Nationals MP accused of ‘disliking women’ as he said-she said dispute engulfs parliament

Nationals MP Lachlan Hunter has denied calling Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Minister Jess Stojkovski a “stupid minister” and rubbished Stojkovski’s accusation that he dislikes women, saying he gives his “spray equally to the front bench of the government, no matter what their gender is”.

The he-said-she-said fight erupted in parliament on Wednesday night after acting speaker Sook Ye Lai alleged she heard Hunter, who is regularly called to order for interjections, call Stojkovski a “stupid minister” during a community safety debate.

However, Hunter, and opposition MPs near him at the time, vehemently denied he uttered those words and said he was speaking about greeting dinner guests as he walked through the chamber.

While that exchange was happening, the Upper House also devolved into chaos after Labor backbencher Klara Andric referred to Liberal MP Nick Goiran as “fuhrer” while Simon Ehrenfeld, a Jewish Liberal MP, was chairing the debate.

‘Stupid minister’ or ‘get dinner’?

The Hunter exchange happened just after 6pm during an opposition-led motion condemning the Cook government for neglecting community safety.

Stojkovski was talking about gun violence when Hunter interjected.

Acting Speaker Sook Ye Lai said she heard Hunter say “stupid minister” as he was walking from his seat and asked him to go back to his seat and withdraw the remark, which he did but added a caveat that he was telling Geraldton MP Kirrilee Warr he was going to “pick up my dinner guests.”

“Member, I am not arguing with you. Retract and apologise,” Ye Lai said.

Hunter then argued again that he only said he was going to pick up his dinner guests, to which Ye Lai responded: “That is not what you were saying.”

“Fair enough. I know what I said,” Hunter replied.

Attorney General Tony Buti then called a point of order and said he had never seen an episode of such disrespect to an acting speaker in his 15 years in parliament.

Neither Hansard nor the parliament video feed caught what Hunter said.

Hunter told this masthead that he said to Warr: “This is awful, I’m going to get my dinner guests.”

On Thursday morning, Stojkovski said she didn’t actually hear Hunter’s remark, but said Ye Lai had heard him say “stupid minister” and accused him of disliking women.

“The issue is really not about what he said. It’s the fact that he showed such disrespect to the acting speaker,” she said.

“The reality is in the chamber, the speaker, or the acting speaker, is the absolute authority. She tells you to withdraw a comment, you withdraw.

“She tells you to apologise, you apologise. He didn’t do those things.”

Hunter said he came back to his seat and withdrew his comments, but found Stojkovski’s comments that he didn’t like women offensive.

“I totally refute those accusations. I give my spray equally to the front bench of the government, no matter what their gender is,” he said.

“I literally helped found a women’s FDV regional service called DVassist, which former Labor Minister Bill Johnston now chairs.

“This is a government and ministers who finally have an opposition willing to call out their behaviour and they clearly don’t like it.”

Despite Hunter’s claim that he apologised to the house on Thursday morning, he said he wasn’t aggrieved for having to withdraw and apologise for remarks he did not make.

“I respect the decorum of the chamber. I’m a representative of my constituency, and I’ll always respect the conventions of the legislative assembly,” he said.

Hunter’s claim was backed by Warr, who said there’d been a misunderstanding.

“He said to me, I’m leaving because I need to go and get my guests,” she said.

Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas, who was also sitting near Hunter at the time, said he didn’t believe that’s what was said.

“Well, it’s not for me to say, but I don’t believe it was that. Nonetheless, he was asked to withdraw the comments ... I believe he withdrew the comments and then left the chamber,” he said.

Ye Lai did not confirm to this masthead what she heard in the chamber but said “every member deserves to be treated with respect”.

Speaker Stephen Price started Thursday’s sitting by scolding the entire parliament for its behaviour while singling out Hunter for Wednesday’s exchange and government MPs for obstructing the Parliament video feed.

Liberal powerbroker dubbed ‘fuhrer’

In the upper house, Labor’s Andric apologised for describing Liberal powerbroker Goiran as “fuhrer”, in reference to Adolf Hitler, during a debate about gender dysmorphia two hours earlier.

“I made a comment earlier today during the motion on notice in this place. I would like to formally withdraw that comment, and I unreservedly apologise to that member,” Andric said.

Zempilas noted Andric’s apology to the house and personal apology to Goiran, but said Ehrenfeld deserved an apology too.

“I think it is appropriate that that same apology also go to the one Jewish member of the Upper House parliamentary liberal team, and as yet, Simon hasn’t received an apology, and I think its appropriate that he does,” he said.

It’s the second time a Labor MP has likened the Liberals to Nazis in parliament.

Scarborough MP Stuart Aubrey drew criticism from WA’s former Chief Rabbi David Freilich in May last year after likening the Liberals’ stance on puberty blockers to the Nazi’s vilification of Jews.

Police Minister Reece Whitby said the “fuhrer” incident and the Hunter exchange were not comparable.

“Now we all get carried away in this chamber. We all say things that we shouldn’t, and when the speaker asks you to withdraw, you withdraw. And this didn’t happen on this occasion,” he said.

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