The Greens have started the sitting week o the back foot, following allegations levelled against one of their former MPs. The ABC revealed yesterday an intern filed a complaint against Sam Hibbins over an alleged attempted kiss back in 2016. It’s prompted the Greens to defend the way they handled news of the complaint.
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00:00Walking into the year's final sitting week, a condensed Greens team faced scrutiny.
00:08Some questions on Sam Hibbons, when did the Greens find out that he'd recused himself
00:14from the parliamentary internship program and did you seek at that point to find out
00:18why that had occurred?
00:19My understanding is that the party room were told by Sam in 2018 that he'd voluntarily
00:25removed himself from the program.
00:27The Greens MP for Paran, Sam Hibbons, stood down from the party earlier this month over
00:33an affair with a staffer.
00:35On Saturday he quit the parliament and yesterday the ABC revealed an allegation by a parliamentary
00:41intern who worked with Mr Hibbons in 2016.
00:44He tried to kiss me on the lips and I turned my head away and he pulled me in close and
00:54whispered in my ear I shouldn't and I said no.
01:00Mr Hibbons says he absolutely disputes the allegations and that sequence of events.
01:05The matters prompted a rebuke of the Greens by the Premier.
01:08It is incumbent upon the leaders of that political party to explain themselves, particularly
01:14given the consequences of what action they didn't take.
01:18We've had two state elections since 2016.
01:21The only information we had was from Sam Hibbons himself which was that he was liaising
01:25with DPS regarding a matter, regarding an intern and a report that had been made.
01:30The Department of Parliamentary Services has told the ABC it doesn't believe any other
01:34MPs have been excluded from its internship program over its 35 year history and it's
01:40confirmed there are no current members of parliament blocked from taking part.
01:45Mr Hibbons' resignation from parliament will spark a by-election in Paran.
01:49But until culture changes in parliament, we have a big problem on our hands.
01:53That's why I think some of the work that's been done to establish the Parliamentary Integrity
01:56Commission, some of the ability to report anonymously to parliamentary services creates
02:01that environment.
02:02It will deal with new incidents at parliament from January 1 next year.