Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—on behalf of the member for Cowper, I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that:

(a) prior to the passage of the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987 the Houses of the Australian Parliament had the power to expel a Senator or Member of the House of Representatives;

(b) the expulsion of a Member of this House is the most drastic of sanctions;

(c) on 11 November 1920, the Honourable Member for Kalgoorlie Hugh Mahon was expelled from this House; and

(d) the Honourable Member for Kalgoorlie is the only Member to have ever been expelled from this House;

(2) acknowledges that the Honourable Member for Kalgoorlie Hugh Mahon was expelled:

(a) by a motion brought on hastily and with limited time for debate;

(b) by a vote of the House on party lines; and

(c) without the due process and procedural fairness that such an important issue deserves; and

(3) further recognises that:

(a) it was unjust, on the limited evidence, for the institution to which Hugh Mahon had been democratically elected to reverse the decision of his constituents;

(b) the expulsion of the Honourable Member for Kalgoorlie Hugh Mahon was a misuse of the power then invested in the House; and

(c) for over a century the Mahon family has endured this injustice and it is time that the Parliament revisit the matter of the Honourable Member for Kalgoorlie, Hugh Mahon's expulsion.

There have only been two occasions in the 122-year history of the Australian parliament where the government of the day has won a seat from the opposition at a by-election. It happened earlier this year when Labor's Mary Doyle won the seat of Aston after the resignation of Alan Tudge. It also happened 103 years ago when Hugh Mahon lost the seat of Kalgoorlie after he was effectively dismissed from parliament through a disgraceful and antidemocratic process. It was odd to observe that he was expelled on 11 November 1920, exactly 40 years to the day after Ned Kelly was hanged and 55 years to the day before the dismissal of Gough Whitlam. They were two Australian parliamentarians, in any case, with Irish heritage, Mary Doyle and Hugh Mahon, and two very different sets of circumstances. I'm not expressing a partisan view when I observe that one of those sets of circumstances could be described as fair enough, with the recent by-election and in keeping with Australia's electoral system, and one which occurred to poor old Hugh Mahon 103 years ago represented a great injustice. Hugh Mahon was dismissed as a representative through a partisan process according to a vote on party lines when the conservative government of the day took issue with Mr Mahon's views in relation to the question of Irish independence—

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I need to suspend the House.

Sitting suspended from 19:18 to 19:18

( Quorum formed)

Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I was saying, Hugh Mahon was dismissed as a representative through a partisan process according to a vote on party lines when the conservative government of the day took issue with Mr Mahon's views in relation to the question of Irish independence. He'd given a speech at an event in Melbourne in which he expressed sympathy for the circumstances of the people in Ireland who wanted to be free of British rule, and he supported calls for an Australian republic. At the public meeting, support was provided for three motions or propositions, the last of which read:

That this meeting of Australian citizens, in view of the policy of oppression and tyranny pursued by the English Government in Ireland, and which has brought eternal disgrace upon the whole British Empire, of which Australia forms a part, pledges its support to any movement for the establishment of an Australian republic.

It was in the next parliament sitting week that Prime Minister Billy Hughes responded by moving a motion of his own that read:

That, in the opinion of this House, the honorable Member for Kalgoorlie, the Honorable Hugh Mahon, having, by seditious and disloyal utterances at a public meeting on Sunday last, been guilty of conduct unfitting him to remain a Member of this House and inconsistent with the oath of allegiance which he has taken as a Member of this House, be expelled this House.

The motion was voted upon. Votes were cast on party lines, and Hugh Mahon, who was not even able to be present for the vote, was expelled.

It would seem absolutely extraordinary to Australians today to think that a member of this place would be expelled for noting and endorsing the aspirations of people elsewhere, in terms of their self-determination, or that a person would be expelled for expressing support for the concept of an Australian republic. Of course, a recent prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, was not just a supporter of the Australian republic; he was a founding member of the Australian Republican Movement in 1991.

Hugh Mahon, having been expelled, lost the subsequent by-election and the injustice done to him has never been officially acknowledged. The dangerous partisan expulsion that was inflicted on Hugh Mahon, and effectively inflicted on the people of Kalgoorlie who had elected him, was a harm that was never specifically cured. Thankfully, the process by which Hugh Mahon was so badly mistreated can no longer occur, so at least it has been cured as a general ill. I say 'dangerous' because it should never be the case that the government of the day can expel properly elected members from this place simply because they choose to express opinions with which the government disagrees. That is profoundly antidemocratic.

In truth, the expulsion of Hugh Mahon was a disgrace. The then Leader of the Labor Party, Frank Tudor, said at the time:

Parliament is not a proper tribunal to try a charge of sedition arising from the exercise of civilian rights of free speech at a public assembly of citizens.

It's also a reminder that we should take great care with respecting the rights of all Australians, including parliamentary representatives, to hold and express views that may not suit the prevailing or ruling position, providing, of course, that we participate in debate without descending to incitement, threats, accusations or other kinds of speech that cannot be considered responsible.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fremantle for that very interesting history lesson. Is the motion seconded?

Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next day of sitting.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 19:22