Speaker 1: BKFC if I can change gears. BKFC Beatical Fighting Championships
Speaker 1: are advertising on their website, Minister that they will be
Speaker 1: in Perth on July the nineteenth, that's forty seven days away.
Speaker 1: Is it going ahead? Do you think?
Speaker 2: Well? It's going The event has to be sanctioned by
Speaker 2: the Combat Sports Commission. So there's two stages of this.
Speaker 2: This was first whether the sport can be allowed in
Speaker 2: the state, and that was something that has been signed
Speaker 2: off by the previous Minister signed off, so the sport
Speaker 2: is allowed. And then there's the actual event. And so
Speaker 2: what the proponents have to do is put forward to
Speaker 2: the Combat Sports Commission what is involved, and then the
Speaker 2: Commission either approves or doesn't approve it. As I understand
Speaker 2: this often happens with these types of activity, is that
Speaker 2: they start promoting while they're still trying to secure the
Speaker 2: approval from the Commission.
Speaker 1: So I think Bob Coultures, the chair last time I
Speaker 1: spoke to you said you'd met with him and Anthony
Speaker 1: Grover and some other other people from the Commission. It's
Speaker 1: a nine person commission. Can you or the premier still
Speaker 1: exercise of veto and are you is it? I mean,
Speaker 1: given the look of the sport and what it actually involves,
Speaker 1: is it something that you're comfortable with having here.
Speaker 2: Well, I think the Premier used these words and it's
Speaker 2: probably the words that I'll use. It's not my cup
Speaker 2: of tea. But similar to the discussion and the debate
Speaker 2: around cage fighting, all the Octagon, MMA and UFC, the
Speaker 2: similar arguments were put forward and at that time we
Speaker 2: as a government allowed, of course the Octagon to come
Speaker 2: back to w or to come to WA and now
Speaker 2: we are very much big supporters of UFC and we
Speaker 2: have a welterweight champion and Jack So these same discussions
Speaker 2: we had or as Minister for Sport, I take advice
Speaker 2: from the experts, and the experts from a government perspective
Speaker 2: is a Combat Sport Commission, who have a look at
Speaker 2: the sport, what's happening around the world, have a look
Speaker 2: at the types of regulations you need to make sure
Speaker 2: it's as safe as as possible, and that's what they've done,
Speaker 2: and so they've stipulated a number of key regulations about,
Speaker 2: for example, the experience of the fighters, some other regulations
Speaker 2: about medical practitioners being on site and bring side. So
Speaker 2: I take advice from the Combat Sports Commission, and the
Speaker 2: advice is that they believe with the level of regulations
Speaker 2: they've imposed that it can be undertaken safely in wa
Speaker 2: and that's the advice that I'm sticking to.
Speaker 1: Okay, So is any of the criteria where they assess
Speaker 1: an event to come to perth, is any of that
Speaker 1: community feedback or community opposition? And would you consider that
Speaker 1: is community opposition to an event the fact that you
Speaker 1: or mister Cook would take into a consideration.
Speaker 2: Well, there's a lot of people that I don't like
Speaker 2: combat sports, I'd say that, and so these types of
Speaker 2: events aren't to everyone's liking. I understand that, you know so,
Speaker 2: But in relation to this, it's really about making sure
Speaker 2: that the sport can be regulated. And the other point,
Speaker 2: and I think it's the point that the premiers made
Speaker 2: and other ministers are made that if you don't regulate,
Speaker 2: then things go underground and it's much less safe for
Speaker 2: the competitors. So this is something, as I said, you know,
Speaker 2: I've gone and looked at what's happened around the world.
Speaker 2: It does happen in other places around the world. But
Speaker 2: all I can do is take the advice of the
Speaker 2: of the board and the team that's been appointed to
Speaker 2: give me this advice, and as I said, this is
Speaker 2: the same I mean, I remember just a few years
Speaker 2: ago talking about UFC and some of the same accusations
Speaker 2: made against this event were made against UFC. So I
Speaker 2: take the advice of the Combat Sports Commission seriously. They've
Speaker 2: gone in the created some additional regulations in relations for safety.
Speaker 2: As I said, it's now up to the promoter of
Speaker 2: the event to make sure they satisfy all the regulations
Speaker 2: and rules that the Combat Sports Commission have put in place,
Speaker 2: and that's the work that has to happen now.