Page 3209 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 16 August 2011
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other members of the backbench would replace Mr Rattenbury. The discussions have been had, and it is quite clear—Mr Seselja made it quite clear—that we would be prepared to support a member of the Labor Party to replace Mr Rattenbury. That offer has been made, the discussions have been had, and the Labor Party has turned down an opportunity to have one of its own look after this Assembly. I am quite confident that one of the current backbenchers could do a better job in upholding the rule of law than the current Speaker does.
MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (10.58): I would just like to re-emphasise some of the points that have been made by Ms Hunter today. The Greens will not be supporting this motion from Mr Seselja. Still we have not heard anything from any of the Liberal Party members today about Mr Pratt—that same Mr Pratt who said he was going to chain himself to a bulldozer, which I would imagine would have the perception of breaking the laws we have been talking about. And there is also the fact that he destroyed property. We still have not heard anything from any of the Liberal Party members about that one. We have had Mrs Dunne talk about rank hypocrisy. For me, that is the biggest example of rank hypocrisy that we have seen today.
I will go back to your quote, Mr Speaker, where you said:
… my commitment to the rule of law is also strong … It is for the courts to review the context of what took place and administer a penalty consistent with the community’s values.
I heard that interview, and you, Mr Speaker, have been consistent in saying that it is about upholding the law and that the actions taken by Greenpeace in this instance would mean they would have to face the full consequences of the law. That has been consistently stated throughout this whole debate.
I also go back to the issues Ms Hunter raised about civil disobedience. Of course, I was expecting that we would hear this statement from one of the Liberal Party members, but it took a couple of speakers to get to Mrs Dunne to somehow suggest that we are equating what you had said, Mr Speaker, in line with the actions of Martin Luther King. I know it is a concept that is a little bit too complex for the Liberal Party to get their heads around—they are not known for getting their heads around the detail and complexities of issues—but it is actually about the issue of civil disobedience and the role that peaceful civil disobedience plays in the history of many countries. In fact, it has played a major role in the history of Australia.
I will go to a quote from James Goodman in a speech about civil disobedience at a forum which took place in New South Wales which I think encapsulates what we are talking about here today:
People engaging in civil disobedience believe in the rule of law, and expect to be arrested for breaking it. They also believe in moral principles, political conscience, and in the public good. They act on those principles, for the public good, and are prepared to suffer the consequences.
I will list a few examples of defining moments in Australian political history where acts of civil disobedience have played a major part in changing laws in this country, and I reinforce that point. These are the 1965 freedom rides, the 1966 Gurindji walk-
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