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<\/p>\nIn a sign of the deteriorating relationship between the Minns government and the house of parliament that keeps it in check, the premier faced an extraordinary question this week.<\/p>\n
Would Chris Minns revive the attempts of past Labor premiers to abolish the Legislative Council\uff1f<\/p>\n
“No,” the premier said with a laugh on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Jack Lang tried twice in the 1920s and 1930s. Bob Heffron took it to a referendum in 1961 and lost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Look, it’s a democratic chamber. But democratic chambers are answerable to the public,” Minns said.<\/p>\n
This week, that democratic chamber voted to suspend its Labor leader, Penny Sharpe, and censure her deputy, John Graham.<\/p>\n
It was to protest the government’s refusal to comply with the upper house’s orders to produce certain documents for scrutiny.<\/p>\n
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Sharpe has been suspended from the upper house. (ABC News: Craig Hansen)<\/p>\n
But there is another reason for the tension.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A key function of the Legislative Council has been hampered after it suffered a major legal defeat to Minns’s chief of staff, James Cullen.<\/p>\n
In December, supposed powers of arrest under the Parliamentary Evidence Act 1901 were ruled invalid.<\/p>\n
Cullen challenged the provisions to avoid being hauled before a committee examining the leaking of secret minutes.<\/p>\n
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Lovelock says the Cullen fallout “could lead to some very serious unintended consequences”. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
Since the decision, which is being appealed to the High Court<\/a>, more witnesses are declining to appear at inquiries.<\/p>\n In March, a contractor cited the case in his refusal to attend an inquiry<\/a> into a hospital plagued with safety issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last week, three witnesses failed\u00a0to attend an inquiry into a scandal involving the Director of Public Prosecutions. Parliamentary staff strongly suspect the ruling influenced their decision.<\/p>\n Lynn Lovelock, the clerk of the Legislative Council from 2007 to 2011, wrote the textbook on the upper house.<\/p>\n “What happened with the Cullen case I think has started down a path that could lead to some very serious unintended consequences in the role of what the parliament does,” Lovelock told the ABC.<\/p>\n “What we’ve effectively done is taken away the right of the people to have access to information.<\/p>\n “This is actually chipping away at the foundations of democracy. It’s affecting the people.”‘This is a political chamber’<\/p>\n At a press conference on Wednesday, Sharpe appeared at odds with her boss over whether the parliament should have the power to force attendance.<\/p>\n “The fact that that’s been thrown out and it’s now been undermined by the court case is not great,” Sharpe said.<\/p>\n “The situation we’re in is as a result of the imprudent action of others.”<\/p>\n Moments later, the premier confirmed that as a matter of principle he did not believe the parliament should have such powers.<\/p>\n “No, politicians shouldn’t have the right to arrest people,” Minns said.<\/p>\n “This is a political chamber.”<\/p>\n Chris Minns and Penny Sharpe appeared to be at odds over parliament’s power to force attendance. (ABC News)<\/p>\n The opposition has introduced a bill to restore the powers. It has worked with the Greens and crossbench to tack the provisions onto non-urgent pieces of legislation to send a message.<\/p>\n But the premier, who has previously likened a committee to a “star chamber”<\/a> and “kangaroo court”, made it clear he has no plans to reinstate the powers.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I think you’d be going down a really bad route if all of a sudden [independent MLC] Mark Latham wakes up one morning and says, ‘You know what? I think this dude needs to be arrested and now I have the power to do it.'”<\/p>\n The Parliamentary Evidence Act never gave individual MLCs the powers of arrest.\u00a0<\/p>\n It purported to allow the president of the Legislative Council to certify a witness’ non-attendance to a judge, who would then issue a warrant.<\/p>\n Lynn Lovelock (far left) says people can be “motivated by reasons other than upholding the powers and privileges of the parliament”. (Supplied)<\/p>\n Lovelock said the power was never questioned before because committees were cautious about its use.<\/p>\n “If we feel that we’re going to hit a block where somebody’s going to deny our powers, we have to decide whether this is a rock we want to die on or not,” she said.<\/p>\n “That works really well if you have reasonable people working on that. I’m not saying we have people who aren’t reasonable.<\/p>\n “But you do have a situation where people can be motivated by reasons other than upholding the powers and privileges of the parliament.<\/p>\n “It can be for party political reasons. And it can be for personal reasons.”<\/p>\n ‘If you’ve got nothing to hide you don’t mind being questioned’<\/p>\n Among the upper house inquiries underway is a probe into claims Minns conspired to funnel illegal donations into Labor coffers a decade ago. He strenuously denies any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n![\"nsw](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b1c70e177392adb383919a2a85a5e2ad.jpeg\")
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