Page 3533 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 18 August 2010
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MR HARGREAVES: Thank you very much. We have to ask the point—
Mr Hanson: You are rambling, Johnno.
MR HARGREAVES: I am rambling? Listen to this. The Midnight Rambler over there talks to me about rambling. The issue—
Mr Barr: Very good Rolling Stones references.
MR HARGREAVES: Thank you very much, Mr Barr. The real issue is that these people have sprung to the defence of the former Chief Minister in this place against the Greens. They have, under the guise of parliamentary privilege, used this motion to say, “Let’s be concerned about the Australian Greens party this, the Australian Greens party that.” I am exposing this for the fraud that it is. It is a fraud. This is an abuse of the parliamentary privilege of this place.
Mr Seselja: On a point of order, Madam Assistant Speaker, it is completely disorderly and irrelevant for Mr Hargreaves to be debating whether this motion is in order. If he wants to move that the motion is out of order, he should do so. Otherwise, it is irrelevant and disorderly for him to be claiming that, because this was listed on the notice paper with the consent of all parties.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Thank you, Mr Seselja. There is no point of order. Mr Hargreaves, you have the floor.
MR HARGREAVES: Thank you very much, Madam Assistant Speaker. The real issue here is that those opposite are attacking the Greens’ policy. It refers in paragraph (h) to the policy of the Australian Greens party to lower childcare ratios. Right? We are talking about the policy of the Australian Greens party that would gut funding to non-government schools. This is really just a thinly veiled attempt to protect Gary Humphries from the immediate attack from the Greens party on Senator Humphries’ position. It is as simple as that.
Do you know what this is? This is quacking like a duck. It walks like a duck, it quacks like a duck. Guess what? It has got ducked! It is well and truly ducked. Your whole scheme of things is well and truly ducked. There is nothing you can do that can rescue your position. You are just a bunch of six musketeers coming out of your corner trying to protect Gary Humphries from Lin Hatfield Dodds. In the meantime, you are trying to attack the Greens. You are saying: “We’ll all be rooned. We’ll all be rooned.”
Well, let me tell you, you said we would all be rooned at the beginning of this Assembly. You all said we would live to regret it at the beginning of this Assembly. We have a parliamentary agreement with the Greens, because the Greens have certain things that they feel are beneficial to the community, and so do the Labor Party, and we came together because of that. That is what you are afraid of. You are afraid that the Labor Party and the Greens might have something in common which might work to the good of our community. You are afraid that we will deliver to the community something that will actually benefit them.
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