Alan Carpenter set up a Department for Child Protection this week, but there was no protection for Federal Parliament, with WA Liberals' shareholdings, abuse of electoral allowances in Queensland and a 20 minute Burke meeting dominating the headlines
Federal Parliament's CCC fallout
Federal Parliament continued its claims and counterclaims arising from the Corruption and Crime Commission hearings this week as the issue continued to dominate the headlines.
Some might say that the first Federal head to roll over the scandal was one of the least deserving - Human Services Minister Ian Campbell, who resigned on the weekend after admitting to a 20-minute meeting with a group representing the WA Turf Club, including controversial lobbyist Brian Burke.
The meeting, which concerned an indigenous cultural centre planned as part of a racecourse redevelopment on the Swan River, was labeled by Senator Campbell "a very serious error" that would "hound me for the rest of my life".
Senator Campbell said he had been a fool to let Mr Burke gain access to him, which Mr Burke could use to big-note himself to clients, and said he had quit because "I didn't want what happened to me to be an excuse to let Labor off the hook".
Treasurer Peter Costello had earlier said that anyone who dealt with Mr Burke was politically and morally compromised, but Prime Minister John Howard denied the sacking was politically motivated.
"It did exercise and show poor judgement, he ought to have been aware of the sensitivity," Mr Howard said.
Campbell's replacement
Senator Chris Ellison was sworn in to replace Senator Campbell as Minister for Human Services, with prominent WA backbencher Senator David Johnston was appointed to Senator Ellison's portfolio of Justice and Customs.
Within hours of his appointment Senator Johnston found himself under fire over his shareholdings in two companies which engaged Mr Burke as a political lobbyist.
And disgraced former Liberal powerbroker Noel Crichton-Browne, who is as much on the nose in WA as Mr Burke, immediately claimed Senators Ellison and Johnson as his creations.
Senator Johnston did not deny the two were friends, but said he had not spoken to the former power-broker for nine years. As for the shareholding, the Senator said he had no knowledge of Mr Burke or Mr Grill's involvement in the companies, but would nonetheless be divesting himself of the shares and declaring all of his Pecuniary interests to the Prime Minister, as all ministers are required to do.
An announcement from his office said Senator Johnston was neither embarrassed nor compromised in those circumstances and said that it was "utterly ridiculous to contend that as a very small shareholder he would have been able to have any input into the conduct or management of these companies."
Lightfoot in limelight
Fellow WA Liberal senator Ross Lightfoot also came under the spotlight over his purchase of one million share options in Precious Metals Australia in 2004, which had employed Mr Burke and his lobbying partner Julian Grill, another former Labor minister.
Senator Lightfoot reportedly bought the shares days after Mr Burke and Mr Grill doctored a state parliamentary report to favour the mining company.
Electoral printing allowance fraud
And to add insult to injury this week, three federal Liberal backbenchers are also under police investigation in Queensland for alleged electoral printing allowance fraud.
Police raided the offices of Andrew Laming, Gary Hardgrave, who was dumped as Minister for Vocational and Technical Education earlier this year, and Ross Vasta - all marginal seat holders - last Friday amid claims that their taxpayer-funded allowances had been used to prop up the state Liberal party's election campaign.
Mr Howard is standing by the three MPs, saying they are entitled to a presumption of innocence.
He has not yet spoken to any of the trio, saying it would be improper to conduct his own parallel investigation.
"Needless to say I would have zero tolerance for anybody who deliberately misuses their entitlements," he said, adding that was a statement of principle, not a judgment on the three.
Burke Meeting and Mokbel reference
It wasn't all bad news for the Coalition, with Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd admitting this week he knew well in advance that he would be dining with Mr Burke when his friend Graham Edwards invited him to address a group in August 2005.
And, in what some might be tempted to see as a pre-emptive measure, Shadow Attorney-General Kelvin Thomson resigned from the party's frontbench today after he learned he had provided a letter of reference for fugitive drug baron Tony Mokbel when Mokbel was applying for a liquor licence in 2000.
Mr Thomson said he did not know Mokbel and had not even heard of him at the time.
But his office provided the reference as a matter of course, based on information given to them that Mokbel had no criminal record over the previous eight years.
Mr Thomson said he was only made aware of the letter on Tuesday.
He said he was not resigning from the Labor Party and planned to remain the party's candidate for his seat, Bob Hawke's old stomping ground of Wills, in this year's election.
Qantas sale
In other news from Federal Parliament this week, Mr Costello and Transport Minister Mark Vaile announced the government would support the $11.1 billion sale of Qantas to a foreign-backed consortium lead by Macquarie Bank.
Treasurer Peter Costello said Airline Partners Australia had set out a deed of undertaking promising that maintenance and repairs would also be carried out in Australia, and that its frequent flyer program would remain.
But Family First senator Steve Fielding said it was a farce that the sale had been given the green light by the government when a Senate inquiry into how the sale would affect the jobs of workers is due to begin next Tuesday.
Child Protection
Another group that need protection were given a boost on Wednesday when Premier Alan Carpenter announced plans to establish a new Department of Child Protection as part the government's response to an independent review of the Department of Community Development by former public servant Prudence Ford.
Ms Ford was commissioned in August after the state coroner slammed the DCD for failing to protect 11-month-old Wade Scale, who drowned in a bathtub while in the care of his drug-addicted parents.
Mr Carpenter said he would also introduce legislation for mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse by professionals including doctors, nurses, teachers and police officers.
"There is nothing more important than the safety and protection of our children," Mr Carpenter said.
But Shadow Child Protection Minister Robyn McSweeney said the Premier was simply putting a good news spin on the report, which had been kept under wraps since January 17.
"The Government is still playing 'smokes and mirrors', as it is only partial mandatory reporting and does not include physical and psychological abuse or neglect," she said.
"Not only will WA will have a watered down mandatory reporting system, but it will fail unless the Premier breaks the ingrained culture of DCD by taking a broom to the executive level when he creates the new Child Protection department."
Letting Fees
The State Government also announced plans to scrap all letting fees on rental properties by April 5, with Consumer Protection Minister Sheila McHale saying she was also examining whether to scrap or cap 'application' and 'option' fees - a charge payable when submitting a rental application.
Shadow Consumer Protection Minister Tony Simpson said the Government failed to recognise the underlying causes of high rents and property prices in Western Australia.
The Final Word
In a week when Senator Amanda Vanstone decided the best way to conclude her address to the Global Foundation's Australia Unlimited Roundtable was an operatic revamp of her ode to Australia "Under Southern Skies" (written to the tune of "Land of Hope and Glory") - not sung by her, but nonetheless wowing a crowd which included former Premier Geoff Gallop and former Australian of the Year Gustav Nossal, the final word must go to NSW Treasurer Michael Costa.
While NSW Opposition Leader Peter Debnam's was gaining notoriety for his Speedo-clad policy announcements - though not much in the way of support in the polls - the relatively unpopular Treasurer had all but disappeared from the spotlight after he accused the Opposition of "targeting 'wog' ministers."
The state's economy has been trailing the lead set by Western Australia and Queensland - and was seen as something of an Achilles heel for the ALP administration in the State. That problem was to be exacerbated on Wednesday morning, when the Australian Bureau of Statistics was due to release the national accounts.
That morning Mr Costa was engaged to address an Australian Industry Group breakfast at Sydney's Westin Hotel, and told the crowd exactly what he thought.
Mr Costa described the statistics as "the equivalent of Paris Hilton saying something intelligent or Britney Spears remembering her undergarments".
For the benefit of the less tabloid inclined amongst our readers, Ms Hilton and Ms Spears are celebrated for their inability to perform the above activities. For its part, Arch is uncertain whether Mr Costa meant to imply the statistics were trivial, unexpected or revolutionary.
While the joke didn't wash amongst the crowd, it did cause a few giggles later on when the ABS data showed that the state economy had grown by a healthy 1.4 per cent over the 2006 calendar year.
Looks like someone else was saying "Oops, I did it again"...
