Basil Zempilas 10 things: Roger Cook’s excuse outages ‘part and parcel’ energy transition isn’t good enough

1. How would you feel if you lived in one the 1300 Perth homes which went without power for three days and the Premier tried to blame the outages on, wait for it, a “strange set of weather patterns”? C’mon Premier, it’s called summer, you’re going to have to do better than that. The problem is, for eight years, this Labor Government hasn’t. They haven’t planned and they haven’t managed our energy networks and the result is lame excuses and blackouts which the Premier wants you to believe are “part and parcel” of the energy transition. Can you imagine another four years of this? 2. Away from politics, Tony Buti is a great bloke. But jeepers, he’s on struggle street as a minister. Remember, Buti is the minister who wrote and signed a letter saying his Government would pay the City of Perth market value for two car parks they wanted — and then had to say: “actually, that signed letter was a mistake, we’re taking them for nothing”. On Tuesday he announced at a press conference that by the end of next week, those car parks will be closed. Only, they won’t be, they’ll be open until October. We know that because the Premier stepped in to correct him. Awkward. 3. And Dr Buti wants to be the next attorney general. I reckon John Quigley reads his letters before he signs them. 4. By the way, has he run out of people to go jogging with on a Sunday? What’s happened to that “running with” column? 5. And last one concerning the good doctor, does anyone know if his Government-employed “special adviser” who is also the Labor candidate for Canninngton is filling out his leave forms every time he goes out campaigning? 6. The City of Perth’s Australia Day festivities were a triumph. Almost 150,000 people gathered on both sides of the river, united in a respectful, family oriented way, to celebrate what it means to be Australian. Somebody said to me this week they were once told, you can move to France and never become a Frenchman or move to Japan but never become Japanese. But you can move to Australia from anywhere on earth and you will become an Australian. That’s exactly what we saw at Langley Park on Monday. How magnificent 7. Make whatever point you want — but not at an Australia Day event at the Prime Minister’s residence. That was neither the time nor the place for Grace Tame’s T-shirt stunt. She won’t be, but she should be embarrassed. 8. You’re never too old to do something for the first time. I tried yoga this week, I’m not very good and hideously inflexible, but I can see why so many people find it energising. 9. How do we feel about Perth Zoo being a zoo without elephants? Short-changed, I reckon. 10. School’s back for some, and for everyone next week. Well done parents, you made it!