NSW Speaker Greg Piper asked Newtown MP Jenny Leong to leave parliamentary question time after she demanded people be let into the public gallery. It follows a previous incident where question time was interrupted by Palestine conflict protesters.
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00:00 I appreciate we need to be aware of security and concerns around that.
00:04 I absolutely respect that, Speaker.
00:06 But I also think that it's problematic that there are members of the public sitting in
00:11 the foyer right now who are being told by the parliamentary staff that the gallery is
00:16 full when it's very clear the gallery is not full.
00:19 Member for Newtown to resume her seat and I will give an explanation as to what has
00:22 occurred there.
00:24 It was reported to me that there were two members of the public who were seeking access
00:28 to the chamber today into the Speaker's gallery, which is at my behest and my behest only to
00:35 be able to do that.
00:36 And I was told that they were identified as two of the protesters that I ordered removed
00:43 from this chamber yesterday.
00:45 I believe if that is the case, then I am not going to just move on to the following day
00:54 and allow those people in.
00:56 They can perhaps seek to speak to me, not necessarily through yourself, Member for Newtown,
01:02 but they can seek an audience with me and make some explanation, maybe even an apology.
01:10 But my issue here is about the safety of this House.
01:14 Member for Newtown will resume her seat.
01:16 I am not going to entertain this.
01:19 There are eight people out there, Speaker.
01:21 I respect that you have identified two, but there are eight people out there.
01:26 And I have no way of identifying that.
01:28 Member for Newtown will resume her seat.
01:30 I am taking this action for the safety of this chamber.
01:34 The Member for Newtown will resume her seat or she will leave the chamber herself.
01:39 I absolutely respect the idea that there may be people that have been identified that were
01:46 a part of yesterday's protest and I absolutely respect your right to not allow those people
01:51 into the public gallery.
01:52 But it is a dangerous precedent to set that there are other people that are not being
01:57 let in as a result of that.
01:58 I will accept that you can give me that advice if that is your opinion, but I will not change
02:03 my mind.
02:04 I cannot discern who those people are right now, but I know they are associated with people
02:07 like me.
02:08 So how did we discern these people in the gallery versus those people up there, Speaker?
02:09 The Member for Newtown will remove herself—
02:10 How did we discern those people to those people?
02:11 The Member for Newtown will remove herself from the chamber—
02:12 Was it based on what they looked like?
02:13 —understanding what the 2498 was?
02:14 Until the end of Question Time.
02:29 [End of Question Time]
02:29 [BLANK_AUDIO]