Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

The fact is we should not go down the road of saying that this place should replace appropriate judicial processes, or pass resolutions calling upon people who have legal rights and who are entitled to get legal advice which is not prejudiced by any decision of this parliament. I said yesterday that if any of the allegations—which are serious—against the member for Dobell are proven, then he should face the full force of the law. But it is not up to this parliament to determine what those circumstances are. It is not up to this parliament to make judgements about a whole range of issues or legal actions which are before the court, whether they concern members of the government, members of the opposition or crossbenchers—either the member for Indi or any other member of parliament. It is not up to us to go down that track.

I would have thought that the Leader of the Opposition understood that, given his history of understanding the importance of independent judicial processes, rather than assuming that allegations, once made, are proven. That is why we should reject the suspension of standing orders. The member for Dobell has indicated that he will make a statement before the parliament; it should be left at that. Think about the consequences of a majority government being able to make decisions in their tactics committee about doing things which change the democratically elected balance of a parliament. Think about the consequences of that. That is why this suspension motion should not be supported.

See this speech in context