Page 706 - Week 02 - Thursday, 23 February 2012
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you allow someone like John Hargreaves, after all that he has done, to continue on.” The only time any action is taken, the only time he has actually resigned from anything in recent times, is because there has been an attack or an exposure of disloyalty.
Remember yesterday we were in this place and we were talking about his disgusting behaviour with the Tuggeranong Community Council. We saw the Labor Party defend him, but once there is an exposure that he has been disloyal to one of his mates then Katy Gallagher actually says: “Well, you know, he shouldn’t be the government whip anymore. We’ll strip him of that $10,000 allowance.”
It seems that if John Hargreaves wants to attack the community or attack Vicki Dunne or attack Amanda Bresnan he can get away with it, but if he wants to attack one of his own mates then there are repercussions. An internal Labor attack results in something—a bit of a slap over the wrist for Mr Hargreaves. Well, it has to be broadened. We have to say as an Assembly what is acceptable in this place. If the Labor Party and the Greens think it is acceptable to write notes ridiculing your own members and pass those notes across the Assembly—on the back of an absolute litany of bad behaviour—then that really sets a new line.
Can you imagine if I had written some note ridiculing another member of the Liberal Party based on something like sexuality or ethnic background or gender—whatever it might be—and made a joke about that and then gone over the road and peddled that to Simon Corbell? Can you imagine how odd that would seem and how bizarre it would be? Can you imagine Katy Gallagher’s rightful outrage that that sort of stuff was happening?
She will stand up now and try and defend her member and say, “No, this is acceptable behaviour.” But just put that in your mind. Just imagine if Caroline Le Couteur decided that she was going to write some note teasing, ridiculing, slurring Meredith Hunter and then came across here and said, “Ho, ho, isn’t this funny?” and gave it to Brendan Smyth. What would Meredith Hunter think about that? Because that is what has happened in this case.
I would ask you that, when Katy Gallagher or one of the Greens gets up to speak to this matter and says, “Look, this is acceptable,” put the shoe on the other foot and imagine if a Liberal had done that. If one of your own members had done that, how would you feel, Ms Le Couteur? Would you then say, “That person should be representing us sitting in the Speaker’s chair”? No, you would not.
If we do not, as an Assembly, say that Mr Hargreaves should be removed from that position, that he should resign, then we are accepting hypocrisy, we are accepting a double standard and we are accepting a low standard. I do not think that is a low standard that any of us should be accepting.
MR HARGREAVES (Brindabella) (10.21): Before addressing the motion, I would observe, Mr Speaker, that I heard all of Mr Hanson’s speech in silence and I put it on the record that I would ask the opposition to give me the same courtesy.
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