Robert Ray (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Abetz, it is pretty hard not to. Of course, the media were immediately tipped off at every stage of my colleague’s case. They were always present; they always knew. And that is not the only example. It happens time and time again to federal and state politicians.

I read in the Australian this morning about another case. Angus Kennett, the son of the former Premier, committed some minor offence for which he was not arrested but was given a bit of a warning for being a naughty boy. That found its way into the media. The former Premier of Victoria, Mr Kennett, said of the incident:

… but it should never have been made public. “It’s a private matter and I can’t believe that the police force think it’s necessary to give information like this to journalists ... It’s an appalling breach of a person’s rights.”

Hear, hear! The former Premier of Victoria is absolutely right. It was not necessary for the police force to put that information into the public domain.

We all know that from time to time these things emerge. Going back to the case of Mr Reith and the telecard, which was some years ago, those opposite know that Senator Faulkner and I knew all the details of that case. That was obvious from our cross-examination at an estimates hearing in May.