Page 283 - Week 01 - Thursday, 16 February 2012
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period of time for their input. Indeed, this council have put many submissions in to government inquiries over such a range of issues presenting their community’s view, and they regularly survey the community. They are at things where they have stalls, and they do it voluntarily. The worth of this council is such that they are actually funded by the ACT government. They get funding, as do the other community councils, from the Chief Minister. In a way, it is almost a reflection on the Chief Minister as well and her judgement.
The problem is that he did not just stop at the community council. He then actually attacked an individual who has great respect in his immediate community—the community of Tharwa—and the individual he attacked was Val Jeffery. He attacked Val Jeffery, I assume, because it is politics. It is just politics. But I do not recall an attack of this nature. Anybody can correct me, and Mr Corbell has been here a bit longer than me, but I have never heard an individual who is not even in a party, let alone not pre-selected or a member, attacked in this way.
What did he say about Mr Jeffery? He did not talk about Mr Jeffery’s 60 or so years in the volunteer bushfire service. Forget that. He did not talk about Mr Jeffery on the night before the big fires virtually saving Tharwa by ordering a controlled burn against the directions of the ESA. He did not talk about the support his family has given to the community down there through the running of their shop for decades. He did not talk about Mr Jeffery’s unofficial title as the mayor of Tharwa. No. what did he say? He said: “They got to say, is a person being honest when they say they are independent? Do they say that? They don’t. And we all know, Mr Speaker, now that Mr Jeffery has outed himself as a closet Liberal. He is not a closet Liberal, Mr Speaker. He comes from a water closet, Mr Speaker.”
This is just disgraceful. It is appalling that we are forced to do this, but there has been a pattern of behaviour that we are all aware of over the years from Mr Hargreaves. It is time this behaviour stopped, whether it be the unfortunate incident over the drink driving when he was removed as a minister or when he was cautioned for sexist comments. He was told he is on his last chance, but no, that did not stop him. He gets powered up, he gets worked up, he comes down here, he has his spit and he wanders away.
Members of the government sat there and laughed. Ms Burch got up afterwards and tried, I think, to dissociate herself by saying: “I go to the community council. It’s okay.” Well, if you do not condemn this today, Ms Burch, if you do not vote for this motion, what you do is condone and confirm what was said by Mr Hargreaves as something you believe. This is reprehensible. This is not what privilege was designed for. It is certainly not what the adjournment debate was designed for. The pattern of behaviour that has now existed for some years must come to an end.
This becomes a leadership challenge for Ms Gallagher. This is the government that said they would be more honest, more open, more accountable. This is the new era. Well, here is a test for the new era. Is this the sort of behaviour that the Chief Minister will countenance from her government? Is this the sort of behaviour to be countenanced by an office holder of the government—the government whip?
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