Member conduct
Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (09:55): The Parliament website states that the Legislative Council acts as a ‘house of review’ by ‘scrutinising, debating and … amending or rejecting legislation’. It is our role as members of the crossbench to ask those questions, often brought to us by our constituents. However, discussion is shut down. The opposition and the crossbench members are threatened, bullied, accused and called names both inside and outside this house. Their views are misrepresented by the government. What is even more appalling is that some members are two-faced and call out other members for their behaviour outside the house, and then they are often guilty of the exact same behaviour in this house.
I would like to remind all of us of our responsibilities under the Members of Parliament (Standards) Act 1978:
A Member must be fair, objective and courteous—
(a) in their dealings with the community; and
(b) without detracting from the importance of robust public debate in a democracy, in their dealings with other Members.
So does their behaviour meet these standards? I think so, or I do not think so. Can we please respect one another’s views and treat one another with respect?