MESSENGER FAILS TO GET THE MESSAGE
Published Tuesday, 16 October, 2007 at 04:23 PM
Minister for Public Works, Housing and Information and Communication Technology
The Honourable Robert Schwarten
Member for Burnett Rob Messenger has failed to get the message about adhering to decent parliamentary standards, Leader of the House Robert Schwarten said today.
Mr Schwarten said Mr Messenger has been admonished by the Speaker and had his Parliamentary explanatory notes thrown out of the house by a unanimous votes of all Members.
He said the move was unprecedented.
“No Speaker has ever been put in this position in the history of the Parliament,” Mr Schwarten said.
The move to expel Mr Messenger’s hand-prepared explanatory notes arose as a result of complaints regarding offensive material contained in papers relating to a Private Members Bill introduced by Mr Messenger.
“Explanatory notes are a fundamental tool of the Parliament and are meant to inform MPs and the public but instead Mr Messenger chose to compile a personal attack using out of context quotes to misrepresent the issue,” Mr Schwarten said.
“He was not only seeking to mislead the Parliament but also to misrepresent the Minister’s position. This is an abuse of the Parliamentary process and to Speaker ruled accordingly.”
Mr Schwarten said he moved the motion to remove the offending material from the Parliament.
“My motion was seconded by the Opposition Leader, Jeff Seeney, who did the right thing in recognising this disgraceful abuse of the Parliament,” he said.
“Mr Seeney should be congratulated for his stand on this and Mr Messenger stands condemned for putting his party and the Parliament in such position.”
Media contact: (07) 3237 1832
Mr Schwarten said Mr Messenger has been admonished by the Speaker and had his Parliamentary explanatory notes thrown out of the house by a unanimous votes of all Members.
He said the move was unprecedented.
“No Speaker has ever been put in this position in the history of the Parliament,” Mr Schwarten said.
The move to expel Mr Messenger’s hand-prepared explanatory notes arose as a result of complaints regarding offensive material contained in papers relating to a Private Members Bill introduced by Mr Messenger.
“Explanatory notes are a fundamental tool of the Parliament and are meant to inform MPs and the public but instead Mr Messenger chose to compile a personal attack using out of context quotes to misrepresent the issue,” Mr Schwarten said.
“He was not only seeking to mislead the Parliament but also to misrepresent the Minister’s position. This is an abuse of the Parliamentary process and to Speaker ruled accordingly.”
Mr Schwarten said he moved the motion to remove the offending material from the Parliament.
“My motion was seconded by the Opposition Leader, Jeff Seeney, who did the right thing in recognising this disgraceful abuse of the Parliament,” he said.
“Mr Seeney should be congratulated for his stand on this and Mr Messenger stands condemned for putting his party and the Parliament in such position.”
Media contact: (07) 3237 1832