After a cabinet minister was expelled from the legislature for calling an opposition frontbencher “a dopey, dumb lady,” the Queensland premier urged her Labor MPs to be “respectful.”
Mark Furner, the minister of agriculture for Queensland, made the remark in front of Ros Bates, a member of the Liberal-National Party, on Thursday.
The deputy speaker dismissed him from the chamber as a result of his remarks.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Thursday that “the minister has unconditionally apologized to the parliament.”
And I’ve emphasized the need of respect in this chamber to every caucus member.
It’s a timely reminder for all lawmakers from both political parties and for everyone in this chamber to treat this house with greater respect and decency.
Shannon Fentiman, the attorney general and minister for women, repeated the remarks made by the premier.
The minister has apologized completely. I believe it puts the subject to rest,’ Ms. Fentiman added.
But as the premier said, this issue is one of respect, and I believe that as community leaders, we should all do more to ensure that we are modeling respect.
All of us have a responsibility to ensure that we be polite to one another in this setting as we implement respectful relationships in all of our schools.