>So what's the rap on Bob Brown?
Brown is an activist. But his honesty and consistency only stands out because of the gutless behaviour of the rest of the Parliament.
Anyhow, it got even worse the next day. The Howard government's grovelling to Bush proved to be just a warm-up to the Chinese leader's appearance in parliament yesterday. What a bunch of crawlers! (Though I suppose you have to give some credit to Conservative Tasmanian Independent Brian Harradine, who boycotted the Chinese leader's speech.)
From the Hobart Mercury, one of Murdock's rags:
http://www.themercury.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,7661777%255E3462,00.html
Greens pair defy order
25oct03
TASMANIAN senator Bob Brown and Greens colleague Kerry Nettle defied an order not to attend Parliament yesterday but were barred from entry by security guards.
Senator Brown also accused Chinese secret agents of barring his pro-Tibet guests from their alloted positions inside the Parliamentary chamber.
Amid chaotic scenes outside the entrance of the House of Representatives, Parliamentary officials blocked their entry and demanded the media not record or film the confrontation.
Their protest follows a scuffle in Parliament between the pair and Liberal MPs yesterday who formed a human shield to block them from handing US President Bush a letter.
Senator Brown yesterday agreed to leave peacefully after telling security officials he did not believe Speaker Neil Andrew had the right to expel him.
"You're doing your job," Senator Brown said. "I've spoken to the Speaker today and he is not doing his.
"We're locked out. Today is a shameful day and Neil Andrew should hang his head in shame."
Senator Brown was heckled by Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan, who yelled: "Hey Bob, the rules apply to everyone not just you, ya big mug."
From the Sydney Morning herald:
http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2003/10/24/1066974316723.htm
Frantic moves behind the scenes averted loss of face
Date: October 25 2003
By Tom Allard, Cynthia Banham and Cosima Marriner
Chinese officials were on the verge of cancelling President Hu Jintao's historic address to Parliament yesterday, spooked by the interjections and ruckus provoked by Thursday's speech by the US President, George Bush.
The officials were appalled at the prospect of a repeat of such antics being beamed around the world and sought strong assurances from the Federal Government that it would take measures to protect their leader from humiliation.
Frantic contacts were being made by Australian officials to Mr Hu's minders until minutes before he was to leave to make his speech, Government sources said.
Another Government source said Mr Hu's wife, Liu Xiaoxian, had to be coaxed to leave the Chinese embassy to witness her husband's speech, explaining why she arrived with a stern-faced Janette Howard at the end of the Prime Minister's welcoming statement. A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: "She was late [to the address] because she was late arriving at Parliament House."
The Government took the extraordinary step of barring invited pro-democracy and Tibetan activists from the public gallery while the Speaker, Neil Andrew, took the Greens MP Michael Organ aside and pleaded for him to show restraint.
Mr Andrew banned from the chamber the Greens senators Bob Brown and Kerry Nettle after they hurled denunciations during Mr Bush's speech. The senators then became involved in a fracas as they tried to approach Mr Bush.
The panic, confirmed by three Government sources, reflected the sensitivity of the Chinese Government to any loss of face.
It is understood the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, was alerted by panicked officials that he might have to intervene personally as the time for Mr Hu to enter Parliament approached.
Sources said Mr Hu was particularly upset that the chairman of the Federation for a Democratic China, Chin Jin, was to be a guest of the Greens in the public gallery.
The Greens also invited two Tibetans, Dhondup Phun Tsok and Tsering Deki Tshoko.
After the intervention of the Speaker, all three had to listen to Mr Hu's speech from behind a soundproof glass wall, a floor above the public gallery.
Chinese officials approached Mr Andrew on Thursday night to provide guarantees. Asked when the phone calls and assurances of polite behaviour by MPs and the public finally stopped, a source said: "When was the problem fixed? When was the speech? Go back about five minutes."
Until Mr Hu's exit from the chamber, the Government was on tenterhooks, fearing long-term repercussions for the relationship between the two countries.
Protest action would have caused massive offence. Shielded from dissent as leader of a totalitarian regime, Mr Hu's reaction could not be predicted.
A no-show from Mr Hu could have been even more embarrassing for the Government, taking headlines away from the Government's trade wins.
As it turned out, the speech went smoothly. Mr Organ remained seated and quiet throughout. His silent protest consisted of a Tibetan flag on his suit lapel, a black armband, and his refusal to stand or clap at the conclusion of the address.
From the Age:
http://www.theage.com.au/text/articles/2003/10/24/1066974316569.htm
How Hu tamed the chamber
Date: October 25 2003
By Annabel Crabb Canberra
A Communist regime leader yesterday succeeded where the leader of the world's greatest democracy failed the day before. Chinese President Hu Jintao won and kept the respectful attention of Parliament for nearly 21 minutes.
Liberal, Labor and minor party MPs listened without demur as President Hu explained that China was sort of a democracy, having experimented with "political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party". There was nary a peep from the lefties as he boasted of his government's commitment to "protection of citizens' rights and freedoms".
Labor members appeared unaffected by the Chinese leader's underwhelming undertaking to look into further democratisation "as our national conditions merit". Effervescent Government MP Jackie Kelly, looking a shade like Jackie Chan in a grey high-necked Mao jacket, nodded understandingly as President Hu talked about smothering Taiwan's drive for independence.
And when he vowed to "build a socialist political civilisation", even Janette Howard smiled encouragingly from the gallery - as if building a socialist political civilisation was the very thing she'd been meaning to get round to doing.
After the speech, polite applause sounded from both sides of the chamber. The scrum scenes that accompanied George Bush's egress were nowhere to be seen.
The only Australian MP who formally boycotted yesterday's proceedings was independent senator Brian Harradine, who was worried by the precedent of "allowing a dictator from a country with an appalling human rights record to address Australia's democratic Parliament".
Otherwise, all was quiet. Greens senators Bob Brown and Kerry Nettle, who spent Thursday's address by President Bush accusing him of being a war criminal, were yesterday denied entry by security guards.
That left Lower House colleague Michael Organ as the hope of the side for the speech by President Hu, who the Greens maintain is of more concern to them than the democratic leader of the United States.
But Mr Organ failed to rise. Instead, he sported a black armband and a Tibetan flag on his lapel. Labor MP Harry Quick recycled his white armband but otherwise cooperated equably with proceedings.
It was the first time a foreign communist had been allowed to use the House of Representatives chamber to discuss the building of a socialist civilisation.
Luckily, nobody seemed to mind.