Australian senator behaving funny

SEXXXX

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Just to let you all know somewhere else in the world senators also behaving funny (I'm being kind)

Who did she think she was?


Crying toddler prompts Australia parliament re-think | Oddly Enough | Reuters


Crying toddler prompts Australia parliament re-think
Fri Jun 19, 2009 1:18pm EDT
By Rob Taylor

CANBERRA (Reuters) - An Australian senator whose crying toddler was ejected from parliament during a political vote has prompted a review of chamber rules and sparked a heated debate over child-friendly work practices.

Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said she was "humiliated" when Senate President John Hogg ordered her teary 2-year-old daughter removed from the parliamentary chamber before a vote, in accordance with parliamentary rules.

"It shows that parliament is still based on a very male model and I just think it's absolutely ridiculous," said Women's Electoral Lobby Chairwoman Eva Cox.

Hogg said he was responsible for "proper conduct" in the upper house, but supported a review of rules which bar children and other outsiders from the Senate during votes.

The Senate leader of the conservative Nationals party Barnaby Joyce said Hanson-Young had staged a stunt and could have avoided being caught out during a locked-door vote, with bells alerting all lawmakers beforehand.

"Within that Senate are votes for things that might send people to war, that might get people killed. This requires certain sacrifices," Joyce said. "The child is a prop and the Senate has become a stage."

Greens Leader Bob Brown said he would push for the Senate's procedures to be changed to give parents more flexibility.

Hanson-Young said the four minutes apart from her daughter Kora, who was placed in the care of a staffer, were "longest few minutes I've ever had."

She won backing from a lawmaker in Victoria state who was ejected from parliament several years ago for breastfeeding a child in parliamentary chamber.

"I think it's just ludicrous. She was required in her capacity in her job as a senator to vote, therefore she was being denied that opportunity based on the fact she had some responsibilities as a parent," Kirstie Marshall said.

But a television poll of public opinion found most people had little sympathy, with 88 percent of respondents backing Hogg's exclusion order.

(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
 

DiscoBoy

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Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said she was "humiliated" when Senate President John Hogg ordered her teary 2-year-old daughter removed from the parliamentary chamber before a vote, in accordance with parliamentary rules.

"It shows that parliament is still based on a very male model and I just think it's absolutely ridiculous," said Women's Electoral Lobby Chairwoman Eva Cox.
I wasn't aware that women were the only ones with children to care for. I'm sure if it had been a man in that situation, the same action would have been taken. Implying that women are the sole caregivers does nothing for the women's rights cause, and I just think it's absolutely ridiculous.
 

Witlof

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Australian parliaments seem to have regular problems of this sort. A few years ago there was great public debate after a Victorian MP was ejected from the chamber for breastfeeding. It wasn't the bare flesh that was the problem, but rather the fact that no one had elected the baby to parliament. PM - Victorian MP and baby ejected from House
The non-Australians here will not be surprised that Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce is a total nut job, so his response to the latest stir is entirely predictable.
 

SEXXXX

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Australian parliaments seem to have regular problems of this sort. A few years ago there was great public debate after a Victorian MP was ejected from the chamber for breastfeeding. It wasn't the bare flesh that was the problem, but rather the fact that no one had elected the baby to parliament. PM - Victorian MP and baby ejected from House
The non-Australians here will not be surprised that Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce is a total nut job, so his response to the latest stir is entirely predictable.

If they need to pick a woman why can't they pick a better one?

Now, the THEY also applicable to WE
 

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If they need to pick a woman why can't they pick a better one?

Now, the THEY also applicable to WE

Oh, ok, now I get it. I thought you meant the Senate President was behaving badly. Now I realise you meant the mother of the young child was behaving badly.
I guess we have very different opinions on this. As for what you mean by "If they need to pick a woman", I don't even want to think about it.
 

SEXXXX

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Oh, ok, now I get it. I thought you meant the Senate President was behaving badly. Now I realise you meant the mother of the young child was behaving badly.
I guess we have very different opinions on this. As for what you mean by "If they need to pick a woman", I don't even want to think about it.

obviously she wasn't picked for her ABILITY, like respecting rules and regulations.
 

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obviously she wasn't picked for her ABILITY, like respecting rules and regulations.

I think you're asking a lot of the good people of South Australia!
We have a VERY complex voting system in the Senate, which involves preferential voting, party tickets and six seats falling vacant in each state at a time. Consequently, anyone with enough luck can get themselves elected. Just ask Barnaby Joyce or the ante-diluvian Steve Fielding (who I'm appalled to say is one of the Senators from my own state of Victoria). Most people really don't have a clue what they're doing when they vote for the Senate.
 

SEXXXX

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I think you're asking a lot of the good people of South Australia!
We have a VERY complex voting system in the Senate, which involves preferential voting, party tickets and six seats falling vacant in each state at a time. Consequently, anyone with enough luck can get themselves elected. Just ask Barnaby Joyce or the ante-diluvian Steve Fielding (who I'm appalled to say is one of the Senators from my own state of Victoria). Most people really don't have a clue what they're doing when they vote for the Senate.

Don't take it personally, it happens everywhere!

PS. I didn't know Fielding is THAT old :biggrin1: I know very little about him , only the case of global warming re-questioning