through to planning approvals, to health and cultural services, and to roads and infrastructure work. Local government is also important in its complementary function in conjunction with state and federal services. Without healthy, properly representative and accountable local government, our overall system of government is significantly weakened.

This brings me to the state of my own local government authority, the city of Wanneroo. Members in this place will remember that, in the past, I have stood as a strong critic of corruption in the city of Wanneroo. My efforts in part forced the state government to open an inquiry, and later a royal commission, into what was known as Wanneroo Inc. As a result of the inquiries, one-time Liberal mayor Wayne Bradshaw has been imprisoned, and former perjured Liberal state member Wayde Smith is now in jail.

Accusations went deeper, however, and the then Attorney-General and her husband were alleged to have strong links to the group of people that control the Liberal Party in the district that supported and nurtured the control that Mayor Bradshaw had over the city council. They were later cleared of wrongdoing within the terms of the reference of the royal commission.

Although the matters relating to Wanneroo Inc. took place well before the last federal election, its effects continue to be felt. I believe that my stand against corruption in this matter in the northern suburbs, and the subsequent loss of tens of thousands of dollars of illegal fundraising, were an important feature of my not being endorsed as the Liberal candidate for Moore in 1996.

In 1997 and 1998, with the royal commission as a catalyst, the state coalition government decided to suspend all of the democratically elected councillors in Wanneroo and subsequently to split the council into the city of Joondalup and the shire of Wanneroo. The suspension of the councillors beggars belief. The state coalition government actually used the pretence that things had not changed since the days of Bradshaw in order to justify their actions. But the reality is that three former councillors from those days sit on the state government's benches. In other words, three of the people from the days of Wayne Bradshaw's term of office, or from the period when Wayne Bradshaw had strong influence in the city of Wanneroo, now sit on state government benches, deemed to be above suspicion—while councillors who were not even in office during the Wanneroo Inc. days have been suspended.

In fact, the only three councillors who remain from those days and have thus now been punished were in fact whistleblowers. They were people who went to make complaints against what they thought was wrongdoing in the local government authority. What kind of message is that? A cynic could be excused for thinking that they were being punished for blowing the whistle on a very cosy arrangement in the northern suburbs, an arrangement that suited the former mayor, Wayne Bradshaw, very well indeed.

The suspension of councillors allowed the state government to go ahead with its plan to split Wanneroo without serious coordinated opposition from them. The way that it has been done makes it look like a serious misuse of political power by the state government in order to achieve its ends more easily. Whether this is the case is difficult to say: throughout the process, the state government has provided scant detail on why it was necessary to split the city of Wanneroo.

This is made more difficult to understand when one knows that the same state government has made a detailed exploration of amalgamating cities and shires elsewhere, as in the case of Albany in the south-west. Their rationale is to achieve economies of scale that will significantly enhance efficiency and improve services to ratepayers there. The process mirrors a long and substantial process undertaken by the Victorian government. The member for Maribyrnong (Mr Sercombe), who is present today, will of course know about that process, whereby a number of small shires and councils have been amalgamated in order to achieve efficient operations in the third tier of government in that state.

What then is the rationale for splitting Wanneroo, which has achieved a range of efficiencies and economies by virtue of its size and corporate knowledge? Not only can it deliver services at reasonable levels of rates and charges but it also has successfully operated substantial business activity on behalf of its ratepayers, in order to subsidise its services without recourse to significant increases in rates and charges.

The neighbouring city of Stirling, also earmarked for being broken down, commissioned an independent review of the effects of a split. This showed an estimated increase in running costs, owing to losses in economy of scale, of $16 million or 22.78 per cent per year. In the current climate, this will only be offset by increased rates, reduced scope of services to residents, improvements in productivity and increased charges for use of facilities and services.

Importantly, the state government has not indicated what it believes will be the real effect on the residents of Wanneroo—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 12.15 p.m. to 12.34 p.m.