Page 2148 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 2 August 2016
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Mr Coe: Or we have been to appropriate channels and they’re investigating right now, as you well know.
MR RATTENBURY: Mr Coe cannot have both sides of the coin. He has come in here and he has had a go at me. He and his colleagues have had a go at me today. I will not respond to the interjections other than to say that I have been very clear about the policy the Greens have brought forward. I have been clear about the track record we have in this place and I have no qualms about the position that we have taken on any of these matters.
MR COE (Ginninderra) (4.43): I had not intended to contribute to this debate, but I think it is important that I respond to what Mr Rattenbury said. There are some mechanisms in the ACT that exist for making some reports of potential or alleged misconduct. These are opportunities that the opposition has used. In actual fact, there are some mechanisms—one, in fact, got reported today—but there are also some other avenues which are being utilised which are investigating some concerns that have been brought to the opposition’s attention and an inquiry is taking place as we speak into these very serious matters. I have not aired them in this place for good reason because there is a mechanism that we are using. It is all very well for Mr Rattenbury to ask me which one is that, asking me to air the very concerns that he told me I should not be airing. The truth is that all of these issues are very complex. We have to be very careful about how we go about litigating these issues.
But, once again, we seem to have a situation whereby the Greens claim to be righteous. They claim to walk both sides of the fence. We do not accept that; we simply do not accept that. We think that there are a number of mechanisms in place at present that can and should be utilised. It is not to say that they are perfect. It is not to say that they cannot be strengthened, but there are, of course, avenues open to all members of this place. If Mr Rattenbury has heard rumours, if Mr Rattenbury is aware of concerns, there are different forums which he can go down to air those in appropriate channels, and I would encourage him to do so.
Discussion concluded.
Family Violence Bill 2016
[Cognate bill:
Personal Violence Bill 2016]
Debate resumed.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (4.46): The Greens support the Family Violence Bill and the Personal Violence Bill. These bills are a further response to the problem of domestic violence, a problem we absolutely agree needs all government efforts to help address. These bills implement recommendations from the Australian Law Reform Commission and the New South Wales Law Reform Commission report on responding to family violence.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video