Kristie Johnston has delivered a scathing assessment of Police Minister Felix Ellis as he sat less than two metres in front of her in parliament, never once looking up from his laptop as she delivered an emotional plea for safer firearms laws.
The independent Clark MP told the lower house on Thursday night she had cried “the entire way home” from parliament the night prior after the house narrowly defeated an amendment to allow firearm suppressors.
“I thought how close we came to making police officers’ lives that much less safe,” she said.
Johnston said she rose a second time on the firearms caps amendment to make sure she had left nothing unsaid.
“I want to make sure tonight when I go home that I feel like I’ve done everything to contribute to this debate,” she said.
She noted it was World Suicide Prevention Day and said she felt sickened that the Labor amendment capping firearm ownership appeared unlikely to succeed, less than an hour before it was ultimately defeated.
Johnston said parliament had an opportunity to take a public health approach to what she described as a crisis of gun violence in the community.
She was disappointed independent George Razay had ruled out supporting the cap, while acknowledging he sought compromise and worked collaboratively.
“We’re not trying to find a balance between two equal things here,” she said.
The balance being weighed was between the impact on lifestyle or work and the impact on life and those were not equal.
But it was Ellis, seated directly in front of her, who bore the brunt of her fury.
Johnston accused him of enraging the public by falsely framing caps as punishing firearm owners.
“We’re not doing that. We’re making Tasmanians safer. We’re taking a public health lens,” she said.
“I find it absolutely disgusting and enraging that this police minister is more than happy to wrap himself in the blue when it’s convenient, when there’s a camera about.”
She said Ellis was missing in action when it came to standing up for the safety of officers, as Police Commissioner Donna Adams had implored him to do.
Johnston said Adams had recently won a national award for leadership and an outstanding contribution to policing and was highly regarded among other commissioners.
She listed more than a dozen peer-reviewed studies she said Medics for Gun Control had circulated to members, rejecting the minister’s claim there was no evidence base.
“You’ve ignored it,” she said.
Johnston said Ellis visited police stations and academy graduations to tell officers he supported them and that those words needed to be matched with action.
“It’s not just words, it’s action and the best action you can do today is to support gun caps, to back in your police commissioner,” she said.
“Because every time you go out and just say, we’re there to support you, we protect you, we see you and do nothing, it is disgusting. It’s vile.”
She said the risks facing officers went beyond being shot at, pointing to the mental health toll of responding to gun violence and to suicide within the force.
Johnston said Ellis had spoken in estimates about the mental health impact on first responders and had an opportunity to act on it.
“I hope when we go home tonight you reflect, next time you go out to a police station, go to a graduation ceremony, that you think about the consequences,” she said.
She said the state had a chance to tell the nation it understood the danger acutely because of its history and was prepared to respond on the evidence.
Throughout Johnston’s contribution, Ellis did not look up once, remaining focused on his laptop as her words carried across the short distance between them.
The exchange then escalated sharply later in the evening when the house turned to mandatory minimum sentences for firearm theft and trafficking.
Ellis said Johnston was backing a position contrary to both the police commissioner and the police association and referred to “some of the rubbish from you” in her earlier speech on caps.
Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff interjected that he was verballing people who were not in the chamber, telling him he had gone “back in the gutter”.
Johnston rose to respond to what she called an “utterly disgraceful contribution”, saying she accepted the Commissioner’s advice in the areas where she was an expert but that sentencing was not one of them.
“I go home tonight to someone who is in the blue family, who everyday puts their life on the line,” she said.
“Every morning when he goes to work, I say goodbye, I say I hope you have a good day, I say keep safe and I say I love you because that might be the last time that I get to say that because he’s trying to protect Tasmanians.”
“You’re not even looking at me, minister,” Johnston said.
Speaking to Pulse later on Thursday night, Johnston said Ellis’ conduct during the debate was “deeply disturbing”.
“It was very disturbing to me that when member of parliament after member of parliament put the very clear evidence why caps are important to ensure the safety of police officers, that minister continued to stare at his computer screen rather than look them in the eye and understand the issues that we’re debating,” she said.
“That to me was incredibly disturbing. It was disrespectful.”
Johnston said Ellis had a responsibility to the safety of all Tasmanians, particularly as police minister to officers in the Tasmania Police Service.
“He has failed to do that tonight,” she said. “I don’t think it is fit behaviour for a police minister.”
“When it comes to doing something meaningful to assist the health and wellbeing or the mental health of police officers, he’s missing in action.”
Johnston said she was proud that nine of her 10 amendments to the bill were successful but did not support the final version because caps were not included.
“That was the biggest thing we could have done as a parliament to ensure safety within our community,” she said.
Ellis had earlier argued the focus should be on “getting firearms out of the hands of the wrong people”.
“The people who would do harm, the terrorists and the criminals, rather than punishing and penalising people who’ve done the right thing for decades, people in our rural and regional communities,” Ellis told parliament earlier in the evening.
He rejected the “unlimited firearms” framing that has featured in the caps debate.
“We never have since 1996 and under this legislation won’t have unlimited firearms in our community.”
The amendment to cap firearms was defeated 16 votes to 15.
The Firearms Amendment (Strengthening Firearms Security) Bill eventually cleared the House of Assembly around 9:30pm on Thursday night after hours of debate and dozens of other amendments.
The government was approached for comment.
If you or someone you know needs support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
