Wednesday, 30 August 2023

Grievance debate

Member conduct

James NEWBURY (Brighton) (16:01): I grieve for the people of Victoria because they are seeing a Parliament led by a Labor government turn their great place, their great Parliament, into a rotten place, where behaviour that is being perpetrated by some is completely unacceptable and not of the standard that would be expected by the Victorian community – behaviour that is rotten. Partly we are seeing a government that has the wrong priorities, a government that is focusing on not the needs and concerns of Victorians but its own nest, but also a government that is allowing behaviour that could only be described as rotten. We have seen that most recently and most egregiously in relation to allegations against one of the members in this place, and I am sure that many felt completely distressed by the allegations that were made and, sadly, the allegations that followed. We read reports of the government holding meetings with its members where members of the government I understand raised concerns about the behaviour of the member for Sunbury or the member for Narre Warren South.

Anthony Carbines: On a point of order, Speaker, the member for Brighton knows well, if he wants to make allegations and wants to cast aspersions on members in this place, he should do it by substantive motion. He should not do it in this way, and he should be made to withdraw.

James NEWBURY: On the point of order, Speaker, for clarity, there was no aspersion cast. If the minister feels that there are questions to be answered by the members and he is putting that to the house, that is completely within his remit. I referred to two members, and that is all.

The SPEAKER: The member for Brighton has not cast any aspersions, and I would caution members, within this grievance debate, about impugning members of Parliament.

James NEWBURY: Hear, hear. I accept your ruling. I completely understand your ruling, and I certainly have not done that in referring to media reports recently that referred to a number of members, their behaviour and concerns that were raised by both members and staff in relation to this place. I completely understand why those issues were raised, and I understand that members raised at that time, as has been ventilated in the house and publicly, ways that the Parliament could do better to ensure that this place is not a rotten place and ensure that behaviour is not allowed to be rotten around this place.

When you look at proposals for parliamentary integrity commissioners, which are sitting somewhere on someone’s desk, getting dust on someone’s desk, when you look at potential codes of conduct that sit on people’s desks gaining dust – I mean, some of us remember the suggestion for members to be tested for alcohol on the way into the building, and of course that was famously put on someone’s desk. But in a number of ways over recent years we have seen a government actively stopping any oversight of poor behaviour, and in fact I would submit to the house that in doing so it has allowed that behaviour to flourish. As a member of this place I do not want to see that. I know that all of us in the coalition do not want to see that. We saw a terrible example in the last Parliament of one member behaving inappropriately in his office, and that issue was made public at the time in relation to his behaviour, the use of his office and his interpersonal relationships in his office. This type of behaviour is rotten. It is wrong.

Taxpayers put us into this place and provide resources so that we can work on their behalf, and I am certain that the majority of members of this Parliament work seven days a week. They set aside time that they could be spending with family, they miss important occasions, they miss time with their children regularly and they miss important events, so when these things happen all of us feel ashamed by what has been allowed to flourish by the few.

The Premier, as the leader of the government, has the power to make changes, to bring about reforms and to ensure that he does not oversee a rotten place, a place not only where behaviour is rotten but where committee processes have been bastardised. The have been absolutely politicised. We know it not just because the allegations are made, we know it because senior Victorian figures have raised those concerns. We saw it with the Integrity and Oversight Committee – allegations of leaking and conspiring. It is outrageous to think that a committee of this place would be politicised in that way – absolutely outrageous. We now see other committees being what could best be described as totally deconstructed, politicised committees. It is a sad thing to know that our committee system has broken down to a point where the government of the day has no semblance of interest in conducting committee work, genuine committee work, conducting work on behalf of Victorians, and instead allows these committees to be politicised. So it is not just about behaviour, it is the way that the government has allowed the systems of this place to degrade. Part of the reason we are seeing that is because the government is descending into what could only be described as a civil war.

Today we saw an audition of three potential deputy premiers, all of them hopping up at the dispatch box. In my time in this place I have never seen three ministers refer to more members of their backbench and compete to refer to more members of their backbench in ministers statements than I did today. I mean, I am not sure what the ministers statements were. All I heard was a list of vote for me, vote for me, vote for me, vote for me from three potential deputy leader candidates. I would say you do not just need to look at question time. I mean, Labor is giving a running commentary in the media of the potential candidates jostling to replace Dan – excuse me, the Premier; I was quoting. I am more than happy to offer that to the minister at the table, the Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, for the house’s assistance – that running commentary of who is jostling to replace the Premier. I am more than happy to table that for the government’s assistance.

We saw that today. As a result we have seen the government descending into some sort of civil war as they work out what is next and who is next. We see members of this place being kicked out of their faction. We see auditioning. We saw the most egregious hit on a minister in recent weeks that I am sure most have seen in this Parliament in some time. It was an extraordinary internal hit on a minister, a minister who was obviously given an opportunity to audition today for Deputy Premier. Sadly, there was an instance where members were signed up, allegedly, to a minister’s branch after they had passed away. How terribly tragic and sad those allegations, if true, are; it is terribly sad that behaviour of that nature could occur.

What was I think most offensive, but in line with what we are seeing in terms of government behaviour and the rottenness of this government, was a 5 o’clock media release saying no-one was to blame. Well, I am sure every Victorian now knows, no matter what allegation is put to Labor, no-one will be to blame. I have never seen such a long media release confirming the body of work that was put into the investigation into the minister, the feverishness of the media release in stating how hard the former member of this place worked to prove that no-one was accountable. That is unfortunately a continual excuse when it comes to rotten behaviour and when it comes to behaviour in this place.

Sadly, it is not just that the Premier will not take responsibility and clean up the rottenness or clean up the systems that he has allowed to degrade; we know that often he does not even turn up to this place. The Premier regularly now will not turn up to this place. When we have divisions in the mornings, he is almost never here. In recent weeks he has not been here for days, and that is a sad reflection on the lack of interest he has in cleaning up what are some of the issues in this place. It is terribly sad.

What I think has happened to the Labor Party is they have been in government now for so long that they have forgotten who they are here to represent. They have forgotten the need to ensure that they uphold good standards in the Parliament, that they ensure that their team upholds good standards in this Parliament, and that is unfortunately not what is happening. We have seen it most outrageously in recent weeks in terms of both the member who is not here today, a member who reportedly has written to the Premier – and I am sure at some point many will want to understand what he has written about – and also other allegations that have been put in Labor meetings around behaviour of other members. It is deeply concerning that in this Parliament and the systems around this place the government has allowed a rottenness to perpetuate, and I know every Victorian is tired of that rottenness. They are tired of that behaviour, and they want to see it cleaned up.