Parliamentary Procedure

Standing Orders Suspension

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (11:31): I move:

That standing and sessional orders be so far suspended as to allow me to move a motion without notice forthwith.

The SPEAKER: An absolute majority of members not being present, ring the bells.

An absolute majority of the whole number of members being present:

Ms HILDYARD: The motion I will move is that this house notes the unacceptable prevalence of sexual harassment in South Australian workplaces and its terrible impact on women.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Reynell, the motion is to suspend standing orders for the time being.

Ms HILDYARD: You do not need the motion?

The SPEAKER: The debate is in relation to the reasons why it is necessary to suspend standing orders.

Ms HILDYARD: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise today to urge the government to expedite debate on this incredibly important motion. Expediting debate will enable our South Australian equal opportunity commissioner to conduct a review of our South Australian parliament to ensure its culture does not tolerate sexual harassment, that it is doing all that it can to prevent it from occurring at all and to ensure appropriate, robust internal processes are in place to deal with any incident of it.

Expediting debate will send a very, very clear message to every person in this place—members, staff, visitors—and to our South Australia community that we as a parliament believe that sexual harassment is utterly unacceptable in any setting and that we understand that awareness and sound, appropriate processes are crucial in eradicating it. Sadly, Mr Speaker, sexual harassment is experienced by way too many women in workplaces.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Reynell will resume her seat. The Minister for Energy and Mining.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: You have already made it clear to the member for Reynell that this debate needs to be about why it is urgent to do this now, not why it is an important matter; they are different things.

Mr PICTON: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: The member for Kaurna on a point of order.

Mr PICTON: Point of order on the point of order: surely talking about how important it is to address sexual harassment goes to the point as to why standing orders should be suspended to debate this particular motion.

Ms Hildyard: My whole speech has been about why we need to expedite debate.

The SPEAKER: Order! I uphold the point of order. The relative importance of the subject matter of the motion is a matter that may be debated on all motions. I accept that the member for Reynell, for the sake of the sensible understanding of the motion to suspend, might refer to the subject matter, but this is not the occasion to debate the subject matter; this is the occasion to debate the necessity to suspend standing orders.

Ms HILDYARD: Sadly, Mr Speaker, sexual harassment is experienced by way, way too many women in workplaces and in many other areas of life right across our state. Unfortunately, our parliament is no exception.

The Hon. D.C. van Holst Pellekaan: Mr Speaker!

Ms HILDYARD: One former Liberal member of this place is currently before the courts.

The SPEAKER: The member for Reynell will resume her seat.

Ms HILDYARD: Are we allowed to speak about anything in here?

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The motion is to suspend standing orders. If there is any other matter that the member for Reynell wishes to bring to the attention of the house in support of the motion to suspend standing orders, then the member for Reynell has that opportunity now. The member for Reynell has several minutes more, in fact, to do so. The debate of the motion, should the motion to suspend be carried, will be a matter for the debate on the motion.

Ms HILDYARD: As I was saying, one former Liberal member of this place—

The Hon. V.A. Chapman: Point of order.

Ms HILDYARD: I am about to make my point about why it is urgent—I cannot even speak.

The SPEAKER: The Deputy Premier on a point of order.

Ms HILDYARD: I can't speak!

The SPEAKER: The member for Reynell will resume her seat. The Deputy Premier on a point of order.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: First of all, I suggest this breaches your previous ruling but, secondly, she has now introduced commentary in relation to a matter that is before the courts—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Premier has the call.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: —which is not within the remit of the equal opportunity commissioner to investigate at all; in fact, she has specific obligations legally not to deal with matters that are before the courts—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: —so there is no basis upon which the member should introduce—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Reynell will resume her seat. The member for Kaurna will resume his seat. The Deputy Premier has the call.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: Generalised—

The SPEAKER: The Deputy Premier will direct her remarks to the point of order.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: —comments in relation to the prevalence of sexual harassment in the community is one thing. To now go to assertions in relation to a matter that is before the courts—

Ms Hildyard: I was about—

The SPEAKER: Order! I have the point of order.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: —is quite a different matter, so I would ask that you rule on that.

Ms Hildyard: Read my next line: 'I will not dwell on this matter.' Seriously!

The SPEAKER: Order! I have upheld the point of order raised by the Minister for Energy and Mining. Once again, I think for the third time, member for Reynell, I direct the member for Reynell's contribution to this debate to the merits for the suspension, rather than debate of the substantive motion that might lie beneath it.

Ms HILDYARD: As I was going to say, I have no desire to dwell on that matter; however, Mr Speaker, the way that that most serious issue was dealt with—

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: Here we go again. Point of order, Mr Speaker—

Ms HILDYARD: —or not dealt with, more to the point, has raised many issues for women—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Ms HILDYARD: —who work in this place and indeed the many who wish to work in this place—

The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Premier—

Ms HILDYARD: —and this certainly is not helping.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Premier on a point of order.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: Yes, again the member I think is in breach of your direction in relation to this matter, but, most importantly, to continue to add a contribution in relation to an existing matter, which incidentally she has already acknowledged is before the courts, is totally out of order and outside the remit of this case.

Ms Hildyard: The process speaks to why we need a better one, for goodness sake.

The SPEAKER: Order! If the member for Reynell wishes to conclude her remarks in support of the motion to suspend standing orders, I invite the member for Reynell to do so. The member for Reynell has the call.

Ms HILDYARD: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Not immediately supporting this motion focused on a review speaks to a lack of desire to improve the culture of this place so that sexual harassment is never ever tolerated. The South Australian community is genuinely perplexed as to why particular sorts of behaviours occur in parliament with little or no consequences for perpetrators, whilst if an average worker engaged in them they would be sacked.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order—

Ms HILDYARD: Unchecked sexual harassment occurring in this place can be—

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Reynell! The Minister for Energy and Mining will resume his seat. Member for Reynell, I have ruled on this matter. I have given the member for Reynell—

Ms Hildyard: I don't know how else to say why it's urgent.

The SPEAKER: —now three opportunities. There is a clear distinction to be understood here. The matter that is before the house is a motion to suspend standing orders.

Ms Hildyard: Yes, to debate this motion.

The SPEAKER: The motion may be identified. Beyond that, it is out of order to debate the merits of the motion. Does the member for Reynell wish to have a final opportunity to debate the motion that is before the house?

Ms HILDYARD: Labor welcomes last night's passing of amendments to the Equal Opportunity Act which make it clear that parliamentarians are not exempt from the provisions of the act in terms of being able—

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Mr Speaker—

Ms Hildyard: Okay, I get it. We are not allowed to talk about sexual harassment. I understand.

The SPEAKER: The member for Reynell is out of order. Does the member—

Ms Hildyard: Let's not speak about it. Let's sweep it under the carpet.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Reynell is warned. Is there another member who seeks the call on the motion to suspend standing orders? The Minister for Energy and Mining has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (11:42): The issue that the member for Reynell brings to this house is incredibly important—incredibly important. There is not a person in the chamber who would have a different view from that, but—

Ms Hildyard: So important that we can't speak about it.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: But what we are debating right now is the matter of whether we should suspend standing orders to deal with this issue right now. This issue must be dealt with, but not right now because—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left! Member for West Torrens! Member for Playford! The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —this motion was brought to this chamber yesterday by the member for Reynell saying that she would move it today knowing that there were 68 other motions ahead of it on the Notice Paper. Those—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The minister has the call.

Ms Hildyard: Don't worry about all the procedures that are out there in most workplaces to prevent it and to raise awareness about it.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Reynell is warned for a second time. The member for Reynell continues to interject—and the member for Reynell has made it very clear in her contribution to the debate for the suspension of standing orders, and by way of, what I would describe as, constant interjection since concluding her remarks, just how important the matter is to the member for Reynell. That does not make it any more in order. The Minister for Energy and Mining has the call. The minister will be heard in silence. The minister.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Thank you, Mr Speaker. So there are 68 other items ahead of this one that—

Ms Hildyard: Thanks for explaining that; thanks for the explaining—mansplaining.

The SPEAKER: Minister.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: The 68 other items ahead of the 69^th item, which was introduced only yesterday, include topics such as institutional child sex abuse, United Nations (food and agriculture), pregnancy and infant loss, mental health, honouring the memory of police who have lost their lives in the service of their duty, Vietnam veterans, homelessness, the environment, emergency services volunteers, refugees and elder abuse—the abuse of elders. Domestic violence is on the list, palliative care is on the list, road safety, epilepsy is on the list, autism is on the list, and many, many more.

They are all incredibly important topics to every member in this chamber. They are all incredibly important topics to everybody in South Australia, but I submit that the 69^th of all those topics does not have some sort of golden path to be top of the list to be said to be more important than mental health, to be more important than supporting people with autism, to be more important than child sexual abuse, to be more important than any of those other topics, which I have just mentioned, which are on the list. So the issue here is not about how important or otherwise—

Ms Hildyard interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: This debate is not about whether this is an important issue or not. Yes, it is, without a doubt, but so is institutional child sexual abuse, so is the United Nations and food shortages, so is pregnancy and infant loss, so is mental health, so are our veterans, so are our lost police officers, homeless people, the environment, emergency services workers, refugees and elder abuse—a terribly important thing which we must deal with in this parliament. Domestic violence is incredibly important; epilepsy—all these topics are important. Every single one of these topics is important—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Chaffey!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —and, I submit, that as important as the topic is that the member for Reynell would like to discuss there is no case to say that it is more urgent to discuss that than any of the others that I have just mentioned.

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (11:48): I do take great offence that, rather than speak about how we can work together in this place to prevent and eradicate sexual harassment, what I hear is a personal attack about my priorities. As I—

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Energy and Mining on a point of order. The member for Reynell will resume her seat.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: I take offence to those comments. I attacked nobody. I contained my comments to the matter of urgency or otherwise.

The SPEAKER: Does the minister take offence at particular remarks, or seek the withdrawal, as I understand the minister?

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Good point, Mr Speaker. I ask the member to withdraw her comment that I was making reflections about her priorities of all of these issues.

Ms HILDYARD: Sure, Mr Speaker, I withdraw and apologise. Let's move on; maybe we can talk about sexual harassment now.

The SPEAKER: The member for Reynell has withdrawn.

Ms HILDYARD: I have withdrawn and apologised.

The SPEAKER: The member for Reynell has the call.

Ms HILDYARD: Thank you. It is urgent that we look at the culture in here in relation to sexual harassment and work out what we can do to prevent sexual harassment before it occurs. The South Australian Equal Opportunity Commission website—and this goes right to the point of why this motion is so important—provides an excellent guide as to how to provide a safe, respectful and inclusive work environment free of sexual harassment—

The SPEAKER: Order!

Ms HILDYARD: —for the benefit of such an environment. Here are just some of the things that are set down and recommended—

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Reynell will—

Ms HILDYARD: Sorry; I forgot that I cannot talk about sexual harassment.

The SPEAKER: The member for Reynell will resume her seat. For the moment, I will not take that as a reflection on my earlier ruling, and I will give the member for Reynell one final opportunity. The member for Reynell is continuing what appears to me to be a debate on the substantive motion. The matter before the house is a debate on the suspension.

Attention has been drawn, in the course of the debate, to the range of matters the subject of motions in the Notice Paper. The member for Reynell may care to address the relative urgency of the matter that has caused this motion to be raised, but not the motion itself. I will give the member for Reynell one more opportunity.

Ms HILDYARD: Mr Speaker, I wish to talk to the house about what the Equal Opportunity Act sets out and what its website recommends as a way of explaining why it is urgent that this motion is debated. In my view, there are particular processes and requirements that the Equal Opportunity Commission website and the act set out that we are currently failing to adhere to. That is why it is so important that we do debate this motion as a matter of urgency. If I can speak to those for a moment as a way of demonstrating why it is so important that we get to this motion.

Here are just some the things that are set out on the Equal Opportunity Commission website. The Equal Opportunity Act 1984 requires employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. If an employer knows about it happening, or should have known, they must act to stop it and prevent it from happening again. Similarly, the Work Health and Safety Act also requires employers to take steps to recognise, assess and control hazards, including sexual harassment.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Reynell will—

Ms HILDYARD: Employers are liable—

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Reynell will resume her seat. The Minister for Energy and Mining on a point of order.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: The member for Reynell did say she was going to use that opportunity to explain why it was urgent that this matter is debated at the moment. You have given her a fair bit of time. She seems to keep going back to the importance of the issue—about which I do not disagree, by the way—and refuses to talk about why it is urgent that this No. 69 becomes No. 1.

The SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order. The member for Reynell has been given numerous opportunities. The member for Reynell has closed debate. I now put the question that standing orders be so far suspended as to enable the member for Reynell to bring a motion forthwith.

The house divided on the motion:

Ayes 16

Noes 22

Majority 6

Motion thus negatived.