Ms O’CONNOR (Clark – Leader of the Greens) – Mr Speaker, of course we support the seeking of leave and we acknowledge again that the House will undoubtedly not be allowed to move on to the substantive debate and will not able to test confidence in a minister who is an epic failure in the portfolio and a premier who has failed to sack her.
I too noticed the vigour in the Premier’s defence of the Aboriginal Affairs minister this morning in contrast to his very flaccid defence of minister Ogilvie who, like a good Racing minister, after seeing that ABC investigative report, would not have hidden from the cameras the next day, which is what this minister did. She would have been out there –
Ms Ogilvie – I did not.
Ms O’CONNOR – Yes, you did, Ms Ogilvie.
Ms Ogilvie – I did not.
Ms O’CONNOR – Yes, you did. Don’t tell another fib. You did not front the cameras the day the story came out. You put out a media release where you referred ORI to ORI. What a good, competent and committed Racing minister would have done was front the cameras the very day of that story and say, ‘I am deeply concerned by what I have seen. I am determined that we have a clean racing industry with high animal welfare standards and what I have seen is not good enough. I am standing ORI down from its integrity function and will be negotiating with my colleague in Victoria to have industry oversight contracted out to Victoria while there is a thorough, independent investigation that is undertaken by someone who does not have a history on this island, someone, for example, like a respected retired judge’. A competent minister would have acknowledged the extent of the problem and taken decisive steps immediately and not hidden from the cameras.
We got the complete opposite from this incompetent Racing minister and we have not had from this Premier the action that is necessary to restore confidence in the three codes of racing and restore confidence in the animal welfare standards of the industries. On animal welfare, they are irredeemable because of the amount of money that is involved and when you collide animals with profit, profit will always win and animals become expendable. That is a well-understood Greens view. Mr Speaker, this minister is a failure.
Sometimes I feel sorry for Jeremy Rockliff, because he is a nice guy who could have been a good premier. Then I remind myself of the rot that Jeremy Rockliff has allowed to fester, the standards he has failed to uphold, the continued slide in integrity, the dismissal on a daily basis of the Code of Conduct for Ministers. It means nothing. It meant nothing in Will Hodgman’s government, it meant nothing in Peter Gutwein’s government and it means nothing at all in Jeremy Rockliff’s Government. These ministers, whether they are incompetent or dishonest, can get away with anything. There is never a consequence for ministers who mislead or ministers who are incompetent and mislead. Everywhere you look in the Rockliff Cabinet, there is incompetence and dishonesty.
There is a rot at the heart of this Liberal Government and it has been there for nine years and it is still there now. To tell untruths is the reflex. For example, the Attorney-General was absolutely busted and heard saying the word ‘dickhead’ in here the other day and could not even bring herself to admit she said it. What she said was, ‘If I said that, I withdraw it and I apologise’. She was heard saying it and could not admit it. The reflex is to lie. That is the problem of this Government.
Mr SPEAKER – We are not on the substantive motion.
Ms O’CONNOR – When I start to feel sorry for Jeremy Rockliff, who could have been a great premier –
Mr SPEAKER – Ms O’Connor, can you withdraw the word ‘lie’?
Ms O’CONNOR – I did not call anyone a liar. Are we not allowed to use the word ‘lie’ in here now? I withdraw the word ‘lie’ but boy, there is some touchiness about the word in here, isn’t there, Mr Speaker?
Mr SPEAKER – There is, because it is Westminster’s position.
Ms O’CONNOR – When I start to feel sorry for Jeremy Rockliff, who could have been a really good premier, I remind myself of the lack of integrity, the misleading in here, the dismissal of Aboriginal people’s concerns, for example, about a cable car on kunanyi, which he said his Government wants to proceed with, the stadium that no-one I can talk to in Tasmania who is not from the top end of town supports. I remind myself he could do something about the massive emissions from native forest logging and the destruction of biodiversity and he chooses to do absolutely nothing.
I remind myself of the ongoing trashing of takayna, of off-road vehicles that this Minister for Aboriginal Affairs is apparently fine with going over middens, from a Government that tried to keep those tracks open and Aboriginal heritage trashed. I remind myself of the homeless people and the failure to do anything about short-stay accommodation because two of them at least are in short-stay accommodation properties. I remind myself of the absolutely corrupted relationship with industrial fish farming, the expansion into coastal waters against the wishes of coastal communities all over this island. I remind myself that this is the Premier who led the charge with Dominic Perrottet to remove protections from COVID-19, ensuring that more Tasmanians are infected, more children are infected and more people die, and I stop feeling sorry for Jeremy Rockcliff.
Ms Archer – Oh for goodness sake, language.
Ms O’CONNOR – We do not have confidence in Jeremy Rockcliff. I do not need to be lectured on language from you, Attorney-General, because you used the word ‘dickhead’ in this place.
