Page 1851 - Week 06 - Thursday, 5 June 2014
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MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Corbell on a point of order.
Mr Corbell: Madam Speaker, the question before the chair is that the report be adopted. I think it is unhelpful that Mr Hanson seeks to re-litigate these other arguments that are not directly related to the question before the chair.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Corbell, the question is that the report be adopted. But the report that we are proposing to adopt relates directly to the appointment of someone to the Fringe Festival and relates directly to what was said in this chamber about the Fringe Festival. I do not uphold the point of order. The question is the report be adopted, Mr Corbell.
Mr Corbell: Thank you, Madam Speaker. This is a—
MADAM SPEAKER: Hang on!
MR HANSON: Excuse me, I am speaking.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Hanson has not finished.
Mr Corbell: I beg your pardon; I misunderstood, Madam Speaker.
MADAM SPEAKER: It is all right. Mr Hanson.
MR HANSON: As a point of clarification for the minister, I will state it again: I stand by my comments. I stand by those made by Mr Smyth and Mrs Jones, who have been named. I see this as an exercise in grandstanding. We know that the individual concerned seeks notoriety. We know that he has been a problem for this government, and he will continue to be no doubt while those opposite support him in their endeavours and continue to fund him to run their activities.
What I would say on behalf of the community, on behalf of the chair of the Multicultural Forum, who said that this caused offence, is that we should not have a situation where the government is spending money on an event that caused offence to the multicultural community, that results in a Nazi parody at the start of the Multicultural Festival. I believe it is appropriate that the opposition should respond to that. I do not think that it is anything other than grandstanding for somebody to come in here with this right of reply to try to continue the argument.
This is something that we will continue to be happy to have debate on. If the government wants to defend their actions, if they want to defend the actions of Mr Gardner, who they appointed and paid $20,000 of taxpayers’ money to, then let them stand up in this place and say, “Yes, we support everything about this,” because I do not resile one inch from what I and my members have said in this place.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations and Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development) (12.18): Madam Speaker, the standing
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