Question Time

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:14): My question is to the Premier. How does the Premier respond to claims that he has normalised domestic violence and bully tactics by taking weeks to return the CFMEU donation? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

The SPEAKER: Leave is sought; is leave granted?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order. I will hear the point of order under 134. The minister on a point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sir, standing order 97: questions are not to involve argument. That question proposed facts within the body of the question and it was also deeply offensive.

The SPEAKER: Keeping closely in mind standing order 97, I will give the member the opportunity to rephrase.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. My question obviously is to the Premier. Why did the Premier take weeks to return the CFMEU donation? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: I will hear the point of order under 134.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sir, again, standing order 97: questions involving facts. The leader mentioned 'weeks', which includes facts. I would ask the member to use his vast experience to write the question in an orderly way.

The SPEAKER: I will give the leader one final opportunity to rephrase.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: My question is to the Premier. How long did it take the Premier to return the CFMEU donation? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will provide further explanation.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: On 7 August in The Advertiser, Ms Emma Walters described the Premier's behaviour as, and I quote:

…a normalisation of domestic violence, bully tactics and coercive control where it becomes quietly acceptable.

She pointed out that he only takes action on domestic violence when it becomes a political issue.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:16): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. Domestic violence is a serious subject, and that deserves a serious response in a policy sense. As a government, our record is certainly very clear in the actions that we are willing to take to stamp out domestic violence. I know that the member for Reynell, the responsible minister, has a suite of policies that we took to the election, including acting strongly and decisively with respect to coercive control.

We will be a government that acts with respect to stamping out domestic violence. With respect to the member's CFMEU question, I think that the Leader of the Opposition is a little bit better than this. The Leader of the Opposition knows all too well that the receipt of a donation from the Australian Labor Party is not something I am responsible for.

Nonetheless, as distinct from others who have occupied this responsibility of Premier of the house, I expect the Labor Party to uphold basic standards. When I asked the Labor Party to return the donation to the CFMEU, they did precisely that.