Page 2595 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 28 June 2011
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joke they could all share in. Instead of taking action against Mr Hargreaves, the Chief Minister has sought to pretend that this is just one of any number of incidents that occurs in this chamber.
In fact even her apology is not an apology. It says “As leader of the government, I also offer Mrs Dunne my apologies for any offence taken”—not for the disgraceful words themselves, not because she has someone on her team who behaves in this way; she apologises if Mrs Dunne is offended. The apology should go further than that—the apology should actually apologise for the offence itself.
Further to that, Mr Speaker, we have a situation now where the Chief Minister, who was very quick to try and condemn others who had nothing to do with any slurs on her, when there are just as serious slurs in this place, made by members of her team, seeks to do nothing about it. She wants to keep him as whip. I do not believe he should stay as whip. I do not believe that this is behaviour that befits members of this place who are appointed to positions within this place—appointed to positions by the leader of this government, by the leader of the Labor Party.
Mr Speaker, they may well want to sweep this under the carpet. They may well want to offer hollow apologies, apologies for offence taken, but we do not accept that. I do not accept that. It was offensive. We all heard it. We all know he said it. They shared in the joke, and now they want to pretend that it is no different to anything else that goes on in this chamber on any given day. That is not the case. I put to the Assembly, Mr Speaker, how different the response would be if it was someone on this side who had made that comment about one of our colleagues on the other side of the chamber. How different the response would be, and indeed how different the response has been even when there has been nothing at all to suggest that anyone in the Liberal Party has had anything to do with these kinds of slurs.
This is now a test now of character for the Chief Minister. Will she put up with this kind of ongoing behaviour from Mr Hargreaves, who has previous form, and now sits in that whip’s position acting in a most disgraceful behaviour with some of the most disgraceful language we have heard in this place?
Justice and Community Safety—Standing Committee
Scrutiny report 38
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra): I present the following report:
Justice and Community Safety—Standing Committee (performing the duties of a Scrutiny of Bills and Subordinate Legislation Committee)—Scrutiny Report 38, dated 27 June 2011, together with the relevant minutes of proceedings.
I seek leave to make a brief statement.
Leave granted.
MRS DUNNE: Scrutiny report 38 contains the committee’s comments on one bill, 65 pieces of subordinate legislation and nine government responses. The report was
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