Page 500 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 10 February 2009
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MR HANSON: So there has been pressure building on this government, building on both Mr Hargreaves and Mr Corbell. They are all matters that need to be made clear and laid bare before the Assembly as they illustrate why he made those comments and why he was a minister under pressure. When that pressure came, he tried to distract and deflect criticism of himself and put the blame essentially on two people who could not answer. He was the Attorney-General and the two prisoners in question could not have right of reply.
The first warning bell about this whole saga was in mid-2007, when the Human Rights Commissioner declared that the BRC was inhumane. The minister who spent so much time bleating about human rights requirements and standards in the community is the man—
Mr Corbell: Who opposed replacing the facility?
Mr Hargreaves: He did.
Mr Corbell: You hypocrites. You hypocrites.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
MR HANSON: who allowed a human rights breach to occur.
Mrs Dunne: Point of order, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Mrs Dunne.
Mrs Dunne: Twice the Attorney-General called Mr Hanson a hypocrite. He should withdraw.
Mr Corbell: I did not call Mr Hanson a hypocrite; I called all the Liberal Party a hypocrite. But I withdraw the comments.
MR SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Corbell. Mr Hanson.
MR HANSON: The point is that it was on his watch that this breach of human rights occurred. What is worse is that the government have failed to do anything about it. For 18 months they have not acted. They have done absolutely nothing.
Mr Corbell: Who opposed building the prison?
MR HANSON: They have been sitting on their hands waiting—
Mr Corbell: What was your solution? Not to build the remand centre. Not build the prison.
MR HANSON: These are the sort of comments you will get, the defence of their own performance that they made in the media that caused the problems that Mr Corbell finds himself in.
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