Two Katter’s Australian Party MPs have been found in contempt of Queensland Parliament by the State Ethics Committee.
Party leader Robbie Katter and member for Hinchinbrook Nick Dametto confronted a pro-Palestinian rally outside parliament in March, with signs reading “Condemn Hamas”.
The dozens of protesters present yelled “shame” and obscenities in the fiery confrontation with the pair, who were then ushered away by police.
Ethics Committee chair Stirling Hinchliffe told the House on Friday the two North Queensland-based members had engaged in disorderly conduct.
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“We have a duty to uphold the highest standards of behaviour and to preserve the dignity of the parliament,” he said.
“It is indecent and disorderly to incite protest activity on the parliamentary precinct.
“The members in this matter are long-serving members of the parliament who ought to know better.”
The penalty determined by the committee was for the MPs to make an apology to parliament.
Mr Nick Dametto expressed his regret over the incident to the House.
“My actions were ill-conceived and ill-considered, and I take this opportunity to offer my unequivocal apology to the House for any indignity I have caused to the Queensland Parliament as a result of my actions,” he said.
Mr Katter was absent from parliament on Friday due to a prior commitment.
Mr Hinchliffe said the Ethics Committee would hand down more serious penalties in future.
“Whilst the committee has not recommended a period of suspension for both members in light of mitigating circumstances, the committee has foreshadowed that it will take a stronger position if it considers similar matters in the future,” he said.
Member of the public defies committee
In a separate and unique ruling, the ethics committee also found a member of the public in contempt of parliament.
Mary Walsh published an extract of a private transcript of a government committee on a Facebook page she managed in March, which had been inadvertently disclosed without authorisation.
Ms Walsh refused to delete the post despite the ruling.
“The committee was confronted with a complex situation where a member of the public was refusing to comply with its requests and being blatantly recalcitrant,” the committee report said.
She was advised she would receive a $2,000 fine if she continued her defiance.
She didn’t respond to the committee, but the post was deleted in May.
The report noted a financial penalty “is reserved for the most serious of contempts” and it was “extremely dissatisfied with Ms Walsh’s blatant disregard” for the committee’s requests.
It referenced a similar matter involving high-profile advertising executive and Labor strategist Dee Madigan, after she was ruled in contempt over a tweet ridiculing Deputy Opposition Leader Jarrod Bleijie.
Ms Madigan refused to delete a retweet of a video of Mr Bleijie from 2018 in which he tore up sheets of paper, labelling it a “toddler tantrum”.
That breach was found to be “relatively minor”, with Ms Walsh’s ruled a “more serious matter”.
The committee recommended the Speaker of the House admonish Ms Walsh for her actions.
“Should the actions of a member or stranger be so blatant, recalcitrant and defiant, as has been the case in this matter, the committee will likely recommend the House impose a significant financial penalty,” it said.