Wednesday, 29 May 2024

Racing Integrity Commissioner

Report 2022–23

Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (17:02): I rise to speak on the Racing Integrity Commissioner: Annual Report 2022–23, which has been tabled in this place. The racing integrity commissioner plays a very important role in a very large Victorian industry, and that is the racing industry. It is an industry that supports its main racing and its events, but it also supports many other things through various different racecourses and other facilities across the state. One such racecourse is Moonee Valley Racecourse, one that is known to a lot of people in this place. Often it is the site for political conferences, usually for Labor but sometimes those opposite as well.

Today I rise to speak about, in relation to this particular racecourse, a very disturbing event which happened just a few weeks ago at the ALP state conference. Ironically enough, it was otherwise a very good conference where, as I referenced this morning, the Premier made some very important announcements around new laws for tougher penalties for those who assault frontline workers such as retail and fast-food workers, bus drivers and the like. It was ironic in a very disturbing way because we saw the security staff at that venue, at that racecourse, come under threat from the actions of what can only be described as a violent mob of protesters. All the more outrageous was that this activity – when they stormed into the building – happened during a memorial service to some departed federal MPs that we have been acknowledging in this state.

Protest is a very important part of our democracy and I want to underline that absolutely, but peaceful protest is essential. Once you go beyond that, once you say that violent unlawful protest is okay, you are creating a very dangerous precedent not just for yourself but for those who have different views to you. What I am particularly troubled by is elected representatives of this place were speaking at that protest. Dr Ratnam, the member for Brunswick and the member for Melbourne all spoke at that protest that turned violent. Now, I do not for a second suggest that those members themselves turned violent or that they stormed into the building, as so many others did – although I do note that a senator who was elected under the brand of the Greens party was amongst the party who stormed into the building and assaulted and sent hideous verbal abuse at other people.

David Davis: We might even agree on this.

Michael GALEA: I think we do agree on this, Mr Davis. For you to assault, push, shove, scream in the face of Labor delegates, Labor MPs, even a Labor senator holding his small child, a baby, is disgusting. For you to be storming into a building forcing it into lockdown, storming past the childcare centre, where kids were extremely upset and not knowing what was going on, their parents in another room terrified that their children might be in harm’s way and unable to get out of that room to check on their children because they were locked in, because people were slamming on the doors trying to push them in – the noise, as one of the people inside, was absolutely deafening, and to see the footage from afterwards you can absolutely see why. To put parents and children through this at what is a democratic function is unthinkable. It is also unthinkable for homophobic abuse to be screamed into the face of a member of Parliament. I am not allowed to repeat that homophobic abuse in this place, because it would be unparliamentary language. As a member of that community, though, I am sickened that people would see any scenario in which that was acceptable.

Again, there is always a right to protest, but it must be peaceful. My colleague, who is in the room, Mrs Deeming, has been through a very difficult situation over the past year. I am not going to go into the details of that case, but suffice to say, when Mrs Deeming was at the same event as some very unpleasant people, she faced consequences. Three MPs from the Greens were speaking at the event where all of this happened. I do not suggest that they took part in the violence, but they were there, they were speaking, they were rallying that crowd up, and we have heard absolutely nothing from them, from the Greens party or its leadership, about it. We must do better.

Moira Deeming: On a point of order, President, I am so sorry to interrupt, but I was not at the same event as that bunch of men who turned up on Parliament steps. They were not at my event, they were in the vicinity. Sorry to interrupt.

The PRESIDENT: We used to call that a point of clarification, which we will now. But I do not think Mr Galea was actually indicating that. Were you?

Michael GALEA: No. And with respect to the chamber, I will withdraw that comment and not make any comment either way.