Daily Archives: February 21, 2012

This from The Age highlights everything that is wrong with politics.

Lying becomes the new truth as politicians totally destroy any moral ground they once stood upon.

The Queensland Opposition today declared the "lying season" open after a controversial bill passed through the house, allowing MPs to lie in parliament without fear of prosecution.

The Criminal Code Amendment Bill was controversially passed by the government today following heated debate by MPs in recent weeks.

Introduced by Attorney-General Linda Lavarch, it decriminalises lying to a parliamentary committee, allowing the parliament instead to deal with contempt issues.

The change was made following the case of former minister Gordon Nuttall who was relegated to the backbenches last year after accusations he lied to a parliamentary estimates committee regarding overseas-trained doctors as then health minister.

Under the previous criminal code, lying to parliament could result in criminal charges being laid.

But the government decided, during an extraordinary sitting of parliament last December, not to take any further action against Mr Nuttall.

The new legislation was rushed into parliament ahead of the next Budget estimates sittings, due to begin in July.

Opposition leader Lawrence Springborg said the new law signalled the end of parliamentary accountability in Queensland.

"The lying season is about to start in Queensland," Mr Springborg told journalists.

"The government will effectively legislate so ministers can lie today."

Mr Springborg said the legislation was "very timely" as it would allow ministers to face the upcoming estimates hearings without any fear.

"They want to give themselves the protection of being able to lie with impunity this year with no criminal sanction, so the opposition cannot get the truth," he said.

"From now on it will just be more spin and more lies from the Beattie Labor government."

But Premier Peter Beattie, during debate on the issue in the parliament late yesterday, said the laws would merely bring Queensland into line with all other states and territories and with Westminster.

"This provision was never meant to apply to members of parliament, and that is a fact," Mr Beattie said.

"At the end of the day, we will support this legislation because it is right.

"It is about time that we got rid of some of these anachronistic provisions that have been around since Adam and Eve were in shorts."

Lets repeat one of the sentences above:
‘the laws would merely bring Queensland into line with all other states and territories and with Westminster.’

We in Britain have known for a long time that our MPs lie, to us the public, to the press, on TV and even to the House and its various committees. But there it is in black and white. Have we not had enough of this.

We now live in a very rotten world, that rot needs now to be cut out and disposed of, physically.



 Read more...