Sophie Mirabella (Indi, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education, Childcare, Women and Youth) Share this | Hansard source

It is not for me to comment on what conversations may or may not have taken place, but I do not envy any members if they did have conversations with or received pressure from other quarters. This is not beyond the realms of possibility. In the event that they did happen, I do feel sorry for them. There are two important elements. The first, the finding of fact, is outlined in paragraph 1.15:

The Member for Robertson, in a reference clearly made to the Member for Indi who was heavily pregnant, said, as recorded by Hansard and noted by the Member for Indi:

“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”

“Evil thoughts make a child a demon”.

The other finding of fact was what I had said, and is outlined in paragraph 1.15:

... the audio of the exchange only reveals the question ‘Are you a man hater?’.

and, in paragraph 1.16:

‘How can you say that?’

which was of course in reference to those particular comments. The other important element of the report that I would like to draw the House’s attention to is the conclusion. The whole reason for this committee’s deliberations—the reasoning, the discussions, the debates, the legal opinions—all resulted in this one conclusion in paragraph 1.25. Of course, we have heard that:

the Committee is constrained by the very tight interpretation that surrounds a finding of deliberate misleading.

It goes on to say:

However, the Committee observes that the Member for Robertson’s responses in the Main Committee fall below the standards expected of a member and do not reflect well upon her.

I thank the committee for having the courage to make those comments. I am sure that the people of Robertson and the people of Australia will make a judgement upon these matters.

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