Official Claims vs. Reality
Official Claims vs. Reality
Section titled “Official Claims vs. Reality”They promised transparency.
FOI revealed they kept no records.
For twenty-five years, Western Australia’s animal welfare framework has operated as a loop of promises and silence.
This page documents five core contradictions where official government statements are directly disproved by FOI evidence.
Each follows the same pattern:
- Official claim — made in legislation, FAQ, or parliamentary speech
- FOI request — asks for the proof of implementation
- Response — “No documents exist”
- Conclusion — what was promised was never done
⚖️ Contradiction 1 — AWAC’s Phantom Oversight
Section titled “⚖️ Contradiction 1 — AWAC’s Phantom Oversight”📘 Official Promise (September 2021)
Section titled “📘 Official Promise (September 2021)”Source: Animal Welfare Advisory Committee – Terms of Reference
“The AWAC will advise the Minister … on the development and implementation of standards relevant to training and competency assessment of appointed inspectors under the Act.”
“AWAC will provide an annual report to the Minister by 31 October …”
🕳️ FOI Reality (October 2025)
Section titled “🕳️ FOI Reality (October 2025)”Source: FOI2025-017 Internal Review Decision
“Following reasonable searches … documents do not exist in respect to AWAC oversight of Designated Inspectors, meeting records, or annual reports.”
📄 FOI2025-017 Internal Review Decision
Timeline: AWAC est. Feb 2022 → DI system Apr 2023 → FOI Jul 2025 → Zero records.
Finding: AWAC exists only as oversight theatre — a committee with no enforceable output.
🧾 Contradiction 2 — “The Training That Never Was”
Section titled “🧾 Contradiction 2 — “The Training That Never Was””📘 Official Promise (2023)
Section titled “📘 Official Promise (2023)”Source: DPIRD FAQ – Animal Welfare and Trespass Legislation Changes
“Designated inspectors have received extensive training … DPIRD ensures that all inspectors are appropriately skilled, trained and supported … a risk-based, proactive inspection regime will monitor compliance.”
🕳️ FOI Reality (2025)
Section titled “🕳️ FOI Reality (2025)”Sources: FOI2025-017 and FOI2025-008
- ∅ No SOPs or training records
- ∅ No risk frameworks or performance metrics
- 35 intensive facility inspections in 3 years (≈ 12 per year statewide)
📄 FOI Document 1 – Inspection Summary
Finding: No training, no system, no proactive regime — only the illusion of one.
🧮 Contradiction 3 — The 52 Recommendations Betrayal
Section titled “🧮 Contradiction 3 — The 52 Recommendations Betrayal”📘 Official Promise (June 2021)
Section titled “📘 Official Promise (June 2021)”Source: WA Government Response to Independent Review (2020)
“The McGowan Government generally accepts the findings … and supports the recommendations.”
🕳️ Parliamentary Reality (Sept 2025)
Section titled “🕳️ Parliamentary Reality (Sept 2025)”Amanda Dorn (AJP): > “Four years on, none have been enacted.”
📄 Chief Animal Protection Officer Bill (2025)
🕳️ FOI Reality
Section titled “🕳️ FOI Reality”“Documents do not exist in respect to training standards or independent oversight of training.”
📄 FOI2025-017 Internal Review Decision
Finding: Government used the 2020 Review as political theatre; zero implementation followed.
🧱 Contradiction 4 — Transparency as Trespass Justification
Section titled “🧱 Contradiction 4 — Transparency as Trespass Justification”📘 Official Promise (April 2023)
Section titled “📘 Official Promise (April 2023)”Attorney General John Quigley + DPIRD FAQ
“Animal advocates will no longer be able to use lack of transparency … The Amending Act enables a proactive modern compliance regime.”
📄 Government Media Statement (2023)
📄 DPIRD FAQ (2023)
🕳️ FOI Reality (2025)
Section titled “🕳️ FOI Reality (2025)”- ∅ No inspection schedules, risk models, or monitoring frameworks
- 12 intensive facility inspections per year for hundreds of sites
📄 FOI Document 1 – Inspection Summary
Finding: Public “transparency swap” was fiction. Trespass penalties delivered; oversight was imagined.
🧩 Contradiction 5 — The “Modern Compliance Regime” Fiction
Section titled “🧩 Contradiction 5 — The “Modern Compliance Regime” Fiction”📘 Official Promise (2023)
Section titled “📘 Official Promise (2023)”“The operation of a modern and effective compliance monitoring regime requires designated inspectors to enter at any time.”
🕳️ FOI Reality
Section titled “🕳️ FOI Reality”- ∅ No risk protocols, no inspection schedule, no metrics
- 23 facility inspections per year (average 2022–2025)
📄 FOI Decision and Summary
Finding: Legal powers were created without systems to use them.
Not failure — deliberate non-implementation disguised as reform.
🔁 Pattern of Deception (2001–2025)
Section titled “🔁 Pattern of Deception (2001–2025)”| Stage | Apparent Action | Hidden Reality |
|---|---|---|
| 1️⃣ Create Oversight Bodies | AWAC, DI system announced | Non-statutory and undocumented |
| 2️⃣ Make Public Assurances | “Extensive training”, “proactive regime” | No records of any implementation |
| 3️⃣ Implement Nothing | – | Section 26: No documents exist |
| 4️⃣ Use Illusion to Repress | Trespass penalties justify opacity | Transparency criminalized |
Trade-off sold: Citizens lose right to document → Government provides oversight.
Trade-off delivered: Citizens criminalized → Oversight non-existent.
🧠 Structural Meaning
Section titled “🧠 Structural Meaning”This is not incompetence.
It is architected illusion — a fraud of governance where:
- Oversight bodies simulate accountability
- FOI proves those bodies produce no records
- “Modern reform” becomes a language mask for systemic inaction
If a private entity made claims this false to secure advantage, it would be fraud.
Here, it is policy.
Archival Note
All claims and quotations sourced from Hansard, official media releases, and FOI responses.
Absence is treated as evidence only where formally verified under Section 26 of the Freedom of Information Act 1992 (WA).If any document exists contradicting these findings, its production through FOI would be the most welcome correction possible.