Brisbane Roar; Palmer United Party

11 Jul 2014 12:30 PMMichael Hart

Brisbane Roar; Palmer United Party

Mr HART (Burleigh—LNP) (11.17 am): I wanted to talk about my disappointment with the Palmer party’s political tactics. But before I get into that, I would like to congratulate the Brisbane Roar on winning the Hyundai A-League Grand Final on Sunday. It was a fantastic game. I was chewing my nails right to the end of the game. They did win at the end of the day.

Mr Crandon: Who won?

Mr HART: The Brisbane Roar won.

Mr Crandon: Brisbane Roar won?

Mr HART: They have won their last three games. It was absolutely fantastic. I am very proud to wear this Brisbane Roar tie today. I congratulate the Chairman, Chris Fong; the Managing Director, Sean Dobson; and the Commercial Manager, David Pourre, for the fantastic work they do, along with the manager of the team and the actual players.
I am a straight shooter. I say things that I mean. I am very blunt. Anybody who has listened to the tape recorded conversation that I had with Jim MacAnally on 9 April will know that I literally slammed the door in his face. When I say that I mean that we were talking on the telephone. There was no face-to-face meeting. I was talking to him on the telephone and I slammed the door in his face.

I was elected as a member of the LNP government. When the people of Burleigh elected me they knew what colour shirt I wore and what my politics were. They knew that I was a massive supporter of Campbell Newman and his policies going forward. They knew who it was they were electing, and I have no intention of letting the people of Burleigh down by jumping ship as other people have done in this place.

I had a great deal of respect for the member for Gaven when I first came into this chamber. I have lost all that respect, unfortunately. The member for Gaven has let down the people of his electorate. He has let down the people of Queensland, and he should be condemned for that. I was shocked, I must say, when he joined the Palmer United Party. After my experience with what has happened with the Palmer United Party, I wonder what sort of inducement the member for Gaven was given to join the Palmer United Party. I think that is a question he really needs to answer. For that matter, so too does the member for Yeerongpilly. I was shocked when he joined the Palmer United Party as well. What were these people given or offered to get them to go across to the Palmer United Party? We have heard recently that the Katter’s Australian Party and the Palmer United Party might merge and the member for Nicklin may jump on board and they may become the official opposition of Queensland. I would be stunned if that happened.
I have a great deal of respect for the member for Mount Isa. He does a fantastic job for his electorate. I am glad he is here to hear me say this. I do not, however, have any respect for the member for Dalrymple or the member for Condamine. Both of them are complete traitors to the people who elected them. The member for Nicklin has made a lot of noise recently about joining the Palmer United Party. What is being offered to the member for Nicklin? He has something to answer in all of this. Who is running the Palmer United Party? Is it Alex Douglas or is it Clive Palmer? Neither of them appear to be able to get their facts straight.

A government member interjected.

Mr HART: Is it Bob Katter? I take that interjection. Clive Palmer is out there saying, ‘There are no offers to members of the LNP in Queensland to jump across.’ Alex Douglas is saying there is. Last week Alex Douglas called me a liar, and I hope that I have disproved that by tabling the recording and the transcript of the conversation in parliament today. I had no intention of doing that until he called me a liar.

Last week Mr Palmer said, ‘No-one I know approached him’—he is referring to me—’and I don’t
use intermediaries, my friend,’ and then he said goodbye. I think that has been proved to be
completely incorrect. He obviously does use intermediaries. He obviously does know the person who
contacted me. He is in many pictures with Jim MacAnally. They are closely associated. Mr MacAnally
said that the conversation we had talked about policy and portfolios. Anybody who reads that
transcript or listens to that recording will know there was no such conversation that took place. The
member for Gaven is in the chamber now. I call on him to resign from the Palmer United Party. He
cannot possibly make a good Premier of this state after what we have heard over the last two weeks.

(Time expired)