Page 5966 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 8 December 2010
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Of course, this works both ways. It leads us to speculate on what this minister has to hide, on what the department has to hide, on what would be found out through an inquiry. We do not know what that might be. It leads us to speculate. On the flip side, of course, it puts a cloud over a whole class of people. We know that that whole class of people would not have been involved in bullying and inappropriate behaviour. But there are enough allegations to suggest that there are some serious problems, enough that the minister was forced to have an inquiry. Now that whole class of people has had a cloud put over them. That is one of the great shames of the way this has been handled.
Mr Hanson and the Canberra Liberals will not simply accept the word of this government. There is no doubt that we see again the Greens accepting the word of this government. We see it on so many things. Ms Bresnan, in the media this week, has been the chief defender of this government, extraordinarily so. It is extraordinary that Ms Bresnan would be the one who is sent out to defend Katy Gallagher. You have got to ask yourself the question: why is it that the Greens and the Labor Party always want things to be done in secret? What is their aversion to public inquiries? What is their aversion to transparency and accountability? They always choose the secret path. They choose the cover-up.
Ms Bresnan and the Greens have backed this approach to the hilt. They have backed this approach, even to the extent of the amendment from Ms Bresnan. The Canberra Liberals will not rest. We will not just accept the word of the government. This minister and this government have shown that we should not accept their word.
Ms Gallagher: What are you going to do?
MR SESELJA: I will tell you what, we are not going to stop here. We are not going to be like the Greens and say, “Oh, well, the government has told us it’s all okay. We’ll all move on now.” There are a lot of disaffected people as a result of this minister’s actions and as a result of her department’s actions. We will not stop simply because the Greens and the Labor Party combine their numbers in the Assembly. We will come back and we will continue to prosecute in this place, because this is a cover-up.
Katy Gallagher can sit there across the chamber and smugly ask, “What are you going to do? What are you going to do?” She has covered this up. We will pose the question again and we will speculate on the reasons for that. Why is she so desperate to cover it up? What do you have to hide, minister? What do you have to hide? What are you concerned about? Who are you protecting? What are you concerned would come out if there was a genuine, fair dinkum, open inquiry?
It leads a casual observer, an ordinary member of the community, to conclude that you have got something to hide. We heard it when the minister was on radio this week. She sounded weak and she sounded like she had something to hide. I thank Mr Hanson for bringing this forward. We will not rest. We will continue to push for answers, whether the government and the Greens like it or not.
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