Premier Chris Minns and his Ministers have lost control of their own Government with contradictory statements from the Premier and his Leader of the Government in the Upper House within minutes of one another during question time today about the call for an independent investigation into the police response to the Sydney protest.
Greens MP and spokesperson for Justice Sue Higginson said:
“The Greens in both the Lower and Upper Houses are seeking simple answers, does the Government support an independent investigation into the Police violence last Monday night – all we got was contradictions,”
“The Premier has doubled down stating that he doesn’t support the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) investigating Police misconduct from this week, while his Leader in the Upper House declared that it would be inappropriate to take a position in relation to what the LECC does,”
“It is clear there are many members of the Government who do not want the police actions at Town Hall on Monday to go unchecked, but the Premier Chris Minns is doubling down in defiance. There must be support for an independent investigation, people have lost trust in police and it needs to be restored,”
“The turmoil between Minns and his Government is getting worse. Just last night, the Government opposed and lost a motion calling for greater integrity powers for the ICAC, and yet this morning the Premier is standing up to announce a reintroduced version of investigation laws that failed to pass last week,”
“The Premier is playing a dangerous game, you can’t run a Government through command and control. If he wants to head off rebellion in his Party and within his own Cabinet, then this is the time to take stock and realise that he is not the King in a castle,”
“He is a Labor Premier in a democracy, he should start acting like it and leave peaceful protest and civil liberties alone,” Ms Higginson said.