Landry was motivated to intervene after seeing Labor MPs, including a minister, drag Chandler-Mather out of their seats and walk behind him as he delivered a speech on May 10.
Charging
The Brisbane-based MP was speaking about the $10 Billion Housing Futures Fund The Greens are threatening to stall in a months-long standoff fueled by the Greens’ belief that not enough money was spent on urgently improving the lack of social housing.
In the speech, which drew strong interjections from Labor MPs, including “sit down you moron”, Chandler-Mather accused Labor of lying, siding with property developers, “crushing the hope” of struggling Australians and ” try to crush you.” “How dare you?” he said. He ended the speech in tears as he told the story of a struggling voter.
Landry said of the episode: “He was passionate about the story he was telling and they were just interested in him, and he ended up in tears. Some ugly things have been said.”
“Obviously I don’t agree with the policies of many Greens. But he is a young man and I have a daughter of the same age… We want to encourage young people into politics.
Charging
Landry and Haines did not cite specific examples of the language directed at the Green MP, but both described it as worse than any other MP in their time in parliament. Haines was elected in 2019 and Landry in 2013, after a vitriolic term in which Julia Gillard made the famous misogyny speech of her accusing the Coalition of repeated sexism directed against her in parliament.
A spokesman for the Speaker said he was aware of the complaints and had become more aware of the interactions between MPs during debates. The Spokesperson will be monitoring the issue, the spokesperson said.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong was forced to withdraw comments she made in the Senate about Chandler-Mather this month after he said, “this man’s ego is more important than housing for women fleeing domestic violence and all women at risk of homelessness.”
The housing policy debate has hinted at the antipathy Labor figures feel towards the Greens.
Political strategists believe that the Greens represent a growing electoral threat but many Labor MPs claim publicly and privately that the Greens are not interested in practical results and are defined by protest and unreasonable political demands.
The Greens’ call to vote against the housing bill if their demands are not met contains political risk, but party leaders believe it has the support of a growing number of voters who are facing mounting economic pressure.
Chandler-Mather, a Labor Party member at university who won his seat against Labour, has since built a profile on the political left.
TO video of his May 10 speech has been viewed 1.5 million times on TikTok. By comparison, just two of the Labor Party’s TikTok videos have been viewed more than 150,000 times since the last election.
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