Member for Mawson

Mr BASHAM (Finniss) (15:18): The member for Mawson yesterday exemplified the bullying of Georgina Downer, which was an outstanding feature of the recent Mayo by-election.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr BASHAM: Voters in the newly shaped seat of Mawson are regretfully starting to learn just what a terrible representative they have. I am receiving increasing complaints as more and more of his new constituents turn to my office for assistance knowing that they are getting no help from him. There is no wonder why. As the former minister for primary industries, he oversaw and executed Labor's numerous direct attacks on farmers and agriculture.

Mr KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: standing order 127, sir. A member may not impute improper motives on any other member or make personal reflections on any other member.

The SPEAKER: What is the improper motive or personal reflection?

Mr KOUTSANTONIS: He is reflecting on the member for Mawson being a bully, sir, intimidating—

The SPEAKER: Does the member for Mawson—

Mr Koutsantonis: Any member can raise an objection, sir.

The SPEAKER: Does the member for Mawson take offence?

Mr BIGNELL: I absolutely take offence at this.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. I ask the member for Finniss to withdraw that last comment.

Mr BASHAM: I withdraw, sir.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. Please continue.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr Koutsantonis interjecting:

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: How many warnings does this guy need?

The SPEAKER: Yes, that is a very good point. The member for West Torrens, could you please depart for half an hour, under 137A. The member for Finniss has the call.

The honourable member for West Torrens having withdrawn from the chamber:

Mr BASHAM: As the former minister for regional development, he oversaw Labor's profound and deliberate neglect of rural and regional South Australia. Our farmers and our regions are enormously relieved he is gone from that position, but sadly his own constituents must still suffer his existence. Yesterday he boasted about his letter to Ms Downer. He saw virtue in making statements against her. He acted no better than the worst social media trolls who abused Ms Downer, too. In this disgusting letter he called his own constituent selfish, a liar and a racist. What is wrong with him, Mr Speaker?

Mr Bignell: She's moved out already. She's moved out.

The SPEAKER: The member for Mawson is on two warnings.

Mr BASHAM: He says in this letter, and I quote:

...it doesn't matter who your father, grandfather and great grandfather were. We follow a democracy, not a hereditary monarchy.

And yet Georgina Downer followed all the rules of our democracy. Rebekha Sharkie did not follow our country's rules. If she had, there would be no by-election in the first place.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, Members on my left!

Mr BASHAM: The member for Mawson also needs a history lesson about democracy.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Finniss has the call.

Mr BASHAM: Ms Downer's father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all elected democratically—all of them, many times.

Mr Malinauskas: All nation builders. Just ask them.

The SPEAKER: The leader is on two warnings.

Mr BASHAM: They followed the rules, too. It does matter who they were: Georgina's grandfather Alick Downer served in Malaya during the Second World War and was a prisoner at Changi. Georgina's great-grandfather John Downer was one of the architects of the Australian Constitution, the founding document of the Commonwealth of Australia. Yet Georgina Downer mentioned none of this during her campaign. She had no need. She has stellar credentials earned on her own merits as a lawyer, a diplomat and a developer of public policy. She has been focused on a secure and prosperous future for Mayo.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr BASHAM: No, it was the member for Mawson and his fellow arguers against her who were obsessed with the past and the Downer family legacy. No-one who campaigned as hard and as long as Georgina Downer could possibly have any sense of entitlement. To suggest she does is the worst kind of intellectual dishonesty, and to suggest Georgina Downer is not a local, when she grew up in Mayo and you did not, is the height of hypocrisy.

The member for Mawson obviously has no understanding of this, and you always fear what you do not understand. The people of Mawson deserve much better than a representative who attacks his female constituents out of fear. The people of Mawson deserve much better than a representative who thinks such behaviour is a virtue to boast about. The people of Mawson deserve a representative who accords people respect, not scorn. The people of Mawson deserve a representative who holds them in regard, not contempt.

This raises a much broader issue about civility in society. That a member of this parliament has seen virtue and obvious delight in attacking a woman and in insulting the memory of soldiers who suffered as prisoners of war in Changi sadly reflects on the decline of civility in our society. In this place, we need to set a higher standard. To this end the member for Mawson must apologise to Georgina Downer and to the other members of this parliament for his appalling behaviour.