Page 718 - Week 02 - Thursday, 23 February 2012
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shoe on the other foot, do you think this bloke would stay in the Liberal Party? He would be given the flick, as he should be, because what we have seen is repeated abhorrent behaviour from John Hargreaves. But he continues on because they just cannot get rid of him.
What we have seen from some of those opposite is an attempt to turn this into a gay rights debate, and it is not. This is singularly about Mr Hargreaves’s behaviour. So do not get sucked into thinking this is a debate about gay marriage or gay rights or anything else. This is about a nasty, nasty little note that Mr Hargreaves sent to Mr Coe to ridicule his colleague. That is what it is. And as much as Ms Gallagher and as much as Mr Barr would like to turn this into a broader debate about gay rights issues, it is not. This is singularly about Mr Hargreaves’s repeated poor performance, about his repeated slurs, about his demeaning characterisation of Mr Barr.
It does not matter whether it be on gay issues or on sexist issues or on ageist issues, it is about that behaviour and it is about the behaviour that means he is not suitable to be an Assistant Speaker. And we have already acknowledged he should not be the government whip. As Ms Gallagher said, that is a position of authority within the Assembly. She said he should not be in that position. So why should he be in the position of Assistant Speaker? It is entirely contradictory.
Mr Barr has stood up to try to excuse it. If I was Mr Barr, I would be pretty angry, because what you can see is Mr Hargreaves going behind his back, sniping at him. He said it is more like something from an episode of The Office. And he is probably quite right, because Mr Hargreaves is turning this place into a joke. He is turning it into a joke, where you can get away with any sort of behaviour, you can make a mockery of your colleagues, you can make a mockery of the forms of this place, you can make a mockery of community organisations and get away with it.
I think you are right, Mr Barr. I think if we continue to allow Mr Hargreaves to sit in the chair as Assistant Speaker we do look a bit like an episode of The Office or any other sitcom, because that is the way it looks to those out there in the community: a big joke. And for you guys over there, that is what the Labor Party is starting to look like.
My concern here is about what we look like as MLAs and our position and credibility within the community. But you lot have to consider how this makes the rest of you look. I can assure you that you are starting to look like a bit of a joke as well. If you think that this looks like an episode of The Office, you are spot-on, and I can tell you the people down in the Tuggeranong Community Council and other areas will be saying, “Yes, they are a joke,” and they are not talking about all MLAs, they are talking about the Labor Party.
You know it. You have come down here and you have made your attack on the Liberal Party. You have tried to make this Alistair Coe’s fault. It is apparently now Alistair Coe’s fault because John Hargreaves gave him the message, wrote him a note, and somehow Katy Gallagher thinks now it is Alistair Coe’s problem, which is just bizarre. And if you want to see political spin, that is political spin at its height.
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