Independent MP Zali Steggall has been criticized for apparently mocking the name of deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley, despite Teals MPs saying the standard of parliamentary behavior needs to improve, including showing more respect to women .
Steggall on Thursday took issue with a tweet by Ley which claimed that the Teals, the informal group of independent MPs of which Steggall is a leading figure, had always voted with Labor and the Greens.
“A bit sloppy, Sussan!” Ms Steggall responded to X (formerly Twitter), apparently mocking the conventional spelling of Ms Ley’s name.
‘That division voted against his attempt to gag a minister during qt (question time).
“The low blow, Zali,” replied Mrs. Ley.
A bitter uproar has erupted on social media after Teals MP Zali Steggall appeared to mock the unconventional way Liberal deputy leader Sussan Ley spells her name.
‘My name is Sussan, if you have any problems with that, you can keep it to yourself.
“You said you would change Canberra, it seems to have changed you.”
“Maybe think twice before you say misleading nonsense,” Mrs Steggall replied.
An opposition spokesman said Ms Steggall’s jibe was “vulgar material” from an MP who “purports herself to be someone who cares about raising the standards of the parliamentary workplace”.
“She has clearly had a problem with Sussan because of her name and when we have called her, she has doubled down… including using quite agricultural language which is quite disappointing,” the spokesperson said.
‘We wouldn’t expect our people to have problems with other people’s names. “We have to be better than that.”
In the original tweet, Ley surrounded Steggall sitting in rows of Labor MPs, while fellow Teals Zoe Daniel and Monique Ryan huddled with the Greens on the floor of the House of Representatives.
“Another day in Parliament and another day when the Teals will vote with the Greens and with Labour,” wrote Mrs Ley.
‘People in these communities are learning the hard way that when you vote Teal, you get Green. The Greens are pressuring Labor to come for their money; Raising taxes is just the beginning.
Those commenting on the exchange lined up behind the two antagonists, with some taking issue with what they saw as a juvenile joke by Ms Steggall.
“Jesus, making fun of how someone spells their name?” one person wrote.
Ms Steggall was unhappy with Ms Ley’s suggestion that Teals always vote with Labor and the Greens.
‘You’re really pathetic. You are not fit to be a member of Parliament.
“Making fun of how a parliamentary colleague’s name is spelled: how mature,” another agreed.
However, some were happy to follow Mrs Steggall’s example.
‘Is Sussann the opposition disinformation minister???’ one tweeted.
“Imagine how stupid Sussan would be if she hadn’t added that ‘s’ to her name for numerology,” another commented.
lady law She was born Susan Braybrooks, but added a third ‘s’ to her name after leaving school.
She believed the change would lead to an “exciting” life after reading about numerology.
Ley spoke about his name change in an interview with The Australian in 2015, where he said: “I read about this theory in numerology that if you add up the numbers that match the letters in your name, you can change your personality.”
After reading about numerology, Mrs Ley changed the conventional spelling of her name after leaving school.
‘I discovered that if you added an ‘s’ I would have an incredibly exciting and interesting life and nothing would be boring.
‘It’s that easy. “And once I added the ‘s,’ it was very difficult to remove.”
Steggall is not the only MP to make fun of the spelling.
Labor MP Julian Hill routinely misspells Ley’s name on social media.
“Well I guess it makes sense that Susssan Ley is desperately worried about negative gearing,” he tweeted recently.
“And he certainly doesn’t want to talk about Labor’s tax cuts for all taxpayers.”
The opposition spokesman said Mr Hill had also been criticized for his “jokes”.
“Julian Hill is something of a parliamentary idiot, so we expect that youthful behavior from him, but it was very surprising to see Zali do it because he is one of those people who pretends to be above everything,” the spokesman said. saying.
Last year, Teal Independents demanded more respect for women MPs while criticizing parliamentary debate as aggressive and abusive.
North Sydney Teal MP Kylea Tink first raised concerns about the conduct of politicians in Parliament during Question Time in a speech last Thursday.
Ms Tink explained she felt unsafe due to the “hostile” and “aggressive” behavior on camera, noting it would not be tolerated in any other workplace.
Her stance has since been backed by fellow Teal independents Allegra Spender and Ms Daniel.
Member for Wentworth Ms Spender described question time as “very, very aggressive”.
“Yelling at each other is not solid debate, it’s really just abuse,” he said, as reported by News Corp.
Both women called the questioning and conduct of the male opposition MPs “inappropriate.”
“Men catcalling at women on camera, making direct comments to women on camera about what they’re saying is completely inappropriate,” said Ms. Daniel, the Goldstein member.
“I have a 16-year-old son and I am horrified by what he sees in the way people behave in that chamber and the example it sets for our children.”
Ms Steggall has been contacted for comment.