Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the following matter involving the Member for Robertson be referred to the Privileges and Members’ Interests Committee:Whether the Member for Robertson has committed contempt of the House:

(1)

when on the evening of Wednesday, 28 May 2008 in a Main Committee debate the Member for Robertson said to the heavily pregnant Member for Indi, that “your child will turn into a demon if you have such evil thoughts”, “you’ll make your child a demon”, “you’ll make your child a demon” and again, “evil thoughts will make your child a demon”;

(2)

when the Member for Indi sought the intervention of the Deputy Speaker and said “I have become increasingly offended and would ask the Member for Robertson to withdraw a comment she made earlier, the comment being: ‘Evil thoughts will turn your child into a demon.’ I ask her to withdraw unreservedly”, the Member for Robertson advised the House, “That statement was not made, so I will not withdraw what the Member imagines she heard.”

(3)

when the Member for Indi pursued the matter, and said to the Member for Robertson, “You made that comment; it was heard by another member as well. You made that comment. I ask you to withdraw,” the Member for Robertson advised the House that, “I did not make the statement that was said to you. You did not hear it correctly”:

That further, when the Member for Robertson rose in the House at 9.01 a.m. on the following morning, Thursday, 29 May 2008 and on indulgence made the following statement:

(4)

[the Member for Robertson]: “Yesterday in the Main Committee there was a robust debate and very many robust interjections with both the Member for Indi and me. The Member much later in the debate interrupted another speaker and asked for some comments I had made to be withdrawn and I did not do so. I have had time to reflect on the incident and, though the comments were not completely accurate, I do unreservedly withdraw any remarks that may have caused offence to the member.”

(5)

that the House notes the Member for Robertson’s assertion that the “comments were not completely accurate” is disputed by the facts, in particular that:

(a)

in addition to the Member for Indi, the Member for Robertson’s ‘demon’ comments were clearly audibly to the Member for Maranoa who was present in the Main Committee the night before; and

(b)

that the audio tape from the Main Committee highlighting the ‘demon’ comments by the Member for Robertson has now been widely broadcast on news services across Australia via the Nine MSN website.

Just before we proceed, I think I am obliged to indicate and make some comment about the length of the motion. This is a process that would have been handled in a different way if precedence was sought and, on that occasion, things would have been read into the record. It is on that basis that I will allow the motion at the length it is. Is the motion seconded?

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

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