Bayside women fire back after claims made under parliamentary privilege
Parliament’s Ethics Committee has granted two bayside women the right to defend themselves against claims by two MPs.
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Two bayside political figures have used the last sitting of state parliament before next month’s election to defend their names and deny allegations made under parliamentary privilege by two MPs.
Parliament’s Ethics Committee granted Redland City Councillor Rowanne McKenzie and former LNP candidate and travel agent Bev Walters the right of reply to allegations made about them in parliament.
Redlands MP Kim Richards (ALP), who is a member of the Ethics Committee, was forced to step aside while the committee was ruling on Cr McKenzie’s submission.
Both women’s submissions were tabled in parliament last week, with the Ethics Committee noting that it did not consider or judge the truth of any statements made in the House or the submissions when it considered allowing the replies to be tabled.
Ms Walters’ submission was accepted after a Supreme Court defamation challenge against Capalaba MP Don Brown (ALP) was settled before trial.
In those proceedings, Ms Walters alleged that on September 10, 2020, and again on June 16, 2021, Mr Brown identified her and her position on border closures during Covid.
Her submission tabled in parliament last week stated: “(Mr Brown) referred to me in a way that made me readily identifiable, as ‘the LNP candidate’ and ‘my LNP opponent’,” the right of reply said.
The defamation proceedings against Mr Brown were settled before trial in November 2023, with Mr Brown ordered to pay Ms Walters’ legal costs, along with $50,000 in damages and to publish an apology.
Ms Walters asked the Speaker of the House in March for a right of reply, and her request was referred to the Ethics Committee in April with Ms Walters agreeing to the committee’s proposed response this month.
The committee negotiated a response which did not include Ms Walters’ request to include the full text of Mr Brown’s public apology, claiming it would extend the parliamentary process beyond its intended scope and potentially aggravate the situation.
In a separate case, the Ethics Committee, chaired by Stirling Hinchliffe without Ms Richards present, allowed Cr McKenzie’s submission to be tabled.
The submission formally addressed statements made by Ms Richards on February 24, 2021, and by Mr Brown on March 23, 2021, and November 15, 2023.
The statements led to a police investigation concerning alleged stalking related to accusations against Sheena Hewlett, the wife of Redland City Councillor Lance Hewlett.
Cr McKenzie, who voluntarily participated in a police interview, was not charged and has denied being linked to a now-defunct Scarlett Rivers Facebook page.
In parliament, Ms Richards said: “A fake Facebook profile and email account under the name ‘Scarlett Rivers’ was allegedly created to send Mrs Hewlett’s employer, a Gold Coast kindergarten, unfounded and false accusations in messages that asserted Mrs Hewlett was posting unauthorised images of students on social media,” Ms Richards told parliament.
“The article went on to detail that police documents seen by The Courier-Mail revealed that the IP address of the computer used to create the fake profile ‘Scarlett Rivers’ and to send those emails was traced to the computer of a Queensland councillor’s home.
“The article did not state the name of the local councillor under investigation.
“Tonight I can reveal that it was Redland City councillor for Division 7, Rowanne McKenzie.
“I table emails from the QPS in regard to the investigation.”
In her tabled right of reply, Cr McKenzie repudiated the allegations made by Ms Richards and Mr Brown, claiming that no evidence supporting any claims was ever presented to her.
“No evidence supporting the statements made by the member for Redlands has ever been presented to me or any other person that I am aware of,” Cr McKenzie’s statement said.
“I repudiate the comments made by the member for Redlands and the member for Capalaba as they were unsupported by evidence.”
All parties were contacted for comment, with Ms Richards declining to comment as she is on the Ethics Committee.
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