Page 3873 - Week 10 - Thursday, 27 August 2009
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Mrs Dunne: Point of order, Madam Assistant Speaker: I would like to stand up and tell Mr Hargreaves he is wrong.
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: That is no point of order, Mrs Dunne.
MR HARGREAVES: That is a vexatious point of order. I suggest that you name Mrs Dunne—although I should not want to name Mrs Dunne at all; there is an old adage in politics: “Don’t name your opponents.” I have got lots of names, but I will not use any of them.
That is what it is all about. Mr Smyth cannot raise any money any more, because Jim Murphy has left him out in the cold. So he says, “If I can’t raise any money, nobody can.” That is what he is doing.
Mr Coe: What have you got against Jim Murphy?
MR HARGREAVES: What has he got against Jim Murphy? I think he has got great judgement to abandon you lot; that is what I think. I did not think much of his judgement before that, but when he walked I thought, “What good judgement you have got. It is great.” That is why you are all spewing.
Quite frankly, this is just a taste of Brendan Smyth spewing. Let him do it, but I do not think this chamber will take him very seriously at all.
MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (4.52): We did not get the clarification that Mr Hargreaves apparently jumped to his feet for. He had the opportunity to tell us what he meant when he said that this was none of his business, referring to the CEO of the Gambling and Racing Commission. I do not know what Mr Hargreaves meant when he said that, but he clearly said it across the chamber. He has not clarified. He took the best part of 10 minutes and did not clarify.
It does partly go to the heart of this motion. This is a minister of this government already seeking to give direction. He is already seeking to give direction to this public servant about his inquiry. He is saying it is none of his business—none of his business. That is what Mr Hargreaves has said in relation to the CEO of the Gambling and Racing Commission. He has had the opportunity to clarify it, and he has not clarified it. He is seeking to give direction to the CEO of the Gambling and Racing Commission. I would have thought that the sale of clubs, the transfer of licences and all that goes with that would be very much the business of the Gambling and Racing Commission—would very much be the business of the CEO of the Gambling and Racing Commission.
This inquiry—I thank Mr Smyth for bringing this forward—is important. It is important that we inquire into these matters. There are a number of questions that have been raised. There are a number of questions that have been raised in relation to the proposed sale and how that has the potential to impact, particularly, on the community’s goodwill towards community-based gaming.
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