Banned senators vow to return

NEWS.com.au ^ | October 23, 2003 | Peter Jean

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

AUSTRALIAN Greens senators Bob Brown and Kerry Nettle were ordered out of Parliament today, after interrupting United States President George W. Bush.

But they refused to go and plan to defy a 24-hour ban by attending Chinese President Hu Jintao's address to Parliament tomorrow.

Some government MPs tried to physically prevent the Greens senators from approaching Mr Bush after he addressed Parliament.

Several Labor MPs protested silently during Mr Bush's speech.

Labor backbencher Harry Quick wore a white armband, some Labor MPs wore peace dove badges, and the Greens wore pictures of the Australian prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

Senator Brown twice interrupted Mr Bush's speech, calling for the release of the Australian detainees from Guantanamo Bay, and saying Australia was not a sheriff.

Speaker Neil Andrew ordered Senator Brown to leave the chamber, and, when he refused to go, instructed the serjeant-at-arms to remove him.

Senator Brown still refused to leave, and security staff did not forcibly remove him.

Senator Nettle interrupted Mr Bush's speech to express concerns about a possible free trade deal with the US.

She also refused to leave when ordered out by Mr Andrew.

Mr Bush quipped: "I love free speech."

The 18-year-old son of Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib was removed from the public gallery after yelling: "What about my dad, Bush."

Ahmed Habib and his mother, Maha, were in the gallery as guests of the Greens.

Senator Brown shook hands with Mr Bush after the speech.

"I said to Mr Bush, 'Really do something about these Australian citizens in Guantanamo Bay. We want them brought home', and he acknowledged that," Senator Brown said.

Senator Nettle unsuccessfully tried to hand Mr Bush a letter from Mrs Habib.

She said Liberal senator Ross Lightfoot elbowed her, and told her to go away and die.

Senator Lightfoot said he and Senator Nigel Scullion had held back the Greens to protect Mr Bush and Prime Minister John Howard.

"I was determined that President Bush not be abused by both the Greens senators as he was during his speech," Senator Lightfoot told AAP.

He said he had used strong language, but denied telling Senator Nettle she should die.

The Greens said a vote called by Mr Andrew to suspend them was not valid, because they were senators, not members of the House of Representatives.

Senator Brown said they planned to attend President Hu's speech tomorrow, but would not try to force their way into the chamber.

Labor MPs, including Tanya Plibersek, Carmen Lawrence, Duncan Kerr, and Harry Quick, did not join the standing ovation after Mr Bush's address.

She said she asked Dr Rice to pass the letter onto Mr Bush, and said Dr Rice had promised to do so.

Liberal senator Bill Heffernan later interrupted a Greens press conference.

"You hold our parliament in contempt," Senator Heffernan told Senator Brown.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Ms Plibersek handed US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice a letter from 41 Labor MPs protesting against the Iraq war.

OK. That settles it. We surrender. /sarcasm

[DB]

Have the FBI test the letter first...

[Naspino]

At the very least these people need to sit down and try to understand what motivates Bush to protect our world from terrorism. Perhaps through understanding and reasoning with him they could pursuade him to stop.

[trebb]

I watched the address on FOX last night - the Prez comported himself well and rather than acting irritated at the interruptions, he just held a small grin in check.

[SpinyNorman]

The 18-year-old son of Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib was removed from the public gallery after yelling: "What about my dad, Bush."

What about him? Was he arrested in Australia for pumping gas or running his own business? I doubt it.

Ahmed Habib and his mother, Maha, were in the gallery as guests of the Greens.

Figures that these communist groups have to get attention like this. They are simply badly behaved, and look like children.

[richardtavor]

anybody that has watched Australian politics, would know that this was an extremely mild session--normally, fist fights break out...

[NewHampshireDuo]

She said Liberal senator Ross Lightfoot elbowed her, and told her to go away and die.

I already like Mr. Lightfoot..!(even though he's liberal. I know a few US senators who should follow this guy's advice..

[hilaryrhymeswithrich]

I agree. He seemed to shrug it off rather well...I think I was more pissed off than he was. I loved his free speech comments and so did the others in the hall. All and all, with a few immature exceptions, they gave him a great response, a standing ovation and a lot of "hear, hears" I wonder if the press will report that.

Can you imagine our Congress behaving so badly to a guest(Ted Kennedy not withstanding????)

[ShadyBrown]

Well, I'm Australian, and I can tell you that 99.5% of the population think that Bob Brown is a fool. He's one of those far left Green politicians that can't produce policies that make any sense, so relies on headline producing stunts like this to grab attention. Unfortunately this gets enough of the unemployed/student/looney vote to keep him elected. The reaction here to the heckling has been one of disgust. People are pretty angry. Even the regular 'middle of the road' left politicians (Labor Party - Democrat equivalent) have called it 'childish', 'disgusting' etc and they all gave the President a standing ovation.

And yes, Australian parliament can get pretty roudy. No fights, as someone said in an earlier post, but heckling is quite common in a normal session (but not for a visitor), similar to British parliament. It can be pretty funny, but with an invited guest, its not on, and the reaction has been so negative towards Brown that hopefully it will be the start of the end of him.
The President was warned by PM Howard that Brown (no relation to my screen name!) might do this. I think he (Bush) actually enjoyed it.

His speech however, has gone down very very well here. It was fantastic. One of the best I've heard, from him or anyone. The reports we are seeing in the news here are showing the President arriving at Parliament to a foyer full of government staff cheering him, saying all the right things in a press conference with the PM, delivering an awesome speech (and very funny in some parts), making a Green politician or two look like an idiot, heading off to a relaxed barbecue lunch at the PM's residence (with Australian government, military, business & sports leaders and umm, the Crocodile Hunter), laying a wreath in a touching ceremony at the Australian War Memorial, meeting with Aussie SAS, Air Force & Navy personnel who served in Iraq, then heading off to Hawaii.

2000 protesters and 2 Greens didn't like him. 19,997,998 other Australians thought he was great, and it was an honour having him.

[Xenalyte]

It's been my experience that Aussie people - as opposed to politicians - are salt-of-the-earth, commonsensical, good folks.

Does "Green" mean the same thing Down Under as it does Stateside - eco-conscious to the exclusion of almost everything else, including good sense?

[hilaryrhymeswithrich]

That is good to hear. I actually love watching both the British and Australian parliament coverage on C-SPan here. It is broadcast fairly regularly. I kind of like the rowdiness, it seems fairly honest and straight forward and I like that speakers are forced to believe in and defend their views and that it is not awash in political correctness. When you have a guest, however, I think everyone should be on their best behavior as a sign of respect to, if not the leader, at least those he represents.

Your country is at the top of our family wish list for a visit....sigh....

[Pokey78]

Too bad Peter Garrett lost his election as the Green's choice.

[Miss Marple]

Thanks for a review from Oz!

And thank you for your nation's support in the war.