The most amusing political debate in NSW this year

Following the Greens-led Marrickville Council’s apparently audacious stand in support of Palestinian human rights, a furore consumed state and national politics leading to the eventual withdrawal of support for a motion regarding the prominent global campaign against active (and financial) support of Israel until there is an end to their ongoing occupation of Palestine – read more about the BDS/Marrickville debate here.

The debate around BDS put Marrickville Council, and the inner-west Greens, in the spotlight. Both the major parties, along with their friends in the mainstream media, continue their campaign against the progressive Council. But it’s not all bad, the continued attempt to demonise the Marrickville Greens led to a debate in the NSW Legislative Council on Friday 12 August 2011, which has got to be the most amusing debate the LC has seen so far this year.

We saw Country Green Jeremy Buckingham point out that calling Israel the Middle East’s only democracy is misleading (to say the very least):

The Hon. SCOT MacDONALD [11.23 a.m.]: By any measure Marrickville Council is dysfunctional—that has been evident for the last six to 12 months—but it was put back in its box by the electorate at the March election. What a wonderful initiative of Marrickville Council: boycott, divestment and sanction! We have the only democracy in the Middle East, the only functioning marketplace in the Middle East, the only government that respects its citizens with a rule of law, and this dysfunctional council—

The Hon. Jeremy Buckingham: Point of order: The honourable member is misleading the House. The honourable member has just stated that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East.

The DEPUTY-PRESIDENT (The Hon. Jennifer Gardiner): Order! There is no point of order.

David Shoebridge was described as “an absolute disgrace: the socialist from Woollahra”:

The Hon. AMANDA FAZIO: Mr David Shoebridge has just exemplified the levels to which The Greens will go to try to back up the appalling track record of their people on Marrickville Council. Not only is Mr David Shoebridge not content with talking for six hours on the industrial relations bill but he has also had his 15 minutes of debate and continues to take spurious points of order to make debating points. That shows what an absolute piece of work is Mr David Shoebridge. He is an absolute disgrace: the socialist from Woollahra.

And then Liberal Peter Phelps decided he’d lead the LC in a rendition of the socialist anthem, The Internationale:

The Hon. Dr PETER PHELPS [12.25 p.m.]: This has been troubling, so I ask us all to join together:

Arise, ye workers from your slumber,
Arise, ye prisoners of want.
For reason in revolt now thunders,
and at last ends the age of cant!
Away with all your superstitions,
Servile masses, arise, arise!
We’ll change henceforth the old tradition,
And spurn the dust to win the prize!
So comrades, come rally,
And the last fight let us face.
The Internationale,
Unites the human race.
So comrades, come rally,
And the last fight let us face.
The Internationale,
Unites the human race.

When I got my first permanent job I became a member of the union, the sadly now defunct Australian Telecommunications Employee Association/Australian Telephone & Phonogram Officers Association which later merged with the—

Dr John Kaye: I heard of that once.

The Hon. Dr PETER PHELPS: Did you? It was the Telstra workers union at the time. It was a fine union, it was left wing and occasionally militant. I will give an example of one period of militancy. The evil monopolistic government corporation Telecom, as it then was, attempted to take away our hot canteen in our lunch room. Shame. Those evil government socialistic monopolists tried to take away our humble canteen. What did we do about it? Did we lie down and do nothing? No, we did not. We rolled up our sleeves, hoisted the red flag, formed the barricades and gave a rousing rendition of:

The people’s flag is deepest red
It shrouded oft our martyred dead;
And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold
Their hearts’ blood dyed to every fold.

Then raise the scarlet standard high!
Within its shade we’ll live and die.
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,
We’ll keep the red flag flying here.

That is what we did. We engaged in militant industrial action. But we did not seek to inconvenience the community. Surely that is one thing that a good trade unionist should seek to avoid. Instead we inconvenienced the top-hat wearing, morning-suited bosses of the socialist Telecom corporation. What did we do? We let through free calls. We put through free calls to wherever in the world anyone wanted. And it saved our canteen. It brought the top-hat wearing toffs to the bargaining table and we saved that canteen.

Dr John Kaye: Point of order: Do not let it be misunderstood, I am enjoying this rendition of one of my favourite songs, but I am struggling to find the relevance of this contribution to the motion of the Hon. Penny Sharpe.

The Hon. Helen Westwood: To the point of order: The motion before the House is about workers and I believe that the honourable member was speaking about workers, therefore he was being relevant.

Dr John Kaye: To the point of order: Given that the Labor Left is defending Mr Phelps’s right to do this, I withdraw my point of order.

And then there was this reference to the incredible efforts of David Shoebridge and John Kaye who spoke in opposition to Barry O’Farrell’s draconion anti-worker Industrial Relations bill:

The Hon. MATTHEW MASON-COX: [...] Two members of The Greens, Dr John Kaye and Mr David Shoebridge, spent 12 hours—5 hours 54 minutes and 6 hours, respectively—speaking to the Industrial Relations Amendment (Public Sector Conditions of Employment) Bill 2011. That was 12 hours of self-immolation in relation to the rights of workers, marked by self-righteous arguments, sanctimonious calls for justice and defence of rights of people—

Dr John Kaye: Point of order: The member has accused me of bursting into flames. I take offence at that, and I asked him to retract his remark. I am sure Mr David Shoebridge also would be offended by the idea that he set himself alight during that debate. Neither of us did.

Read the rest here. Now… back to fixing the state?