Labor fails in bid to suspend standing orders over Gladys Liu – politics live
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Version 3 of 14. Motion to suspend standing orders ends. Ayes 68 Noes 72 Time on the debate concludes – the divisions begin. Even without Tim Watts, Labor was going to lose this one. Rebekha Sharkie is now speaking on the motion. She says the motion goes to “confidence” of MPs in the parliament and urges the government not to use its numbers to “run a protection racket”. Sharkie says the motion is “simply calling on the member to make a statement” to the parliament, to clear up her comments to Andrew Bolt. “The trust, the confidence, the integrity of this place rides on this matter – don’t think it doesn’t,” Sharkie says. Christian Porter says the motion is an “outrageous slur” on the first Chinese-born MP in the parliament. “At the end of the day, you would have someone excluded from the parliament because of their heritage, and associations with that heritage,” Porter says. Tony Smith has already issued the 94a warning and reminded MPs that they might want to be around for the vote. But they keep going, so Smith then uses it. Tim Watts is kicked out. Christian Porter points out that Chris Bowen travelled to China as a guest of the Guangdong Chamber of Commerce and the Chinese Communist party in 2015. He asks if Bowen is under question for his associations. Christian Porter is up and arguing against the motion. He opens with: It’s pretty awful stuff, isn’t it? It’s pretty awful stuff. Earlier this week we had a condolence for the last living member of the Menzies government, who helped unravel the white Australia policy, and all these years later ... All these years later, this is where we are. What a lovely way to spend the morning. And there are two – there are two fundamental propositions ... There are two propositions that have been put by members opposite. The first proposition is this: Is that if you are associated in any way with one of the three organisations, or, indeed, others like them, that somehow you are not a fit and proper member of parliament. That’s the proposition. And the three organisations ... That’s precisely the proposition that you are putting. And here are the three organisation that is are in question. The Guangdong Overseas Exchange Association. The Australian General Commercial Association. And United Chinese Commerce Association. The fundamental proposition that they are putting is that a Chinese Australian, with a wonderful heritage, who overcame domestic violence, who came to this country, who came to this country and has natural associations with Chinese organisations, by virtue of those associations, is not a fit and proper person to be here. The question is, are you fit and proper people to be here, when you run arguments like that? That’s the central question. For those wondering, there were 1,090 votes in the Chisholm count. I think, after Macquarie, it is the second slimmest margin in the country. Mark Dreyfus says the government needs to hold Gladys Liu to the same standard it held Sam Dastyari: It suited the current prime minister of Australia at that time to say that there was a lack of patriotism on the part of that senator because of the statements that he had made about the conduct of the People’s Republic of China in the South China Sea. Now we have a Liberal member of parliament, a recently elected Liberal member of parliament who has said something virtually identical to the statements made by that former senator. Statements in respect of which that senator ultimately resigned from his position in the Senate. And we’ve had nothing from the prime minister and nothing from the member for Chisholm in relation to this. Instead, she has simply distributed – not come and explained herself to this House – but instead she has simply distributed a written statement that was self-evidently prepared for her by the foreign affairs minister and the Prime Minister’s Office, self-evidently is not in her words, self-evidently is not the language that she herself chose to use when she was being interviewed by Andrew Bolt. And the ridiculous hypocrisy of all of the people in the government benches, starting with the prime minister and including the member for Chisholm, is on full display for the Australian people to see. That’s why standing orders should be suspended, in order to have the member for Chisholm come into this House, as she should, as convention would require that she should. Here is the motion Mark Dreyfus has put forward, Labor’s motion to suspend standing orders over Gladys Liu pic.twitter.com/lbzRDYzIh5 After that talk to Dave Sharma, Gladys Liu has left the chamber. Dave Sharma has walked over to Gladys Liu’s seat and is having a chat to her as Mark Dreyfus gives his speech. We are right into it this morning. Mark Dreyfus is straight into it, saying the member for Chisholm needs to explain her interview with Andrew Bolt and clear up, in the parliament, what the situation is. The bells are ringing. I hear them in my sleep. Richard Marles was sent out by Labor this morning to give the opposition’s position on Gladys Liu. Here is some of that doorstop: Q: Should Gladys Liu resign? RM: Well, right now I think there are questions which are at large, and I think actually it is for the prime minister to act. The prime minister needs to be fronting the Australian people and making it really clear what his position in respect to these allegations are. Q: The Labor candidate for Chisholm, Jennifer Yang, she was also associated with some of these organisations that Gladys Liu has been linked to. How can Labor then criticise her? RM: Well, firstly, the allegations that are being made in this morning’s paper are being made in respect of Gladys Liu. And the other point to make is that Jennifer Yang isn’t here. Gladys Liu is. Gladys Liu was sworn in as the member for Chisholm and represents that constituency in this parliament, right now, and forms part of the government’s majority. It is absolutely essential given the seriousness of the allegations that have been made in the papers this morning that the prime minister provides an answer to the Australian people on these questions immediately and I would imagine that from Gladys Liu’s point of view she would want those answers given straight away. But the prime minister needs to be speaking on this. |