LAUGHING STOCK: Alex "call the cops" Hawke amuses NSW Parliament - Oct 28, 2009

NSW Police Minister Michael Daley 28/10/09

The Government will continue to provide police with the necessary resources to put these crooks out of business. Valuable resources, as we all appreciate, should be allocated to fighting serious crime, not wasted on Liberal Party factional infighting. But that is exactly what happened recently, as reported in the Australian on 2 October.

I will come to Mr Hawkesbury in a minute. Recently police were called to a disturbance at an electoral office of a member of Parliament. They responded in numbers, and included, according to media reports, members of a specialised Rapid Response Unit. When the police arrived they found no unlawful activity, just an outbreak of Liberal Party factionalism.

A meeting of the Young Liberals was being held in the electoral office of the member for Mitchell, Alex Hawke, in Castle Hill.

To be fair, the police discovered an unprecedented and never before seen situation: Alex Hawke had lost control of numbers at his own branch meeting.

That is right, there were more tweed jackets and pinstripe cardigans against him than for him.
It was just another comical incident involving Liberal Party factional brawling, but one with a serious undertone because the police were called and valuable police resources wasted—

It all sounds quite funny. The allocation of police resources is a serious task and it can have implications for the safety of the whole community. Police resources should not be diverted to media stunts and standover tactics and police should not have to intervene in the ongoing factional warfare regarding the numbers of the Leader of the Opposition and those of members of the religious Right.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Alex Hawke
• Malcolm Turnbull
• Young Liberals
• Liberal Party

[nswhack]

Alex is good for a laugh!