Political Donations

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-109269

Hansard session: Fifty-Seventh Parliament, First Session (57-1)

Political Donations

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (14:58):

:02 I address my question to the Minister for Transport and Roads and Leader of the House. Will the Minister update the House on the progress of the cash donations bill and how will it improve the integrity of the political process in New South Wales?

Mr Paul Lynch:

Point of order—

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE (BegaMinister for Transport and Roads) (14:58):

—:21 Are you seriously going to get up and defend the Fergusons, are you, of all people?

The SPEAKER:

The Minister will resume his seat. The member for Liverpool is taking a point of order.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

Are you going to defend your shadow Minister for Consumer Protection and your shadow Minister for Police and Counter Terrorism? Of all people—Mr Ferguson. How are you?

The SPEAKER:

The Minister will resume his seat.

Mr Paul Lynch:

I have two points of order. The first point of order is the abject failure of the Leader of the House to adhere to Standing Order 94 and sit down when a point of order is being taken. The second point of order is that there are two questions.

The SPEAKER:

I am satisfied that it is essentially one question. Both parts of the question relate to the cash donations bill. I will ask the question to be read again, but I am satisfied it is one question.

Mr MARK COURE:

I address my question to the Minister for Transport and Roads and Leader of the House. Will the Minister update the House on the progress of the cash donations bill and how will it improve the integrity of the political process in New South Wales?

The SPEAKER:

Both parts are about the cash donations bill.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

Is it not fitting that the last question of the year is in relation to political integrity? I make the observation that it was this side of the House, through the leadership of the Premier, who earlier this year had to bring in legislation in relation to $100 caps on donations as a result of what was going on at the Independent Commission Against Corruption—

The SPEAKER:

I call the member for Maroubra to order for the first time.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

—and our dear friends opposite. As to the passage of this bill, I would have hoped that it would have improved the political integrity of this State. But I am disappointed that it has not. Anyone waking up to the news this morning knows that it has not improved the political integrity of this State. It now leads to significant questions for the Leader of the Opposition. The first point is that if you are in receipt of documents that may have been falsified you might go to the police. Quite frankly, if they have been falsified and they involve the shadow police Minister and the shadow Minister for Consumer Protection, the big question for the Leader of the Opposition is why has she not referred the matter to the police. The other question is why has she not relegated these two shadow Ministers to the backbench, so that she is consistent with her calls on a regular basis to stand members down. There seems to be one standard for the Leader of the Opposition and her team and another standard that she expects of everybody else.

Mr Ryan Park:

Point of order—

The SPEAKER:

The Minister will resume his seat.

Mr Ryan Park:

My point of order is under Standing Order 73. After a minute and a half into his answer, the Minister is clearly casting imputations against members of the Opposition. If the Minister wants to do that he can do so by substantive debate and we will bring up that Government member and that Government member. Let's go, mate, any day.

The SPEAKER:

The Minister has not transgressed Standing Order 73. The Minister will continue and I will be conscious of the point of order.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

In relation to the point of order, I refer the member to a public interest debate that took place at 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon. The bottom line is that the Leader of the Opposition has already failed on two counts in terms of asking and requiring that these two shadow Ministers—

Mr Greg Warren:

Point of order—

The SPEAKER:

The Minister will resume his seat.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

—the shadow police Minister and the shadow Minister for Consumer Protection to go the backbench.

The SPEAKER:

The Minister will resume his seat.

Mr Greg Warren:

My point of order is Standing Order 73. The Minister is making imputations.

The SPEAKER:

I have ruled on that point of order and nothing has changed.

Mr Greg Warren:

The Minister is continuing to make personal reflections and imputations, which are out of order.

The SPEAKER:

The member will resume his seat. The Minister will continue.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

The bottom line is that a very serious situation has arisen. The best that the Leader of the Opposition can do is refer two shadow Ministers on her frontbench for investigation for the falsification of documents. That is called fraud.

Ms Jodie Harrison:

Point of order—

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

That is called being a political crook.

The SPEAKER:

The Clerk will stop the clock. I ask the member for Charlestown what her point of order is.

Ms Jodie Harrison:

My point of order is Standing Order 129. Mr Speaker, your ruling in relation to this question was that both parts of the question related to the cash donations bill. I have yet to hear the Minister mention the cash donations bill more than once in his answer.

The SPEAKER:

On my interpretation the Minister is talking about cash donations. He might make it clearer that he is talking about the provisions of the bill, which is why the question is relevant to him.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

In relation to the political integrity component, this bill has not improved political integrity within the Labor Party, which is why we had to introduce it in the first place.

Ms Jenny Aitchison:

Point of order—

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

What we are seeing from the Leader of the Opposition is a failure of character, a failure of leadership.

The SPEAKER:

The Minister will resume his seat.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

You can't clean up your party, you can't clean up your front bench, you can't lead. That is the bottom line. There is a grab for the camera.

The SPEAKER:

The Minister will resume his seat. I call the Minister for Transport and Roads to order for the first time. I have asked him repeatedly to resume his seat.

Ms Jenny Aitchison:

My point of order relates to Standing Order 129.

The SPEAKER:

The Minister is being relevant.

Ms Jenny Aitchison:

The question is about political integrity—

The SPEAKER:

I have made my ruling. The member will resume her seat.

Ms Jenny Aitchison:

—not about one side or the other or why this Minister is still sitting there.

The SPEAKER:

I call the member for Maitland to order for the first time.

Mr Clayton Barr:

Point of order—

The SPEAKER:

The Clerk will stop the clock.

Mr Clayton Barr:

My point of order relates to Standing Order 49. Mr Speaker, every time you ask the Minister for Transport and Roads to cease his contribution and resume his seat when a point of order has been taken he ignores you—every single time.

The SPEAKER:

I will point out three matters. First, I placed the Minister on a call to order for not sitting down.

Mr Clayton Barr:

This time.

The SPEAKER:

I now call the member for Cessnock to order for the first time for being deliberatively disruptive.

Mr Clayton Barr:

So by taking a point of order I am being disruptive?

The SPEAKER:

That point of order was disruptive. The member will resume his seat. I had placed the Minister on a call to order. I did not need the member for Cessnock to bring the matter to my attention. The member will resume his seat.

Mr Clayton Barr:

Did I do something wrong?

The SPEAKER:

The member will resume his seat or I will call him to order for the second time.

Mr Clayton Barr:

I stood up and took a point of order.

The SPEAKER:

I call the member for Cessnock to order for the second time. The point of order was not valid. The member for Cessnock will resume his seat or I will call him to order for the third time.

Mr Greg Warren:

Point of order—

The SPEAKER:

It had better be good or the member for Campbelltown will be on a call to order too.

Mr Greg Warren:

My point of order relates to Standing Order 49.

The SPEAKER:

I have just ruled on that.

Mr Greg Warren:

Further to your ruling, I do not believe that it is fair or equitable for a member who is following the standing orders and due process to address a clear issue of an abrupt Minister who continues to flout your rulings and requests—

The SPEAKER:

I have ruled on that. The member for Campbelltown will resume his seat.

Mr Greg Warren:

Mr Speaker, you will recall I was out of this place for three weeks and named because I did not sit down.

The SPEAKER:

I call the member for Campbelltown to order for the first time. I make two points. First, I had placed the Minister on a call to order. Therefore, it was totally unnecessary for the member to take a point of order on that issue. I regard that as being deliberately disruptive. Secondly, the comments made yesterday in relation to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services were made during a debate on a substantive motion. The Minister for Transport and Roads has not breached Standing Order 73. I expect members to listen to the final minute of the Minister's answer in silence.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

The point I was making is that political integrity has not improved with the passage of this bill. We had to introduce the bill because of the situation involving the shadow Minister for Transport, who busily returned lots of dollars back to the Electoral Commission. When it comes to political integrity, the Leader of the Opposition needs to go to the police or stand down those two shadow Ministers pending the outcome of an inquiry. That is what needs to happen. The bottom line is that they should be stood down pending an inquiry, which I note was sent to head office. Given that it involves fraud—

Mr Greg Warren:

Point of order—

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

The bottom line is the Leader of the Opposition needs to take action.

The SPEAKER:

The Minister will resume his seat.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

She is very, very quiet today.

The SPEAKER:

The Minister will resume his seat.

Mr Greg Warren:

My point of order relates to Standing Order 59, irrelevance and tedious repetition.

The SPEAKER:

I do not uphold the point of order.

Mr Greg Warren:

It is offensive that the Minister flouts your rulings.

The SPEAKER:

The member for Oatley asked for further information before time expired. I will grant the Minister an extension of time, but I ask him to come back to the leave of the question.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:Extension of time

I remind members that the question was about the cash donations bill. I remind members that New South Wales is the first jurisdiction to cap cash donations made to political parties. I remind members that this has happened because of an ICAC inquiry involving the Labor Party and donations to the member for Kogarah. I remind members that this reform will mean an end to poor accounting practices, untraceable donations and anonymous cash. I remind members that it is about sending a strong signal on electoral laws. I have one minute to finish the year. The Opposition members do not like what has happened. []

The SPEAKER:

There is too much noise in the Chamber.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:The Daily Telegraph

They do not like what is on the front page of today's . Those two shadow Ministers should go to the backbench where they belong—

Ms Trish Doyle:

Point of order—

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

You are too gutless. You are a hypocrite. You call for everyone to be stood aside—

The SPEAKER:

The Minister will resume his seat.

Ms Trish Doyle:

My point of order relates to Standing Order 129.

The SPEAKER:

The Minister is being relevant.

Ms Trish Doyle:

While you are on cash donations, will you be accepting David Elliott's fundraiser tomorrow night?

The SPEAKER:

I call the member for Blue Mountains to order for the first time.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

Your nose grew a foot with the lies you told this week in relation to the bushfires. I would sit down if I was you.

Ms Yasmin Catley:

Point of order—

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

The bottom line is the Leader of the Opposition is gutless. She will not act on these two members because they supported her for leader. That is the bottom line.

The SPEAKER:

The Minister will resume his seat. The Clerk will stop the clock.

Ms Yasmin Catley:

My point of order is Elliot, Dominello and Sidoti.

The SPEAKER:

I call the member for Swansea to order for the second time. I call the member for Swansea to order for the third time.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

I thank the member for Swansea for highlighting the fact that someone has gone to the backbench because of an investigation.

Ms Sophie Cotsis:

Point of order—

The SPEAKER:

The Clerk will stop the clock. The Minister will resume his seat.

Ms Sophie Cotsis:

My point of order relates to relevancy. I have two words: Daryl Maguire.

The SPEAKER:

I call the member for Canterbury to order for the third time. The Deputy Premier will be quiet. Before the Minister continues his answer, I remind the House that the member for Keira, the member for Kogarah, the member for Canterbury and the member for Swansea are on three calls to order. They will join the member for Port Stephens if they continue to interject. I call the member for The Entrance to order for the second time.

Mr ANDREW CONSTANCE:

The Leader of the Opposition should stand those shadow Ministers down and go to the police. She received the letter on 5 November but—surprise, surprise—the media only found out today. The bottom line is that those shadow Ministers should be on the backbench where they belong. They do not have integrity in the Labor Party. That is another failure of leadership on the part of Jodi McKay.

The SPEAKER:

I call the member for Coogee to order for the first time. I call the member for Riverstone to order for the first time. I call the member for Maroubra to order for the second time.