Matt Mceachanm P a Member for Redlands

.T Matt McEACHANm p A Member for Redlands

Queensland Legislative wssemblyl Hiimhrr I ? ' - . 8 August 2017 Tobled D 26 OC5^2017 ByiMwG

The Hon Peter Wellington MP Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Parliament House Alice Street BRISBANE QLD 4000

Dear Mr Speaker I write to draw to your attention a matter of privilege relating to a possible Contempt of the Legislative Assembly.

Please find attached to this correspondence submissions and various other documents in relation to this matter.

I ask that the Member for Yeerongpiily and the Member for South Brisbane be referred to the Ethics Commitf^e for prosecution for Contempt of the Legislative Assembly.

Should you have any-dueries, I am happy to meet at your convenience to discuss this matter further

Yours sincerely

)

MattrMcEachan MP Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition Member for Redlands

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A Suite H20, Victoria Point Lakeside, 11 -27 Bunker Road, Victoria Point Qld 4165 • PO Box 3788, Victoria Point West Old 4165 P 3207 6910 E [email protected] W mattmceachan.com.au f /MattMcEachanLNP

Your strong local voice for Redlands SUBMISSIONS IN RELATION TO A MATTER OF PRIVILEGE RELATING TO A MISUSE OF THE PARLIAMENTARY BROADCAST BY MARK BAILEY MP AND JACKIE TRAD MP

BACKGROUND

1. This matter relates to the posting of an image taken within the Legislative Assembly chamber onto the website, www.twitter.com/MarkBaiievlVlP by the Member for Yeerongpiliy on 8 August 2017, 7 August 2017, 5 August 2017 and 17 July 2017. The post dated 17 July 2017 was re-published that day to www.twitter.com/iackietrad by the Member for South Brisbane. Each image is identical and screenshots of each post appears at appendix one.

THE FACTS

2. The Member for Yeerongpiliy operates an account with Social Media website Twitter at the URL of www.twitter.com/MarkBailevMP to which he posts an assortment of content. There is no suggestion the account is not operated by the Member for Yeerongpiliy. 3. The Member for South Brisbane operates an account with Social Media website Twitter at the URL of www.twitter.com/iackietrad to which she posts an assortment of content. There is no suggestion the account is not operated by the Member for South Brisbane. 4. As reproduced in appendix one, both Members have posted an image which appears to have been taken inside the Legislative Assembly chamber.

RELEVANT CONSIDERATIONS

5. Section 37 of the Parliament of Queens/and Act 2001 defines the meaning of “Contempt" of the Assembly as:

37 Meaning of contempt of the Assembly (1) Contempt of the Assembly means a breach or disobedience of the powers, hghts or immunities, or a contempt, of the Assembly or its members or committees.

6. Section 58(3) of the Parliament o f Queensland Act 2001 provides as follows:

(3) Publication of a parliamentary record in contravention of a condition imposed by the Assembly is a contempt of the Assembly.

7. The Parliament has ordered that use of the Parliamentary Broadcast is subject to certain terms and conditions, inter alia as follows:

1. The material must only be used for the purposes of fair and accurate reports of proceedings and must not in any circumstances be used for; a. political advertising, election campaigning or any advertising campaign that would normally require at law a broadcaster to announce who has authorised the material; b. satire or ridicule; and c. commercial sponsorship or commercial advertising;

8. Section 49 of the Parliament of Queensland Act 2001 defines the term "parliamentary record” to include any record relating to the proceedings in the Assembly.

APPLiCATION

9. As the images shown in appendix one were taken Inside the Legislative Chamber, I submit that the images are a parliamentary record within the meaning of section 49 of the Parliament of Queensland Act 2001.

10. 1 submit that it is clear that both the Member for South Brisbane and the Member for Yeerongpiliy have further published a record of the Assembly by virtue of re-publishing the images.

11. I further submit that the purpose for publishing the images was not the allowable purpose of “fair and accurate reports of proceedings” and that the further publishing of the images by the Members is not permitted by the conditions of broadcast.

12. Therefore I submit that the Member for Yeerongpiliy and the Member for South Brisbane have potentially committed a contempt of the Parliament,

CONCLUSION

13. I respectfully submit that this matter warrants the further attention of the house by referral to the Ethics Committee for further investigation. APPENDIX 1

Member for Yeerongpiliy

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-5 SEP S September 2017

Honourable Peter Wellington MP Speaker of Lhe Legislative Assembly Parliament House George Street BRISBANE QLD 4 0 0 0

e / A Dear M r Speaker,

Thank you for your letter of 4 September 2017 in relation to a complaint from the Member for Redlands and Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition about the publication of an image on my social media account of former Premier Campbell Newman and current Leader of the Opposition the Member for Clayfield.

The picture referred to by tlie Member for Redlands is a widely distributed media photograph of Opposition Leader Tim NichoHs and former Premier Campbell Newman published five years ago (example attached), it can be inferred from the fact that no complaint has been made by the Leader of the Opposition, the former Premier, or any other member of the Opposition, that the publication referred to was in accordance with parliamentary rules and regulations.

In publishing the photograph, I sourced it from a Herald Sun article published on the web, where any member of the public anywhere in the world can also access it.

Section 50 of the Parliament of Queensland Act 2001 (the Act) provides that the Assembly may authorise publication of a parliamentary record. Section 58 of the Act provides that the Assembly may at any time impose conditions ori the publication of a parliamentary record, and that publication of a parliamentary record in contravention of a condition imposed by the Assembly is a contempt of tiie Assembly.

Bioadcast Terms and Conditions have been published on the website of the Parliament of Queensland. Those Terms and Conditions include the following:

C o n d itio n s o f Access The Legislative Assembly authorises the further publication of this broarica.st of the proceedings of The Queensland Parliament, subject to the follov;ing conditions amongst others:

1. The iiiaterial must only be used for the purposes of fair and accurate reports of proceedings and must not in any circumstances be used for; i. political advertising, elertion campaigning or any advertising campaign that would normally require at law a broadcaster to announce who has authorised the material; ii. satire or ridicule; and iii. commercial sponsorship or commercial advertising; The Member for Redlands has alleged that my tweets are in breach of the Broadcast Terms and Conditions in that they are satire or ridicule. In order to establish that I am in contempt of the Parliament, the Member for Redlands must establish two elements. As the Queensland Parliament's Ethics committee stated, in its Report no. 157, M atter of privilege referred by the speaker on 16 December 2014 relating to an alleged use of the broadcast of the proceedings of the Queensland Parliament in contruvenLion of the terms and conditions, the issues to be resolved in establishing whether the allegation, on the face of it, gives rise to a contempt are listed below.

• Was the footage of the broadcast of proceedings used in breach of the Broadcast Terms and conditions?

• Did the use of the footage of the broadcast of proceedings amount, or was intended or likely to amount, to an improper interference with the free exercise by the Assembly of its authority or functions?

The Member for Redlands has not alleged which sub- paragraph of the Broadcast Terms and Conditions he believes I have breached,

I respectfully submit that the tweets in question are in fact fair and accurate reports of proceedings in relation to the previous government, are relevant in context and can in no way be interpreted as political advertising or election campaigning, satire or ridicule, or commercial sponsorship or advertising.

In fact two of the four tweets in question are simply the photograph itself with no text accompanying them at all. It is hard to interpret how circulating a photograph of two public figures in the public space of the Parliament that has been in the public domain for approximately five years could be interpreted as satire or ridicule v-;hen no comment is attached to the photograph.

In relation to the first tweet of 17 July 2017 I respectfully submit that it contained accurate information and referred to parliamentary budget estimates proceedings where neither the Opposition nor the Pauline Hanson's One Nation party referred at any stage to the huge level of renewable energy investment flowing into Queensland which now totals more than $3 billion and seventeen projects in total at that time.

The reference to expensive new coal power is also factual as outlined by the Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel to the Federal Government's Senate Lstimates on iune 1st 2017 when he said "The actual cost of bringing on new coal in this country per megawatt hour is projected to be substantially more expensive than the cost of bringing on wind or solar.’'

‘Satire' is defined in tlie Oxford dictionary as: The use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticise people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

■Ridicule' is defined in the Oxford dictionary as:

'The subjection of someone nr something to contemptLious or dismissive language and behaviour'.

The Member for Redlands has failed to establish that this tweet amounts to satire or ridicule, and it is my submission that the tweet is, in fact, neither satire nor ridicule. I concede that this tweet, and in fact all of the tweets in question, are critical of the policies of the former Government. This criticism falls well short of what is required to establish either satire or ridicule. The question then arises whether it is political advertising or election campaigning. The Ethics Committee, in its Report No. 157, considered the issues of political advertisii^g and election campaigning. It found in that case that ‘(T)he Together Union is not o registered politicol party and they noted that the advertisement makes no reference to any politicol party and that there was no evidence, before the committee, that the advertisement was nufhon'sed by o political party'. It was therefore found to not constitute political advertising,

Similarly, I am not a political party, although 1 am a member of a political party. The Iweel. is not authorised, or required to be authorised, and makes no reference to a political party. None of my tweets could therefore be said to constitute 'political advertising'.

The Ethics committee also considered the question of election campaigning, it determined that to amount to election campaigning, it must take place during an election period. That is, the period between the day after the writs are issued and 6pm on polling day, as defined in the Electoral Act 1992. None of my tweets can therefore be said to constitute election campaigning.

In relation to the second tweet of 5^^ August 2017, I respectfully submit there is again no element of satire or ridicule. The text refers to the record majority of the Newman Government which is accurate. It also refers to the roles of the current Opposition Leader and former Treasurer under Premier Nev;man and former Premier Newman as then shareholding Ministers of Queensland's electricity government owned corporations in the previous term of government which the photograph accurately represents.

This tweet was part of an exchange initiated in fact by staff of the current Leader of the Opposition himself in response to an original tw eet from me. The Opposition office tweet contained an element of personal abuse it must be noted. That exchange, including the Opposition Office tweet, is attached for your reference to give full context. I note this full context appears to not have been supplied by the Member for Redlands in his complaint.

The term “ Peas in a Pod" is not satirical but in fact metaphorical as both Mr Newman and Mr Nicholls worked closely together during the term of the Newman Government which the photograph accurately demonstrates, t submit it to be fair comment and a relevant analogy.

Again, the Member for Redlands has failed to establish that my tweet is in breach of the Broadcast Terms and Conditions.

In relation to the third tweet (photograph only) of August 7th 2017, I have also provided you with the full thread so context can be considered. Four Corners journalist Caro Meldrum Hanna in her tweet referred to the dumping of massive amounts of waste in Queensland from interstate New South Wales. This is a direct result of the scrapping of the waste levy by the previous Newman Government, of which the current Opposition Leader was a senior member, and the photograph accurately depicted former Premier Newman and his Treasurer the Member for Clayfield during that very period of government.

Even in the context of the chain of tweets of which this tweet is but one, the use of the image merely provides an answer to a question posed in the tweet of the journalist Caro Meldrum -Hanna - 'What's going on?'

In relation to the photograph only fourth tw eet of T''' August 8.35am, this was in response to a tweet by former Premier Campbell Newman suggesting the Palaszczuk Government would reverse a decision by him and ills Cabinet (which included as its third most senior member the current Opposition Leader) to scrap the waste levy. Minister Miles responded to Mr Newman outlining the then decision by Mr Newman and Mr Nichoiis and my tweet of a photograph only accurately depicts Mr Newman and Mr Nicholls during that period of government. I respectfully submit that was a fair and accurate, not to mentioti relevant, use of the photograph in question given the context.

The use of the image was again to illustrate the fact that the former Premier, Campbell Newman, and the former Treasurer, the leader of the Opposition, were jointly responsible for the abolition of Ifie waste levy, which is factually correct.

The Member for Redlands has failed again to establish any breach of the Broadcast terms and Conditions.

While it is understandable that the Member for Redlands who Is both Assistant Minister to the current Leader of the Opposition and a former senior political staffer to former Premier Campbell Newman is particularly sensitive to published photographs of both Ids current 'boss' and his former 'boss', I do not believe his submission to have established that I am in breach of the Broadcast Terms and Conditions and are therefore in contempt of the Parliament, I therefore submit ttrat the complaint should be dismissed.

I have previously stated that the second element that would need to be established is:

Did the use of the footage of the broadcast of proceedings amount, or was intended or likely to amount, to an improper interference with the free exercise by the Assembly of its authority or functions?

As the Ethics Committee stated in its report Nr^ 157,

fo r completeness, the committee considered whether the use of footage of the broadcast of proceedings in breach of the Terms and Conditions would constitute a contempt of Parliament.

Section 58(3) of the POQA provides that the publication of a parliamentary record in contravention of a condition of the Assembly is a contempt. The effect of section 58(3} of the POCA is that the Legislative Assembly has prescribed that fo r its proper functioning, any publication of a porliomentary record must be in accordance with the Terms and Conditions authorised and set by the Assembly.

Accordingly, any breach of the Terms and Conditions without any exculpatory factors by logical extension would constitute an improper interference with the free exercise of the Assembly's authority and functions as prescribed by the House and, therefore, constitute a contempt of Parliament. However, given the facts of this case, the committee finds no contempt in relation to this matter.

For the same reasons set out in the Ethics Committee Report, because the Member for Redlands has failed to establish that rny tweets were in breach of the Broadcast terms and conditions, there can be no finding that I am in contempt in relation to this matter.

1 he photograph in question should be able to be freely used In public debate just as video clips of proceedings and Hansard are as part of the normal democratic process.

The Ethics Committee, in Report No. 157, recommended that the Committee of the Legislative Assembly review the (then) current Terms and Conditions with a view to ensuring that they, inter dlia, 'do not unnecesburily hinder lhe rights of the public to participate in democratic processes and express a point of view'.

lo allow any other interpretation of the terms and conditions would amount to such an unnecessary hindrance, (n Australia, there is a recognised right to freedom of political expression. It is in this spirit that I would argue there must be a degree of latitude in allowing free expression of political thought in a modern democracy.

As requested I have deleted the tweets in question until this matter can be clarified in response to your request. Of course, I will adhere to any decision or advice you arrive at M r Speaker as I have absolute faith in both the prnresses of the parliament and your integrity in administering procedures in relation to it.

I await your decision and advice in relation to this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Bailey MP Member for Yeeron APPENDIX 1

Member for Yeerongpiliy 0^ M ark Bailey MR LNP-One Nation unity ticket at estimates ignoring Qld Clean Energy Boom with 17 renewable projects in favour of expensive new coal power r

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S Retv.eets 12 Mark Bailey MPO @fv;!ark... • 6/08/2C17 v Just like old times as @CampbellNewman & @TimNiclioll£MP run same lines on power after h'hold prices surged 43% under them vs 5% under Labor

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Tweet v'our reply Steven Miles O@StevenJ... • 8/08/201 Replying to @CampbellNewman and {a)AnnastaciaMF You and @TirnNjcho!isMP turned QLD into the nation's dump. Another failure @QLDLNP can't defend. Labor = recycling and keeping our promises.

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E m a i l dC'Putv-P'C'miferfti.'ii'liiisierrcl.eld.gO’, ..ill Honourable Peter Wellington MP SpeaKer of Ine Legislative Assembly AB'-iyo BS«>C>0->iGi Parliament house George Street BRISBANE QLD 4000

Dear Mr Speaker,

Thank you for your letter of 4 September 2017 in relation to a complaint from the Memoer for Redlands and Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition about the publication of an image on my social media account of former Premier Campbell Newman and current Leader of the Opposition the Member for Clayfield.

I understand the Member for Yeerongpiliy has already provided a comprehensive submission to you on this matter and I am in agreement with the submission that he made. As the complaint against me relates to the retweeting of images originally tweeted by the Member for Yeerongpiliy '< am reliant on his submission regarding the content and the character of the tvi/eet.

i am advised that the piciure referred to by the Member for Redlands is a v^idely distributed media photograph of Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls and former Premier Campbell Newman published five years ago (example attached}. It can be inferred from the fact that no complaint has been made by the Leader of the Opposition, the fonmer Premier, or any other member of the Opposition, that the publication referred to was in accordance with parliamentary rules and regulations.

Section 50 of the Parliament of Queensland Act 2001 (the Act) provides that the Assembly may authorise publication of a parliamentary record. Section 58 of the Act provides that the Assembly may at any time impose conditions on the publication of a parliamentary record, and that publication of a parliamentary record in contravention of a condition imposed by the Assembly is a contempt of the Assembly.

Broadcast Terms and Conditions have been published on the website of the Parliament of Queensland Those Terms and Conditions include the following:

Conditions of Access The Legislative Assembly authorises the further publication of this broadcast of the proceedings of the Queensland Parliament, subject to the following conditions amongst o th e rs:

1. The material must only be used for the purposes of fair and accurate reports of proceedings and must not in any circumstances be used for. i. political advertising, election campaigning or any advertising campaign that would normally require at law a broadcaster to announce who has authorised the material; li. sathe or ridicule: and ill. commercial sponsorship or commercial advertising;

The Member for Redlands has alleged that my retweet is in breach of the Broadcast Terms and Conditions in that they are satire or ridicule. In order to establish that I am in contempt of the Parliament, the Member for Redlands must establish two elements. As the Queensland Parliament's Ethics conimittee stated, in its Repotl no, 157, M ailer of privilege referred by the speaker on 16 December 2014 relaling lo an alleged use of the broadcast of the proceedings of llic Queensland Parliamonl in contravonlion of the terms and conditions, the is s u e s 1 0 be resolved in establishing whether the allegation, on the face of it, gives rise to a contempt are listed below.

• W as the footage of the broadcast of proceedings used in breaon of the Broadcast Terms and conditions?

The Member for Redlands has not alleged which sub-paragraph of the Broadcast Terms and Conditions he believes I have breached.

I respectfully submit that the retweet in question is in fact fair and accurate reports of proceedings in relation to the previous government, are relevant in context and can in no way be interpreted as political advertising or election campaigning, satire or ridicule, or commercial sponsorship or advertising.

In relation to the retv/eet of 17 July 2017 I respectfully submit that it contained accurate information and referred to parliamentary budget estimates proceedings where neither the Opposition nor the Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party referred at any stage to the huge level of renewable energy investment flowing into Queensland which now totals more than S3 billion and seventeen projects in total at that time.

The reference to expensive new coal power is also factual as outlined by the Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel to the Federal Government's Senate Estimates on June 1st 2017 when he said “The actual cost of bringing on new coal in this country per megaw'att hour is projected to be substantially more expensive than the cost of bringing on wind or s o la r.”

'Satire' is defined in the Oxford dictionary as; The use of humour, irony, exaggeration, oi ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, panicularly in the context of contemporaiy politics and other topical issues. 'Ridicule’ is defined in the Oxford dictionary as:

T/ie Si/b;e(Tf'on of someone or somefhfng to conferripfuous or dismfssfVe la n g u a g e and behaviour'.

The Member for Redlands has failed to establish that this retweet amounts to satire or ridicule, and it is my submission that the retweet is, in fact, neither satire nor ridicule. I concede that this tweet is critical of the policies of the former Government, This criticism falls well short of what is required to establish either satire or ridicule.

The question then arises whether it is political advertising or election campaigning. The Ethics Conimittee, in its Report No, 157, considered the issues of political advertising and election campaigning. It found in that case that ‘(T)he Together Union is not a registered political party and they noted that the adveitisenient makes no reference to any political party and that there w a s no evidence, before the committee, that the advertisement w a s authorised by a political party'. It was therefore found to not constitute political advertising.

Similarly, I am not a political party, although I am a member of a political party. The retweet is not authorised, or required to be authorised, and makes no reference to a political party. My retweet therefore could not be said to constitute 'political advertising’.

The Ethics committee also considered the question of election campaigning. It determined that to amount to election campaigning, it must take place during an election period. That is, the period between the day after the writs are issued and 6pm on polling day, as defined in th e Electoral Act 1992. My retweet cannot therefore be said to constitute election campaigning.

I do not believe that the Member for Redlands has established that I am in breach of the Broadcast Terms and Conditions and are therefore in contempt of the Parliament, I therefore submit that the complaint should be dismissed,

1 have previously stated that the second element that would need to be established is:

Did the use of the footage of the broadcast of proceedings amount, or was intended or likely to amount, to an improper inteirterence with the free exercise by the Assembly of its authority or functions?

As the Ethics Committee stated in its report No 157,

For completeness, the committee considered \A/hether the use of footage o f the bivaclcast of proceedings in breach of the Terms and Conditions would constitute a contempi of Parliament.

Section 58(3) of the POQA provides that the piihlicatron of a parliamentary record in conti'avention of a condition of the Assembly is a contempt. The effect of section 58(3) of the POCA is that (he L egislativo Assembly has prescribed that for its proper functioning, any publication of a parliamentary record must be in accordance with the lerm s and Conditions authorised and set by the Assembly.

Accordingly, any breach of the Terms and Conditions without any exculpatory factors by logical extension would constitute an improper interiervnce with the fr ee exercise of the Assembly's authority and functions as prescribed by (he House and. therefore, constitute a contempt of Parliament, /towever, given the facts of this case, the committee finds no contempt in relation to this matter.

For the same reasons set out in the Ethics Committee Report because the member for Redlands has failed to establish that my retweet was in breach of the Broadcast terms and conditions, there can be no finding th a t! am in contempt in relation to this matter.

The photograph in question should be able to be freely used in public debate just as video clips of proceedings and Hansard are as part of the normal democratic process. The Ethics Committee, in Report No. 157, recommended that the Committee of the Legislative Assembly review the (then) current Terms and Conditions v^ith a view to ensuring that they, inter alia, 'do not Linnecessarily hinder the rights of the public to participate in democratic processes and express a point of view .

To allow any other interpretation of the terms and conditions would amount to such an unnecessary hindrance. In Australia, there is a recognised right to freedom of political communication. It is in this spirit that I would argue there must be a degree of latitude in allowing free expression of political thought in a modern democracy.

Out of an abundance of caution and out of deference to your request I have ensured that the retvv'eet is no longer available on my account until this matter has been decided by you. i await your decision and advice in relation to this matter.

Yoijirs sincerely

JA C K E TRAD MP DEl^UTY PREMIER Minister for Transport and Minister for Infrastructure and Planning