A Liberal politician has been ejected from the ACT Legislative Assembly after he refused to delete a social-media video that mocked the institution's rules.
Mark Parton posted a video on TikTok, Facebook and Twitter earlier this week that contained about three seconds of footage of a portrait of former Labor chief minister Jon Stanhope.
The portrait hangs on a wall in the Legislative Assembly, which forbids anyone from filming inside the building without the Speaker's permission.
The Assembly's broadcasting policy also prevents people from using its facilities for electioneering.
Mr Parton said in his film that Mr Stanhope, who often criticises his former Labor colleagues, was "supporting our [Liberal Party] million trees initiative".
After the video was published, the Assembly Speaker, Labor's Joy Burch, sent a letter to all MLAs, which reminded them of the filming rules and warned them against breaching them.
However, Mr Parton published a second video titled "Don't destroy democracy", in which he said Ms Burch's warning was "very clearly directed at me".
He described the Assembly policy by saying "you're not actually allowed to [film] because, I don't know, it destroys democracy or something".
Ms Burch ordered Mr Parton this morning to delete both videos.
She told the Assembly that Mr Parton's first video used images of Assembly facilities to "promote a Liberal Party election policy", which was "a clear breach" of the rules.
"The implication in the second video is that I am opposed in some way to democracy and that I am not being impartial in my duties in singling out Mr Parton," Ms Burch said.
Under separate parliamentary rules, members are only allowed to criticise the Speaker by raising a formal complaint under the standing orders.
"I would remind members that there is an election due in October this year and there may be over 100 candidates seeking to be elected to this place," Ms Burch said
"None of those candidates will be able to use the Assembly's facilities to further their election campaigns."
Mr Parton apologised for breaching the broadcast guidelines and committed to staying within them "for the balance of the term".
However, while he deleted the first video, which featured Mr Stanhope's portrait, he initially refused to delete the second.
"At this stage, Madame Speaker, I am continuing to receive advice on the second video, and it still remains," he explained.
The parliament voted along party lines to remove him from the chamber, and Ms Burch ordered him to be barred from re-entering until both videos were removed. He deleted the second video later on Thursday.
Mr Parton was a radio presenter and social-media consultant before he was elected to the Assembly in 2016.
The next ACT election will be held on October 17.
