Shadow Minister for Women, Marie-Clare Boothby, says the Gunner Government needs to
come clean over its decision to delay a report into the behaviour of the disgraced Member
for Blain – by almost a year.
“Territorians, and especially the people of Blain, are entitled to know why Labor wants to
drag out an investigation into whether the ‘dishonest’ MLA mislead parliament.
“The people of Blain are in limbo and deserve answers as to whether they have a real
representative in parliament. The cover-up Chief Minister refuses to clarify whether the
MLA is still part of the Gunner Labor team.
“How can the Member for Blain honestly represent the interests of his constituents and
function as an adequate representative following the revelations made public in February?
The Chief Minister labelled him ‘dishonest’, so how can the Gunner Government place any
weight on what the Member for Blain says on behalf of his electorate?
“Last week the Leader of Government Business announced that the Privileges Committee
report into Labor’s ‘Cocaine Sex’ Scandal would be delayed by 12 months.
“Suppressing the Privileges Committee undermines confidence in the whole parliamentary
process. It is important Territorians have confidence in the process.
“We have simple questions for the committee around what evidence has been considered
and why it failed to complete its report as required. The Opposition believes an interim
report is one way we can provide transparency, while also shedding light on the Privileges
Committee’s deliberations so far.
“There is no legal or parliamentary reason the committee report can’t be released ahead of
an ICAC investigation. Is the information contained within the report so damning, Labor
wants to bury it as long as possible?
“The Opposition continues to call for the Member for Blain to resign from parliament, for
fundamentally breaching parliamentary standards. The disgraced MLA refuses to step down
because the Chief Minister needs is tainted vote for the survival of the incompetent Gunner
Government,” said Ms Boothby.