Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to raise a matter of privilege under standing order 51. The matter concerns the member for Pearce and whether his failure to comply with the resolution of the House regarding the registration of members' interests constitutes a contempt of parliament. I wish to raise this matter now due to new information that has come to light this morning. This is the earliest available opportunity I've had to raise this matter.

As the House is aware, I originally raised this matter on Monday 18 October. The former Speaker, the member for Casey, deliberated for a number of days and returned to the House with the decision to grant precedence to a motion and refer the member for Pearce to the Committee of Privileges and Members' Interests. The former Speaker granted precedence to this motion on the basis that he was 'satisfied that a prima facie case has been made out'. He did not indicate a view on whether a referral itself should proceed. The government then proceeded to vote down a referral motion to the Committee of Privileges and Members' Interests for the first time since Federation.

This morning the former Speaker, the member for Casey, conducted an interview on ABC Radio Melbourne. In that interview, interviewer Virginia Trioli asked the member for Casey what he would have done if he had the power to directly refer the matter to the Committee of Privileges and Members' Interests rather than simply grant the motion precedence. The question was:

I mean, if you had that referral power, given the base of what you had looked at and your consideration of what the parliamentary role was, you would have referred it?

To which the member for Casey responded, 'Sure.' He then went on to explain the role that he had at the time.

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