The NSW Opposition has called on the Premier to sack the Police and Counter-terrorism Minister Yasmin Catley.
The latest accusations of misleading Parliament, plus her strange written statement tonight in response, confirm that she is not up to the vital task of leading the police and counter-terrorism portfolios at this critical time.
“Media reports tonight that the Minister may have misled Parliament are gravely concerning,” said Mr Speakman. “When asked, point blank, whether she had told any Jewish leaders that their community should stay away from the Sydney CBD –her unequivocal response was ‘No, I did not’.”
“The Minister should have apologised to the Jewish community for the way that she failed to heed their needs on Monday night for a vigil at the Opera House and to take any action to stop an ugly mob descending on the Opera House and engaging in despicable anti-Semitic acts.”
“The Minister’s claim in her written statement tonight that she ‘apologised ‘for the way this has been handled’ is false. Despite repeatedly being asked in Parliament for such an apology, the most that the Minister could muster was to say ‘of course I apologise to anyone if they feel unsafe’ on Wednesday and ‘Yesterday, I apologised to those in the Jewish community who ongoingly feel unsafe in New South Wales’ today, in contrast to the Premier’s genuine apology.”
“Her written statement tonight did not deny that she referred to the Jewish community as ‘you people’.”
“From Question Time today it appeared that the Minister was not even aware of her powers under the Police Act to direct the Commissioner.”
“The Minister has a catalogue of other failures – such as her failure in the wake of the tragic tasering of grandmother Clare Nowland; her failure to provide a timely response to escalating gang warfare in Sydney’s west, with children exposed to the horrific scene of a dead body in the street on the way to school; and her failure to take action on the LECC report dealing with police handling of domestic violence cases.”
“With rising community tension, fear and potential risk in the weeks and months ahead, the Premier must act now to install a new Police and Counter-terrorism Minister in whom the public can have confidence to lead efforts to keep them safe.”
