Nats in Dolphin Centre jab at Punch

The Nationals WA have accused Regional Development Minister Don Punch of misleading the people of the South West in relation to the affairs of Bunbury’s Dolphin Discovery Centre.

RSM Australia’s Jerome Mohen, Greg Dudley and Travis Kukura were voluntarily appointed as administrators of the Dolphin Discovery Centre in February, as management sought to secure the long-term future of the independently run facility.

The Dolphin Discovery Centre reported a net loss of $40,000 last financial year and is run by an incorporated body separate of government in a building leased from government.  

The appointment followed the resignation of a number of board members and the organisation’s chief executive. Mr Punch has previously claimed his office was open to the facility’s operators, but said the government wasn’t involved in the day-to-day running of operations.

“When [Dolphin Discovery Centre] has recommendations from the voluntary receiver, I’m sure that it will come see me,” Mr Punch told question time on March 14, the last time he received questions on the matter in parliament, according to Hansard records.

“[The organisation] absolutely knows that we support the Dolphin Discovery Centre as a very valuable tourism operation in Bunbury”.

In a statement today, opposition tourism spokesperson Louise Kingston claimed Mr Punch had “deliberately misled the people of the South West with excuses”.

“He needs to come clean and answer the questions everyone wants to know: how long has he known about the Dolphin Discovery Centre’s financial troubles and is he going to intervene to save it?” she said.

“The minister claiming his door is open is simply not good enough.”

Ms Kingston accused Mr Punch of allowing the government to “raid funds” from the regions, to be “funnelled into the city”.

Mr Punch strongly refuted those claims, labelling them disappointing and inaccurate. 

“Ms Kingston is well aware the Dolphin Discovery Centre is managed by a local independent body and to imply that I do not realise the immense value of this important tourism asset for Bunbury is totally false," he said. 

“I have supported our Dolphin Discovery Centre for many years as CEO of the South-West Development Commission, as local member for Bunbury and now as Regional Development Minister and I will absolutely continue to do so.

“The state government has strongly supported the Dolphin Discovery Centre over many years, including throughout COVID, and has recently ensured extra funding to allow the Centre to keep its doors open.

“While it is my top priority to ensure the centre continues to operate, there is a formal process underway to deal with this difficult situation. 

“That process will form an appropriate basis for the state government to consider how it can best assist in securing the future of this vital community asset.

“The fact the opposition doesn’t understand that legally we need to let that process take its course, shows just how inexperienced they are.

“Once again we have a Nationals member simply grandstanding to shore up their own preselection rather than offering any meaningful solutions and I think the people of the South-West deserve better.”

The Dolphin Discovery Centre was established in 1994, to allow community members to interact with a group of five or six dolphins that visit Koombana Bay.

The centre, which includes an aquarium and information service and offers eco-cruises and swim tours, remains open for business.

In a report published by RSM late last month, Mr Mohen said the administrators intended to keep the facility running through the administration period while it undertook an urgent review of operations.

“It’s anticipated that the restaurant offering may be reduced in the short term,” he said.

“And prior to our appointment, the board recently made the difficult decision not to proceed with the Utopia Beach Festival event, which was scheduled for early March.”

Mr Mohen said the administrators would be working closely with stakeholders to restructure the business in a way that would support its long-term viability.

Ms Kingston was appointed to the shadow cabinet immediately after winning a byelection to replace the disgraced former MP James Hayward late last year.

The upper house MP made headlines when she lamented the end of the whaling industry in Albany during her maiden speech to parliament in October 2023.