Insults, jokes fly in House of cards

GREENHORN SPEAKER PUT TO TEST BY UNRULY BUDGET SESSION AS DEBATE TURNS TO ABUSE

SOMEONE will get booted out — and soon — if this rowdy past couple of weeks in State Parliament continues.

That’s the view of MPs themselves as the budget session brought out the comedians and sledgers to test rookie Speaker Sue Hickey’s patience.

Treasurer Peter Gutwein and opposite number Scott Bacon fought a running battle, mostly over the other’s apparent need for a calculator.

Take this exchange from Hansard — Mr Bacon: It paints a pretty picture, mate. Mr Gutwein: Do not call me ‘mate’, that is not parliamentary and I am not your mate. Madam Speaker: Order, Treasurer, I remember you referring to Mr Bacon as B1 last week. We might overlook this one. Mr Gutwein: Madam Speaker, a moment of humour.

Humour has not been in short supply, intended or otherwise, as Greens leader Cassy O’Connor demonstrated.

Asked to withdraw her allegation that Mr Gutwein had lied, she replied: “I withdraw it, but I’m glad it’s on the Hansard.”

The House of Assembly may have threatened to get out of control, but not for want of warnings from Ms Hickey, who is in just the second month of her parliamentary career.

Like this one on Tuesday: “I have put up with this all morning. It is giving me a headache. Please remember what we are here for — the business of the House.”

And this one later in the week: “The decibel reading in this room can be heard in Launceston. It is really inappropriate. If this behaviour continues this morning, I will be suspending the House and robbing everyone of time for more questions.”

The new Speaker’s first ejection is only a matter of time, according to Ms O’Connor.

“What I like about Sue’s style is that she appeals to our better nature rather than getting out the whip hand,” she said. “Of course, that doesn’t work on everyone, every time.

“So far, nobody has been booted out but I’m sure the day will come if we have more weeks like this one.”

Serial sledgers abound in State Parliament but the major parties declined to tell the Mercury which opponent got the most under their skin.

The comedy award, according to Ms O’Connor, goes to Mr Bacon.

“Question Time this week has been pretty rowdy, in significant part because the Treasurer has been on his feet a lot, shouting,” Ms O’Connor said.

“The volume, at times, was deafening and it definitely incited argument.”

But argument does not necessarily mean good debate that will stand up to the scrutiny of the courts, as is sometimes necessary under the Westminster system, says political analyst Richard Herr.

“It’s basically an anti-democratic tactic to reduce the debate in the parliament to an argument instead of being a principled debate on issues,” Professor Herr said.

“As soon as you reduce it to making arguments about the person and their qualities, I would argue it’s irrelevant and ought to be ruled irrelevant.”

Ms Hickey faced a steep learning curve in the Parliament’s most prestigious office, Prof Herr said.

“It’s never been as steep for any other Speaker in the past. They’ve had some time in Parliament to see what was going on,’’ he said.

Ms Hickey is taking it in her stride.

“Parliament is designed to be a place for the robust debate of ideas and decision-making,” she said.

“Good parliamentarians are passionate about their causes and hence it sometimes gets noisy and might look a bit unruly. Finding the balance between keeping control of the debate and allowing everyone’s voice to be heard is a challenge, but one that I relish.”

The major parties say that they will continue to put their positions passionately, while also respecting the Speaker’s position.