00:00Empty chairs and questions unanswered.
00:06Mr James Cullen, Mr Edward Ovadia, Ms Sarah Michael.
00:16The Premier also avoided questions.
00:18Why are you refusing for your staff to appear before the cabinet?
00:21Sorry, we've just held a big fat. Thank you.
00:23Nice to meet you. Have a great day.
00:25Despite illegal summons, three staffers from his office
00:28and two from the police minister's office
00:31failed to appear before an upper house inquiry.
00:34For any witness, not a member of parliament,
00:37to decline to appear before a committee,
00:40having been properly summonsed to do so,
00:42is an extremely serious matter.
00:45The committee is examining whether the government misled parliament
00:48and the public when it rapidly passed legislation
00:51after explosives and a letter referring to key Jewish institutions
00:56were found in Dural.
00:57That legislation tightened hate speech laws
01:00and restricted protests outside places of worship.
01:03The community is very concerned about the rising number
01:08of anti-Semitic attacks in our community
01:10escalating to the point where there was a mass casualty event.
01:15Police later revealed the incident was not a genuine terror threat,
01:19but a con job by organised criminals.
01:22The inquiry wants to know whether the Premier and police minister
01:25knew that before passing the legislation.
01:28The staffers wrote to the committee yesterday.
01:30It is the minister who is accountable to the parliament
01:33and the public, not their staff.
01:35Yesterday, the Premier criticised the inquiry,
01:38arguing it's a waste of time.
01:39This is the definition of a fishing expedition.
01:43If Chris Minns has nothing to hide,
01:45why won't he front up to the inquiry?
01:47I'm asserting that the Premier is aiding and abetting
01:50and encouraging his staff to break the law.
01:53This is a very, very bad look.
01:55Over the weekend, Upper House President Ben Franklin
01:58will consider whether to apply for the arrest warrants.
02:01That would be an unprecedented move,
02:03meaning the staff could be held in custody
02:05until they're brought before the inquiry.
02:07If Mr Franklin decides against that,
02:10the Upper House could vote to remove him as president
02:12for defying the committee.
02:14Look, that's always a possibility,
02:15but that's something that's never even been canvassed
02:17or discussed at this point in time.
02:19Caught between the Premier and the parliament.
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