Page 1065 - Week 04 - Thursday, 1 April 1993
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I seek leave to table a copy of this letter, labelled annexure A.
Leave granted.
MR STEVENSON: Mr Connolly told us that this letter was an example of extremist ratbaggery. Reading the letter shows that, far from its being of an extreme or ratbag nature, the letter is one of invitation. It does present a strong viewpoint, but it does so in a balanced way and shows genuine concern for the important issue of domestic violence. The community groups concerned are hardworking and public-spirited organisations.
This is the same letter that caused me to attend the forum. I certainly saw no offence in it. Indeed, I do not believe that offence could be taken by any reasonable person. This was the same letter that caused Mrs Carnell and Mr Humphries to attend as representatives of the Liberal Party, and I believe that it was the same letter that caused Mr Moore and Ms Szuty also to attend the forum. I am certainly glad that I went. Those of us who did attend represented every group or Independent in this Assembly except the Labor Party. We heard a range of views, which I for one found to be most educative.
We have seen that this serious allegation directed at community groups and their members by Mr Connolly is unfounded. If you believe that we can say what we like, I ask: Why? Is it fair to slander unjustly community groups by misrepresenting what they say? Mr Connolly also suggested that the invitation he received was directed at him personally. This is a relevant point. Was it something personal? We now know that this also is incorrect, the same letter having been sent to 12 of us, though individually addressed.
Let me make the point that the bona fides of the Lone Fathers Association and Parents Without Partners are not in question here in relation to whether or not Mr Connolly misled the members of this house and the Canberra community. Such bona fides are relevant to the fact of Mr Connolly's defamatory remarks, but this is a separate question. Are his statements unwarranted and unreasonable? If so, this is, by itself, a matter that would warrant censure - another one. We should note that Mr Connolly's remarks about extremist ratbaggery must be viewed only in the context of the letter of invitation. Mr Connolly was not talking about some opinion he had formed some time earlier; he was referring to the invitation itself. Remember that he said:
When I get that sort of extremist ratbaggery directed to me ...
As Mr Connolly did not table the letter for us to make our own judgment about it, he knew that we had to rely on his words in this parliament. To understand this point, let us turn our attention to the author of the invitation Assembly members received to the domestic violence forum. As I indicated earlier, the letter of invitation was signed by Mr Barry Williams, who is the national and ACT president of the Lone Fathers Association. He is also the ACT president of Parents Without Partners Inc. Mr Williams was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1980 in recognition of his work for single parents. He has received a great many letters congratulating him for the work he has done.
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