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Report No. 6 June 1998 No. 404a PARLIAMENT OF NEW SOUTH WALES LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL STANDING COMMITTEE ON PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE AND ETHICS REPORT ON INQUIRY INTO THE CONDUCT OF THE HONOURABLE FRANCA ARENA MLC Ordered to be printed 29 June 1998, according to Resolution of the House REPORT NO. 6 JUNE 1998 VOL. 1 OF 3 Contact Details Inquiries concerning the Committee or its work should be directed to: Ms Lynn Lovelock Clerk to the Committee Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics Legislative Council Parliament House Macquarie Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 Telephone: (02) 9230 2024 Facsimile: (02) 9230 2761 e-mail: [email protected] JUNE 1998 Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics, Report No.6 ISBN: 0-7313-8822-4 Foreword by the Chair The current inquiry arose from a speech given by the Hon Franca Arena MLC in the Legislative Council on 17 September 1997 during debate on the Final Report of the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service. The speech suggested that certain prominent persons, including the Premier of NSW and the Royal Commissioner, had been involved in meetings or agreements concerning an alleged “cover-up” of names of high-profile paedophiles. The Legislative Council resolved to authorise the Governor to establish a Special Commission of Inquiry to investigate Mrs Arena’s claims and the basis on which she had made them. The Special Commission concluded that Mrs Arena had no evidence to support those claims. On 12 November 1997, as an amendment to a motion for the expulsion of Mrs Arena, the Legislative Council resolved that the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics investigate and report on what sanctions should be enforced in relation to Mrs Arena’s conduct in this matter. The investigation of this matter raised issues of considerable complexity and sensitivity which required detailed and careful consideration by the Committee. The Committee’s task was further complicated by the fact that in some cases the evidence received could not be publicly released, given the potential impact on police investigations or damage to reputations of persons named. During the inquiry the Committee was mindful of the importance and seriousness of the issues at stake, including the nature of parliamentary freedom of speech, the need to protect the dignity and standing of the House, the importance of protecting individual reputations from unnecessary damage, the possible consequences for the Member concerned and, ultimately, for all Members of the House. In light of these various concerns the Committee took care to ensure that measures were adopted which afforded Mrs Arena procedural fairness during the inquiry. Further, given the importance and complexity of the matters involved, the Committee engaged legal advisers to ensure that procedural fairness was observed. Because of the sensitive nature of many of the issues under consideration, the Committee conducted all hearings in camera and only authorised those sections of the evidence to be made public which it felt would not cause unnecessary damage to the reputations of individuals, compromise ongoing investigations or prejudice any matters currently before the courts. I hope that the release of the Committee’s Report will clarify the relevant issues for both Members and the community and contribute to an informed debate on this matter. The Report discusses the factual background to the inquiry (Chapter 1); the conduct of the inquiry (Chapter 2); the significant features of Mrs Arena’s speech (Chapter 3); parliamentary freedom of speech and the range of sanctions available to the House in this case (Chapter 4); the Committee’s conclusions concerning Mrs Arena’s conduct (Chapter 5); and the Committee’s conclusions and recommendations concerning sanctions (Chapter 6). (i) I would like to thank all Members of the Committee for their contributions to what has been a particularly demanding inquiry involving many issues of a highly contentious and complex nature. I would also like to place on record my sincere appreciation and that of the Committee for the work undertaken by the Clerk to the Committee and Deputy Clerk of the Legislative Council, Ms Lynn Lovelock, the Senior Project Officer, Ms Velia Mignacca, and the Committee Officer, Mr Daniel Noll, who had a very demanding role especially meeting tight deadlines and editing transcripts of evidence. I also thank the acting Senior Project Officer, Ms Vicki Mullen, the Legislative Council Project Officer, Ms Roza Lozusic, and the Hansard staff for their assistance in this inquiry. Finally, on behalf of the Committee I wish to thank the legal advisers to the Committee, Mr Bernard Gross QC and Mr Joe Catanzariti. HON DR MEREDITH BURGMANN MLC CHAIR STANDING COMMITTEE ON PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE AND ETHICS (ii) Background to the Committee The Committee was first established as the Standing Committee Upon Parliamentary Privilege by resolution of the Legislative Council on 9 November 1988. It was re-established under the 50th Parliament on 16 October 1991. On 24 May 1995 at the commencement of the 51st Parliament the Committee was reconstituted as the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics. The Committee has two main roles: (1) to consider and report on any matters relating to parliamentary privilege which may be referred to it by the House or the President; and (2) to carry out certain functions relating to ethical standards for Members of the Legislative Council under Part 7A of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 (NSW). (iii) Terms of Reference The terms of reference for this inquiry are contained in the following resolution of the Legislative Council, passed on Wednesday 12 November 1997: 1. That the following matters be referred to the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics for inquiry and report: (a) the statements made by Mrs Arena in the Legislative Council on 17 September 1997 concerning the alleged suppression of names of individuals allegedly being investigated by the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service; and (b) the Report and Confidential Supplement of the Special Commission of Inquiry conducted by the Honourable John Nader QC concerning the claims by Mrs Arena. 2. That the Committee investigate and report on what sanctions should be enforced in relation to Mrs Arena’s conduct in this matter. 3. That the resolution of the House of 21 October 1997, ordering the Commissioner of Police to report to this House as soon as practicable his assessment of the documents tabled by Mrs Arena on 21 October 1997, be varied to provide that: (a) in conjunction with the assessment of the tabled documents, the Commissioner of Police is to examine any documents which are relevant to the documents tabled by Mrs Arena contained within former Special Branch files in his custody; (b) the Commissioner is to lodge the report of his assessment of all these documents with the Clerk of the House as soon as is practicable; and (c) the Clerk is to refer the Commissioner’s report to the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics for consideration as part of its inquiry into the conduct of Mrs Arena. 4. That, following the referral of the Commissioner’s report to the Committee, and according to the resolution of the House of 21 October 1997, the Clerk of the House is authorised to permit members of the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Privilege and Ethics to inspect the documents tabled by Mrs Arena on 21 October 1997. 5. That leave be given to Members of the Legislative Council to appear and give evidence to the Committee in relation to the inquiry. (Minutes No. 15, Wednesday 12 November 1997, Entry No. 16) (iv) Committee Membership The Hon Dr Meredith Burgmann, MLC Australian Labor Party Chair The Hon Jenny Gardiner, MLC National Party The Hon Charlie Lynn, MLC Liberal Party The Hon John Johnson, MLC Australian Labor Party The Hon Richard Jones, MLC Independent The Hon Anthony Kelly, MLC Australian Labor Party The Hon Andrew Manson, MLC Australian Labor Party Revd the Hon Fred Nile, MLC1 Christian Democratic Party The Hon Peter Primrose, MLC2 Australian Labour Party SECRETARIAT Ms Lynn Lovelock Clerk to the Committee Ms Velia Mignacca Senior Project Officer Mr Daniel Noll Committee Officer Legal advisers for this inquiry: Mr Bernard Gross QC Mr Joe Catanzariti, Clayton Utz, Solicitors 1 From 25 November 1997 (Legislative Council Minutes of Proceedings No. 20, 25 November 1997) 2 From 25 November 1997 (Legislative Council Minutes of Proceedings No. 20, 25 November 1997) (v) Table of Contents BACKGROUND TO THE INQUIRY ......................................... 1 1.1 Establishment of Wood Royal Commission .......................... 1 1.2 Justice Yeldham mentioned in Parliament ........................... 3 1.3 Mrs Arena’s speech 17 September 1997 ............................ 3 1.4 Establishment of Nader inquiry ................................... 4 1.5 Documents tabled by Mrs Arena in the Legislative Council ............. 5 1.6 Nader inquiry report ........................................... 6 1.7 Motion to expel Mrs Arena ...................................... 7 1.8 Report of Commissioner of Police ................................ 8 CONDUCT OF THE INQUIRY ............................................. 9 2.1 Legal assistance .............................................. 9 2.2 Witnesses and hearings ........................................ 10 MRS ARENA’S SPEECH ................................................. 13 3.1 Terms of Reference of the
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