Page 286 - Week 01 - Thursday, 16 February 2012
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and laughed their way through this, and then Ms Burch hurriedly got up and made some feeble attempt at distancing herself. She did not know whether to back him up or to march away from him at a fierce rate of knots. Ms Burch can speak for herself, and she should stand up and decry what was said and she should demand an apology. She should censure Mr Hargreaves, and she should vote to remove him from his position as government whip.
This is about standards, Mr Speaker. It is about maintaining a standard that, in this place for the 23-odd years that it has existed, has been set at a pretty reasonable level. We all have outbursts; we all have bad days. Mr Hargreaves can explain the reason why he felt the need to come down in that way, particularly as he could have come down during the debate and had a reasonable say but chose not to. He did not come down and join in the debate about his electorate, but he came down to slag off in such a vicious way at the people who actually do a lot of the work on behalf of the community for no return at all. If a cup of tea at the Southern Cross Club on a Tuesday night is your return then that is about all they get.
It is time we set a standard. It is time this man goes. It is time the Chief Minister tells us what she believes in.
MR HARGREAVES (Brindabella) (10.19): I have been expecting this since Tuesday. In fact, I have been expecting this since last Friday.
Members interjecting—
MR SPEAKER: Order! Let us not start with the interjections.
MR HARGREAVES: Mr Speaker, I did hear those opposite in absolute silence, and I would ask that they extend the same courtesy to me.
Last night I came down to this chamber after hearing catcalls from those opposite whilst I was working and whilst I was watching the proceedings on the TV set. They almost all called on me to do this, that and the other. I have been here for 14½ years, and some of the accusations that have come across the chamber about me would make your hair stand on end. They have been the most personal attacks. They have been the most personal attacks at times. It was uncalled for but it is just so typical.
What we are seeing here is a group of people who are in a corner and they are lashing out, trying to create as much smoke as they can, trying to kill messengers, trying to bring somebody else into this vortex of community disapproval that they have created themselves. As I said, I have been expecting this because they would be thrashing around trying to find some way that they can actually bring me to my heels. I have to say they have not done that.
I need to put a couple of things on the record. Mr Smyth said that I was dismissed from the ministry twice. That is actually not true. For the record, let me refresh the memory of those members opposite who were here at the time—and not all of them were—that in the first instance I transgressed and I came in here before the police were involved and resigned at the time. I challenge any of those people opposite to
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