NSW Liberal MP Peter Phelps defends dictator Augusto Pinochet

Updated

There are calls for a senior New South Wales Liberal MP to be reprimanded over a speech defending the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

The State Government's Upper House whip, Peter Phelps spoke in State Parliament to mark the 40th anniversary of Pinochet's overthrow of Chilean president Salvador Allende.

"There are many who believe that General Pinochet was a reluctant hero, a morally courageous man," Dr Phelps told Parliament.

"We have to accept that sometimes it's necessary to do bad things to prevent terrible things.

"It's all too easy to say we believe we should never sanction dictatorship or that we should have no truck with evil, but such principles are foolish and self defeating in the real world.

"Yes, Pinochet killed people and if you know of any way to overthrow a government other than military force then let me hear about it."

In the aftermath of the 1973 coup d'état several thousand of Pinochet's political opponents were killed and tens of thousands more tortured and imprisoned.

Greens MP John Kaye has called on Premier Barry O'Farrell to reprimand Dr Phelps over his comments, saying they are highly offensive to those scarred by the Pinochet regime.

"It is extraordinary that a senior Government position holder is justifying the very worst kind of terrorisms," Dr Kaye said.

"Dr Phelps has belittled the memory of the tens of thousands of people who were killed or tortured."

The Opposition is calling for Dr Phelps to be sacked over his speech while Elizabeth Riviera, a member of Sydney's Chilean community, is outraged.

"Knowing what Pinochet has done and how many people he actually killed and how many people he made disappear until this day, he has no right to say that someone like Pinochet can be put in a place as being a hero," she said.

But Dr Phelps has rejected the suggestion he condoned any atrocities.

"What I did last night was defend the decision to remove Allende's regime, which is entirely justified if you look at the supreme court and the chamber of deputy decisions in relation to the Allende government," he said.

"At no time did I defend the regime and indicated my disgust at the number of people who'd been killed by him."

It is not the first time Dr Phelps has prompted raised eyebrows in Parliament. In 2011 he told the Upper House that all traffic lights should be ripped up.

"Traffic lights are a Bolshevist menace... Roundabouts represent freedom. Roundabouts represent democracy at its finest," Dr Phelps said.

Dr Phelps worked for several federal Coalition MPs, including five years as chief-of-staff to Senator Eric Abetz, before entering the NSW Parliament in 2011.

Pinochet relinquished Chile's presidency in 1990, but remained the South American country's commander-in-chief until 1998.

Several subsequent attempts were put Pinochet on trial, both in Chile and in Europe, but they were abandoned because of his poor health.

He died in Santiago in 2006, aged 91.

Topics: states-and-territories, state-parliament, 20th-century, sydney-2000, nsw, chile

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