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The independent review of conditions at WA's only juvenile prison was one of the most damning reports tabled in State Parliament in recent times, detailing evidence of mistreatment of detainees, attempts to conceal evidence and alarming self-harm rates.
Both the Department and the Government insisted conditions at Banksia Hill Detention Centre had improved in recent months as they fronted the cameras, while lobby groups and parties across the political spectrum were also quick to weigh in.
But virtually silent on the issue was the new State Opposition, with the Liberals choosing only to release a brief statement which did not address the worst allegations or go into any substantial detail about what the Government should do now.
"There is no silver bullet to improving youth custodial services. This will always be a work in progress at facilities such as this the world over," part of the statement read.
"We look forward to monitoring the progress of these recommendations in due course."
The brief nature of the 102-word response came despite the fact that many of the decisions the Inspector of Custodial Services criticised were made while the Liberals were in Government, and most of the examples of mistreatment cited in the report occurred during that time too.
The virtual silence on that issue continued a trend for the Liberals, who have not called a press conference since July 11 and have held just two in the past fortnight.
In that time, a range of critical issues have emerged — from Banksia Hill to the details of cost estimates for a Rural Fire Service, which an independent review found WA badly needed but the Labor Government is stalling over.
But on both of those issues, the Liberals have effectively opted to stay out of the debate rather than get valuable time on TV screens and in newspapers across the state.
'We're not a very good Opposition now'
Privately, some Liberals are frustrated leader Mike Nahan and his senior frontbench colleagues have not built more of a public presence.
Many are worried about what they see as an inability to cut through with a message and consistent theme as the party fights to stay relevant at a time where its parliamentary influence has been hit heavily by its lack of numbers.
"We just aren't a very good opposition at the moment," one long-time Liberal figure said this week.
Dr Nahan has been on what his office described as a trip to visit "industry, stakeholders and community groups in the North West" this week, but plenty of his senior frontbench colleagues remained in town, if the Liberals had wanted to comment on any issues more substantially.
Their recent approach is a sharp contrast to Labor's days in opposition, where a day in which its leaders did not front the cameras was a rare one — even if they occasionally had little to say.
While issues such as Banksia Hill and the Rural Fire Service have drawn minimal response from the Liberals in recent weeks, the party has devoted plenty of time to drafting parliamentary questions for after the winter recess.
Parliamentary questions 'not frivolous'
Rookie MP Zak Kirkup proudly posted to social media a screenshot indicating he had thousands of questions ready to go, after already asking a mammoth amount in the new Parliament's first few months.
However, many of those covered issues unlikely to bring down a government or even sway votes.
One submitted to each member of Cabinet asked how much their offices had spent on pens, coffee pods and plants, another queried who would own the copyright for portrait photographs taken of each minister.
The extreme number of questions is seen by the Labor Government as a waste of taxpayers' money, given each one can take lengthy periods of public servants' time to answer.
But Mr Kirkup denies his efforts are frivolous.
"This is about making sure we hold the Government to account, for their quoted gold standard of transparency," he told ABC Radio Perth this week.
But plenty of political insiders are wondering why the party's leaders have not been making more noise publicly in recent weeks to hold the Government to account on its key election promises and emerging issues.
Topics: political-parties, liberals, wa
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