Opposition MP Katrine Hildyard cautioned by Speaker Vincent Tarzia for repeating Wicked Campers slogans in Parliament
A Labor MP, wanting to ban Wicked Campers’ obscene slogans, has been cautioned for repeating to Parliament the exact words written on the vans.
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An Opposition MP has been cautioned for repeating vile slogans in State Parliament while pushing for a ban on notorious rental van firm Wicked Campers.
Opposition status of women spokeswoman Katrine Hildyard was warned on Wednesday by Liberal Speaker Vincent Tarzia to not use “unparliamentary language” after she provided examples of obscene slogans emblazoned on the campers while reintroducing a bill that would outlaw the offensive vehicles.
Labor has described the censorship as hypocrisy.
Ms Hildyard told Parliament the Government had been dragging its heels on banning the campers, which are favoured by backpackers and featured slogans like “Back in my day, blowing a tranny was car trouble” and “Massive c**k”.
“This is despite... slogans continuing to adorn these awful vans with appalling words such as ‘I’ve often wanted to drown my troubles, but I can’t get my wife to go swimming’, ‘A wife - An attachment you screw on the bed to get the housework done’ or the sinister ‘I can already imagine the gaffer tape on her mouth’ littering our roads, caravan parks and holiday destinations’,” she said.
Mr Tarzia then cut in.
“I just want to caution the member about introducing unparliamentary language into the debate,” he said.
Ms Hildyard responded with: “So the language is not okay in here but it’s okay out there? Are you actually kidding?”
Mr Tarzia told Ms Hildyard that “arguing with me and refusing to accept the authority of the chair, under 137a I can remove you for up to one hour for no reason”.
“If these offensive slogans are not good enough for the Parliament, why are they still on our roads where families and children can see them?” Ms Hildyard told The Advertiser.
“Violence against women begins with disrespect and these vans are highly disrespectful.”
Labor introduced a bill into parliament in November 2018 that would outlaw Wicked Campers however it has been deferred almost 20 times since then.
In March last year, the Federal Government announced a plan to rid Australia of the vans in which all states and territories would ban the vehicles.
The State Government threw its support behind this approach.
A Government spokesman told The Advertiser progress was being made on the matter.
“The State Government is working through delivering a national consistent approach to stamp out this issue and the legislative framework is expected to be ready by the end of next month,” he said.