Page 15 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 14 February 2012
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But Garrett Purtill, who is the branch president of the Labor Party, worked in her office for what—for about four years, Chief Minister? Now I believe he works in Dr Bourke’s office. So it is okay for the Labor Party to have their president working for the Chief Minister and for a minister, but not for the Liberal Party to have their president working for Mr Seselja. I do not understand the hypocrisy here, because that is what it is. Often we will look over at those benches and we will see the president of the Labor Party, who is also a staff member in this place, sitting there basically doing both roles.
I have been to briefings, Mr Speaker, where Garrett Purtill as a staffer for either Ms Gallagher or Dr Bourke is present providing a role with bureaucrats and myself. But he is also sitting there with everybody knowing that he is the president of the Labor Party. Let us be quite clear: this is not an issue that affects just the Liberal Party. This has an impact on all the political parties here and it does not make Ms Gallagher or Dr Bourke unethical or immoral because they are simply doing exactly what the Liberal Party is doing.
We have seen Labor Party candidates preselected and endorsed, as they were back in December, continuing to work in the office of Ms Gallagher. Indeed, Ms Drake, who was preselected as a Labor Party candidate, went on a tour of health facilities with me in her role as an adviser to Ms Gallagher. There am I walking around health facilities with someone who is also, quite publicly, a Labor Party candidate. That is okay for the Labor Party, but it would not be appropriate for the Liberal Party.
We know that Ms Porter’s husband worked for her for a great number of years and now works for the ACT public service. Where does this line stop? If your partner, your sister, your spouse, works for the ACT public service, is that immoral? Is that unethical? Is that inappropriate? I believe that there are people who have family members working in the ACT public service in their own directorates. Is that immoral? Is that unethical? There are people here who have spouses or partners who are working—
Mr Hargreaves: Point of order, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Yes. Order! One moment, Mr Hanson. Stop the clocks, thank you. Mr Hargreaves, on a point of order?
Mr Hargreaves: Yes, Mr Speaker. Mr Hanson has been talking, for the last 45 seconds or so, about such things as Ms Porter’s spouse—that sort of thing. There is nothing in this motion which talks about that aspect of staff engagement, Mr Speaker. So I would ask you to ask Mr Hanson, as you did in fact with the Chief Minister, to address his remarks to the motion at hand.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Mr Hanson?
MR HANSON: On the point of order, Mr Speaker, quite clearly this is about an alleged conflict of interest. Mr Hargreaves in his opening remarks made extensive comments about the fact that the president of the Liberal Party is working for
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