Page 160 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 16 February 2011
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I also understand that they have their views on the activities in Griffith, and I respect those views. I sincerely respect those views. Any hurt that they may feel is sincerely regretted, and I have to tell you, Mr Speaker, that my heart goes out to them about that. But I have the ability to separate two issues and Mr Doszpot clearly does not. Mr Speaker, he really does not. The so-called facts that he put on the table are not substantiated. The national Crime Commission comment afterwards was not substantiated. It was an opinion offered by a so-called expert with not one shred of fact to back it up.
Mr Grassby was acquitted, Mr Doszpot says, on a technicality. Mr Doszpot (1) was not there and (2) would not know a technicality if he fell over it. He is not a judge and should not venture such an opinion under parliamentary privilege in this place. We know that it is not an offence to defame someone who has passed on, but it does not stop these people from defaming somebody’s reputation under the guise of parliamentary privilege. I think that is despicable. I think that is despicable from a person who claims to have the multicultural community’s interests at heart. He actually denigrates his own standing on that and I think that is sad. I really do think it is sad.
I am also saddened that Ms Bresnan has decided that it is appropriate to support the exclusion of the terms “different cultural, religious and ethnic communities”. I am saddened by that. I am also saddened by the lack of recognition that this government has done something in the past. That saddens me. I do not know what threat this particular amendment of mine to Mr Doszpot’s amendment is so important as to exclude those particular words.
The only thing I can think of in terms of Mr Doszpot is relevance deprivation. He has got to have his little fingerprint on it. I was quite happy to go with that by amending his amendment. I was happy to do that. If Mr Doszpot wants to feel important, I am quite happy to let him feel important. Ms Bresnan put her finger on it fairly early on when she said that it is not about us; it is about the communities themselves. She talked about engaging with them to see how we can go further in these things. Nobody is not going to support that, I would hope.
Before I took over, Mr Speaker, the previous Liberal government did absolutely nothing by way of policies and initiatives and they claim to have initiated the National Multicultural Festival under the Carnell government. It was the Carnell government that really killed off a good sized couple of festivals in this town, and it was the Carnell government that nearly killed this other one off—the National Multicultural Festival—as well, as it was going to be absorbed into the Canberra Day festivals. It was us that stopped it.
Mr Doszpot says: “You’ve stretched it out. It was over nine days and now it’s down to 2½ days.” The same number of people came and the same number of people actually provided the food, the dance and the entertainment. Mr Speaker, get this, the last time it was over nine days those stall holders had to operate for two days each of two weekends. That was four days. They had to pay for the tents for four days. This time they did it for two days, and they made more money this time than they have ever done in the past. I gave you a demonstration of that when I indicated how much
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