Key Points:
- Parliament's Privileges Committee has recommended Green MP Julie Anne Genter be censured over an outburst during a debate in May.
- The committee called her behaviour "inappropriate" and recommended she apologise to the House.
- In her response to the committee Genter apologised for her actions and acknowledged her behaviour was unparliamentary.
Green MP Julie Anne Genter has been found in contempt and it's been recommended she is censured and asked to apologise to the House after an outburst in Parliament which saw her confront a minister during a debate.
The incident occurred on 1 May in the debating chamber during the committee stage of the Appropriation (2022/23 Confirmation and Validation) Bill.
During Labour MP Rachel Boyack’s speech, Matt Doocey interjected that the previous government had “cancelled all the roads for six years”.
This prompted Genter to tell Doocey he was “wrong” and that she was “going to come and show [him].”
She rose from her seat, crossed the floor of the house, and stood over Doocey, waving a report at him while yelling, "Read the report," and "What is wrong with you?"
Deputy Speaker Barbara Kuriger ordered Genter back to her seat. She said it was inappropriate for a member to “get out of one’s seat to go and have an argument with somebody on the other side".
The result of a complaint to the Parliament's Privileges Committee was released today. The committee found Genter’s behaviour “was such that it could have the effect of intimidating a member of the House acting in the discharge of their duty (participating in a debate in the House).”
“We find that, in acting in this way, Ms Genter committed a contempt of the House.
“Members must be free to participate in debate freely, in line with the rules of debate and established practices of the House. It is not acceptable to physically approach another member in order to engage them in a separate debate on the floor of the debating chamber.
“It is particularly unacceptable to do so while leaning over another member in a way that could intimidate that member, regardless of whether that is the intention.”
The committee recommended that Genter be censured by the House “for acting in a manner that could have the effect of intimidating a member of the House acting in the discharge of their duty".
It also recommended she apologise to the house “unreservedly” and “without qualification”.
In her response to the committee in May, Genter apologised for her actions and acknowledged her behaviour was unparliamentary.
“She stated that it was not her intention to be intimidating or threatening but rather that she wished to present a written report to Mr Doocey on the topic of the debate.
“Ms Genter acknowledged that her manner of doing so was not appropriate. She told us that she has committed to undertake professional development to ensure this does not occur again.”
Following the outburst, a Green Party spokesperson said: "The co-leaders have talked to Julie Anne and made clear their expectations. Julie Anne has apologised to the Speaker and to the House."
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