[EDITOR NOTE — DELETE BEFORE PUBLISHING] TO DO before publishing:
- Seek comment from Mr Punch's office: the reasons for his absences, whether he has visited South Hedland since August, and The West's "one in five" figure.
- Seek comment from the Premier's office and the shadow Aboriginal affairs spokesperson.
- The West's figure covers all of 2026 and has not been checked independently (our Hansard review starts on 8 September). Attribute it to The West, or count the full year from the Hansard index.
- Add a photo (official ministerial portrait or agency image).
Aboriginal Affairs Minister Don Punch is under renewed pressure. The West Australian reports that he has skipped one in five Question Times in the Legislative Assembly this year. The paper says the only question he has answered from his own side was a scripted one.
The report adds to a month of opposition attacks on Mr Punch, the Labor Member for Bunbury, over the government's response to child-protection failures in South Hedland.
What Parliament's record shows
Everything Perth's review of the Assembly's daily Hansard covered 12 sitting days, from 8 September to 22 October. On those days Mr Punch answered a question in Question Time only once, on Tuesday 20 October.
- The week before. He was away sick during the previous sitting week (13 to 15 October), the government's representative told the Legislative Council on 20 October.
- The question on 20 October. Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas asked why the Premier should not demand his immediate resignation. He cited children found living unsupervised at a Frisby Court house in South Hedland, abuse at a public housing property in Jibson Close, and the deaths of three children in South Hedland in 2022.
- The answer. Mr Punch did not address the resignation call. Instead he turned on Mr Zempilas. "He has been here for 18 months and 86 sitting days, with 200 questions asked, and not one question to me about Aboriginal affairs until today," he said. He also called Mr Zempilas "a superficial Leader of the Opposition".
- The line the opposition seized on. "I am the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. I am not the minister for native welfare, which is where members opposite want to take it back to," he said.
- The supplementary question. Mr Zempilas asked whether the minister had visited South Hedland in the nine weeks since the Frisby Court case became public, yes or no. Mr Punch said he had travelled "right through the Pilbara" and listed visits this year to Port Hedland, Karratha, Newman, Kiwirrkurra and Pannawonica. He did not answer yes or no. "If you do not like the answer, do not ask the question," he said.
Later that afternoon the opposition moved a matter of public interest condemning Mr Punch and the government for "inaction" on the neglect of Aboriginal children in the Pilbara. "It is incumbent upon the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs either to step up or to step out," Mr Zempilas said. The motion was defeated 11 votes to 39.
The next day Premier Roger Cook defended him in Question Time. Nationals leader Shane Love had asked about the "native welfare" remark. Mr Cook said the matter was a child-protection issue, not part of Mr Punch's portfolio. "I think the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs' response yesterday was entirely appropriate," he said.
That evening the Assembly was told that the Legislative Council had agreed to an opposition resolution. Among other things, it calls on the Premier to:
- remove Mr Punch from the Aboriginal Affairs portfolio;
- never appoint him to child protection;
- remove Child Protection Minister Jessica Stojkovski from her portfolio;
- visit South Hedland.
The Council resolution does not bind the government.
Mr Cook backed his minister again this week, The West reported on Wednesday, saying Mr Punch was doing a "very good job". Mr Punch again declined to commit to a visit to South Hedland.
Parliament next sits on Tuesday 10 November.
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