Misleading Parliament Used To Be A Serious Offence!!
Now, Katie Gallagher is accused of misleading Parliament. Of course, this is not a hanging offence! I remember hearing that a number of times over the past few years.
“So and so has been accused of something that’s technically against the rules, but let’s be fair, it’s not a hanging offence…”
I was always tempted to point out that Chopper Read admitted to murder but, well, here in Australia, that’s not a hanging offence… just a very serious crime that will have you jailed for years. Not a hanging offence though, because we don’t have capital punishment in this country.
Logically then, if a politician were to be guilty of murder, he or she could be sent to jail but they wouldn’t lose their ministry because, it isn’t a “hanging offence!”
In the good old days, if a politician misled Parliament they’d be expected to stand down. If you didn’t know something, then you didn’t make something up; you took the question on notice and replied when you had all the facts. Under John Howard, it became, “Look, Sir Les may have given incorrect information but he was under a misapprehension so he didn’t deliberately mislead, so we can forgive him (or her)!”
Anyway, back to the “embattled” senator.
It seems that a large number of people aren’t sure what this is all about, but that hasn’t stopped certain people from declaring that she’s guilty. Let’s be clear, misleading Parliament is not only not a hanging offence, but it’s not even against the law and as such, she doesn’t deserve the presumption of innocence.
So what’s actually happened? To recap:
- Before the 2019 election, there was an alleged incident in what was alleged to be a minister’s office. However, subsequent events have been unable to find any proof that Linda Reynold’s was a minister so we have to work on the theory that they’re may or may not have been something that happened in her office.
- After someone ordered the steam-cleaning of the office on a Sunday, it was thought that it wouldn’t be a good idea to inform the PM because he’d be as cross as Punch about the waste of taxpayer money with the Sunday penalty rates.
- One Liberal staffer was sacked because he came into work after hours which is apparently a sackable offence because nothing else was ever proven.
- A few years later, Brittany Higgins made a complaint which I won’t go into here because I’m sure you all know about this.
- When asked whether he knew about the incident, Scott Morrison announced that he wasn’t told by anyone. When asked about his office knowing, he said that he wasn’t sure who knew what and, being a busy man, he didn’t have time to ask them, so he appointed Phil Gaetjens to inquire who knew what and when.
- Around this time, it was suggested that Labor may have known about the “late work” incident and that they were planning to weaponise it to make the government look bad.
- Katy Gallagher denied this in the Senate.
It has since emerged that it’s possible that David Sharaz may have told Senator Gallagher and, if she knew when she said that she didn’t, she’s guilty of misleading Parliament. While it would be obviously the right thing to do to ask Phil Gaetjens to launch an inquiry into which Labor MPs knew what when, he’s still busy trying to find out about who knew anything in the previous PM’s office. So far, he doesn’t seem to have found any evidence that any of them knew anything about anything, even if most of the Liberal MPs knew about the man who was sacked for working late.
We’ve reached a point where a number of people are suggesting that Labor used this to bring down the Morrison government as though this is what was uppermost in people’s mind at the last election and not the Coalition’s constant announcements followed up by sweet bugger all, Scott’s refusal to hold a hose but happy to hold a pose, the Sports Rorts, the text messages that formed the basis of a report that cost over half million dollars which said that droughts were caused by a lack of rain, the fact that it wasn’t a race and just about everything else about them.
So how does this all play out?
Well, I suspect that Labor will try to ignore it, the Coalition will try to make an issue of it and come July they’ll start to realise that it’s not the sort of issue that the media will stay interested in. Once it’s been established that someone has done the wrong thing, they tend to bay for blood before losing interest when they don’t get any. (I am aware that even those who aren’t in the Murdoch stable stay on Labor’s case a little longer than the others. The Murdoch media don’t stay on something like this for too long though, because they have other things to blame Labor for such as world-wide inflation or the way the debt rose when the Coalition were in government or the pharmacists who won’t give anyone two month’s supply which they say is because of the shortages caused by people getting two month’s supply!)
And, if the Liberals have any sense, they won’t want to pursue it because it just reminds people of the whole sorry incident. Of course, that’s a pretty big qualifier!
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25 comments
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andyfiftysix -
New England Cocky -
Stephengb -
Kinga -
New England Cocky -
Kathryn -
Florence nee Fedup -
GL -
Keith -
Terence Mills -
GL -
Clakka -
GL -
OlWomBat -
Terence Mills -
Clakka -
New England Cocky -
Harry Lime -
Pete Petrass -
PeterF -
Kaye Lee -
Harry Lime -
New England Cocky -
andyfiftysix -
Terence Mills
Return to home pageAs Cash the “shrill ” said, Labor wants to politicise it. HTF that is , i dont know. Its a liberal screw up and they will wear it, no matter how shrill that dick cash wants it to be. As far as everyone else is concerned, we await the report. She must have lost her weekend again to stick her head up.
At point was Morrison and his governments response to women’s issues. Who knew what and when is just looking for a soft target to distract from their own incompetance when it was an issue. …………….Look over there, but mam, the smell is coming from here
Uhm ….. it all pales away to nought when compared to Scummo of the Seven Secret Ministries, Stuart Robodebt and Porter the alleged rapist and his secret legal costs protector. Who employed the juror to stuff up the Lehrmann alleged rape trial??
The smell from the coalition just lingers on and on !
I have one question… how in the fuckity fuck did the leader of the opposition become a detective in 10 years, prior to his epiphany that he’s much suited to politics, than policing? I mean, I’ve known coppers. It just seems a very accelerated rise through the ranks, if you pardon my saying so. Then there’s that whole leaving Indigenous kids to walk home barefoot saga…. Perhaps I’ve just been reading too much left wing media. God knows, there’s so much of it about!
@ kinga: Equally important ….. how did the LIARBRAL$ get hold of any FB messages or emails from private network connections? Were they supplied from the same source that resulted in Merdick closing down the English ”News of the World” masthead? Perhaps it is time for the Albanese Labor government to call in the NCD military experts to discover and identify the passage of this information.
WHEN THE HELL did the appalling alleged rape of Brittany Higgins by that revolting LNP staffer become the fault of the Labor party? !!!! My God, the despicable lying political psychopaths and conniving, criminally corrupt dogs in the LNP will stoop to ANY level – even swim through an open sewer – in order to try and vomit up some “imagined” scandal against the ALP in order to conceal and/or take attention away from their OWN appalling and rising levels of criminality, never-ending lies, deviance, self-serving greed and depravity!
It is almost IMPOSSIBLE to think of a worse, more corrupt, reprehensible and undemocratic regime as the LNP! The ONLY type of deluded, Murdoch-manipulated people who vote for a party such as the LNP are the self-obsessed non-taxpaying, obscenely rich members of the Top 1%, anyone employed in the polluting coal mining industry (or other types of corporate predators) and people who have an IQ level that is struggling to extend into double digits who believe all the crap they inhale from the Murdoch rags! The fact that this pack of baying, vindictive and self-serving political parasites in the LNP are fully protected and promoted by the totally right-wing-biased, LNP-supporting American megalomaniac, Rupert Murdoch and the talentless, Z-rated hacks in his employ, is way beyond intolerable and should NEVER be accepted by the Australian public! The fact is that the unconscionable, totally degenerate LNP/Murdoch/IPA Alliance in this country has done more damage, destruction and political malfeasance than any other group or body of people! They are motivated of greed and a bottomless desire for despotic (even fascist) power and will stoop to ANYTHING (even criminality) to attain and maintain it!
The LNP, and their staff, have been proven to be overflowing with smug, condescending megalomaniacs, pathological liars, the most appalling misogynistic predators and sadistically inhumane sociopaths – there is nothing, absolutely NOTHING GOOD one can find to say about a single member of the LNP cabinet – past or present!
For the sake of our nation, our children’s State education, Medicare, NDIS and EVERYTHING Australians hold dear (including our damaged international reputation – thanks to that recidivist liar, Morrison), it is absolutely VITAL that we keep these truly evil, iniquitous and malicious parasites in the LNP in OPPOSITION INDEFINITELY !!
Do I have it correct; it is wrong for Labor to ask questions if the answers make the liberals look bad. Can I suggest it is not Labor asking questions about what occurred at Parliament House in the early hours of Saturday morning but the government’s attempt to cover the incident up?
The LNP will continue to distract, distract, duck, doge, weave to keep any attention away from their disgusting behaviour over the Higgans matter and the ongoing protection of a vile bearded Little Nasty Prick.
On a side note: Siigghh…what a great big non-surprise from this pair of cesspit dwellers.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jun/13/tony-abbott-and-john-howard-join-jordan-peterson-led-group-looking-at-meaning-of-life
When Cash was under pressure she hid behind a Whyte board, hypercritical of her to push for answers from Katie Gallager. Do the Liberals have any idea of what “confidentiality” means? Once again they display meanness towards citizens.
This whole issue is a despicable beat up and it speaks to how little the coalition have to contribute to our parliamentary process.
Katy Gallagher as a Minister is subject The Ministerial Code of Conduct and must not mislead parliament, but it is silent on whether this covers their conduct before they became ministers – this is important as Gallagher was not a minister and Labor were not in government when she allegedly ‘mislead parliament’.
Parliamentarians who are not ministers have a convention for correcting the record by clarifying any error as soon as practicable. Gallagher should do this today with a statement to the Senate.
Gallagher is a very effective and talented minister and that’s why the LNP hate her.
P. Duddy must have opened the screeching harpies cage to let out her to have a giant squawk while he changed the Smeastralian lining the bottom of it.
OK. Who in the political, judicial, policing or media universe knew, influenced, or affected agency to, or guided the hand of, the miscreant member of the jury in the initial trial? And the same goes for the discovering court officer.
I’m just waiting for those ossified turds to be hurled by loud-hailer from the LNP muck-heap. Then again I’m not surprised there’s an eerie silence in that regard.
Or have I missed something from the tangled web?
Scummo the Backbencher has as much credibility as when he was Saint Scummo the Great Backstabber and Leader:
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-gallagher-deny-misleading-parliament-over-higgins-rape-allegation-20230613-p5dg5p.html
the only ones trying to make this political is cash et al. Saw a very good comment the other day: “Aren’t there laws about cash for comment?” Beautiful.
Clakka
You make an interesting point about the aborted Lehrmann trial following inappropriate behaviour by one juror.
The trial had sixteen jurors throughout (four extra in case one or more became ill or quit) and then when the trial concluded, four were eliminated by ballot so that only twelve were left to deliberate. As we know, one juror researched external information and the judge then abandoned the trial – may have been better to send that juror off and bring on one from the bench who had, after all, sat through the whole trial.
Go figure !
Terence:
Hmmmmm.
Terence Mills: I think you missed the real point ….. the whole idea was to abort the trial so that Lehrmann got off. Given the process you describe above, there would have been at least two jurors available to ”do the wrong thing” having been advised that such actions had no repercussion in the ACT.
Voldemort Dutton,devoid not only of personality,but also of memory,and the harpy Cash,who missed her calling as a brothel madam,are engaged in Olympic standard projection and hypocrisy.The sheer desperation of these gutter snipes is startling.The end must be near.Will the Murdoch trash ever work out that the horse they are flogging has long been dead.
These grubby lieberal leftovers are carrying on endlessly like chooks with their heads cut off about Katy Gallagher and saying she should be sacked for misleading Parliament.
IMO what Labor should be doing is highlighting what the Lieberals did during their 9 years of terror and corruption. How many of their Ministers should have been sacked during those 9 years??? Misleading of Parliament was included many times in that long list of offences. You could probably include the entire Party in that one. Yet miraculously not one was ever sacked despite incontrovertible evidence detailing otherwise.
So why would they expect Labor to sack Gallagher, whose “no real crime” pales into insignificance when compared to the extraordinary list of crimes committed by the Lieberals???
This entire saga is also a massive distraction from their own complete and utter incompetence as an opposition party, because apart from this they really have absolutely nothing.
The Coalition are behaving in their usual despicable way because they are addressing THEIR constituents; Sad but true.
Peter Dutton was briefed about the allegation on Feb 11th (same day as texts about Gallagher).
“I wasn’t provided with the ‘she said/he said’ details of the allegation. It was at a higher level. I took a decision that I wasn’t going to disclose that to the Prime Minister. I think that was the right decision,’’ he said.
“On the 12th, the following day, though, there were media inquiries that came into the Government. And I formed the judgement at that stage that my chief of staff should inform the Prime Minister’s Office, which took place,’’ he said.
“And that’s what happened on the 12th. And as I say, I was provided with information from the Federal Police Commissioner in an in-confidence briefing.
“I honour the relationship that I have with the Australian Federal Police Commissioner and I don’t compromise that. I don’t seek to compromise the integrity around his investigations. And if I don’t need to disclose something, I don’t.”
https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/peter-dutton-describes-brittany-higgins-alleged-rape-as-he-said-she-said/news-story/93db6a9f5f8165b9ab8462a3e56caf39
Lovely fellow ,that Peter Dutton,but is either badly advised,or bone headed stupid.Apparently cannot retain anything longer than about 15 minutes,and is still working on the theory that most of the public is fucking stupid…so far ,about 50/50.In my humble opinion he is a fucking idiot,but then again ,politics seems to attract a lot of egotistical wankers,of which he is a glaring example.Sorry, Pete, but anywhere south of the Queensland border you are in a category akin to leprosy .Keep up the good work.When you are flanked by the Shriek or Sussssan,your political prospects, which are already chinning the mud,vanish into the bog.
Further to my above comments about accessing private documents. Shane Dowling (Kangaroo Court of Australia website) suggests the source of documents attacking Brittany Higgins is very close to the male source … This may require de-registration of the lawyer.
I see today that the weekly assault on Labor from the Libs has ground to a complete stop. Another skeleton in their closet popped out. Liddia is out to bring the place down, hahahahahha. The moral for the libs surely is that you cant live by this shit, you have to start to develop policies. Everyday going after the “woke” and weak is starting to take a toll and when it backfires, Dutts goes even further backwards. One has to conclude the guy is insane.
A conundrum for our times !
Senator Pauline Hanson labelled Senator Lidia Thorpe’s tearful address to the Senate as Crocodile Tears
Lidia responded : Fuck off, Pauline
Now, readers of AIMN : which of these is unparliamentary language (if either) ?