Page 469 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 8 March 2006
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MR SMYTH (Brindabella—Leader of the Opposition) (3.34): I am very pleased the Chief Minister has thrown down this gauntlet. I will move an amendment that includes Mr Hargreaves; that all the documents he has in his possession be tabled by 5 o’clock.
Chief Minister, I am the person that rang Commander Connelly and I am the person that rang Chief Police Officer Fagan and reported both incidents. Why? Because ordinary citizens rang me and said that they were not happy with the response.
Mr Stanhope: Ah!
MR SMYTH: The Chief Minister says, “Ah!”
Mr Stanhope: So it is you that told the lies; it is you that passed on the lies.
MR SPEAKER: Withdraw that.
Mr Stanhope: I withdraw that.
MR SMYTH: We have done our bit, Mr Stanhope, unlike your government, to resource the police adequately. This is not an attack on the police. The police do not have the resources to do the job. And it is because of your funding policies that this occurs.
It is interesting that Mr Hargreaves refers to calls that came in from 1.24 onwards. If I can relay what happened in Campbell on the night, we had an 18th birthday, well organised, and well run by the residents. Aware that there is a problem with parties and the invasion of parties by gangs of individuals who are not invited, they arranged for extra adults to be there. They also arranged for a number of taller, larger men to be there to perform the role of bouncer. They had a list of who was allowed in and who was not. They, I understand, put a stamp on the young people’s wrist so that they could come and go as they please. This was a well-organised party. Why? Because if you do not organise like this, often uninvited guests turns up, and what happens is not what people want at their child’s birthday party.
At approximately 10.30—and I will check the times; I have got notes upstairs—a group of individuals invaded the party and were stopped. They were told they were not welcome and were asked to leave. On their way out, they trashed a car; they jumped on its bonnet; they jumped on its roof; they jumped on its boot; they smashed a headlight. That apparently was reported to the police. These individuals returned at approximately 11.30 that night. They tried to climb over the back fence. They could not get in the front door, so they tried to slip over the back fence. Again they were thwarted in their efforts by the adults at the party who were trying to run a decent party for a group of 18-year-olds who simply wished to celebrate the birthday of their friend. Again, I understand, a call was made to the police to alert the police as to what was happening.
The police had at least two calls before the major incident occurred. Mr Stanhope you can smirk; you have been caught out.
Mr Stanhope: I was smirking at you; you are pathetic.
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