Housing minister Clare O'Neil calls for Nationals leader David Littleproud to apologise for comments made against Bendigo MP Lisa Chesters. Footage by ABC
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00:00On another topic, I saw that David Littleproud has come out with some really deeply offensive comments in the last little while about the Member for Bendigo, Lisa Chesters.
00:12Let me be really clear. Lisa Chesters is a Labor powerhouse.
00:17You will not find a stronger, more fiercer advocate and defender of her local community than Lisa Chesters.
00:25She is an unbelievable person and a fantastic Member of Parliament.
00:28And the fact that we are in an environment where a leading male politician in our country thinks that it's appropriate to compare a female MP to a dog, I just think that tells us everything about where the Liberals and the Nationals are trapped.
00:43I thought that we would move beyond this as a country, but this is a person vying to be Deputy Prime Minister of our nation and he speaks about a female Member of Parliament as though she is a dog.
00:53Now, Lisa Chesters is not just a great Member of Parliament and a great advocate, she is a friend of ours.
00:58We deeply respect her and I ask David Littleproud to come forward and apologise for his comments.
01:04But this tells us everything about the Liberals and the Nationals.
01:07They don't respect women and they don't pre-select women.
01:10Look at the numbers.
01:11Now, for the first time in Australian history, we've got a majority female government and by God does it make a difference.
01:17For us, women's issues are not some kind of sideshow or afterthought.
01:21They are central to the work that we do as a government.
01:24I only wish I could say the same about the Liberal Party of Australia.
01:27When will they grow up?