Page 1066 - Week 04 - Thursday, 1 April 1993
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Is it not a grave injustice that this man and the organisations he is associated with are denigrated by Mr Connolly under parliamentary privilege, and that this was done by misrepresenting what the letter said? Members can clearly understand my reference to parliamentary privilege. Such comments made outside the house would be actionable. Mr Connolly deserves censure for defaming the Lone Fathers Association and Parents Without Partners by misleading this house about what they said in their invitation letter. Members who were in the chamber at the time will recall that Mr Connolly, in making his entirely unreasonable and defamatory statements that included those organisations and Mr Williams, spoke in a fairly heated and aggressive manner. The evidence shows us that his statements were unjustified and misleading.
This point stands alone: The major censure will come from the false reason he gave for not attending the forum. Mr Connolly accepted the position of Attorney-General in the ACT. In doing so, he undertook to accept the senior responsibility to ensure that justice is available to all Canberrans. In his claims of extremist ratbaggery, Mr Connolly ignored the rules of propriety and roundly abused the privilege extended to him by this Assembly and his position. Both of these things are, and must be shown to be, unacceptable behaviour in any member of this Assembly. Such action by a Minister is all the more unconscionable. It is particularly so if done by the Attorney-General. Ahead of anyone else in the ACT, the Attorney-General should be mindful of the harm caused by defamatory statements. His own conduct in such matters must be exemplary. Yet we see in the Attorney-General's statements a very poor example to the community and to members of this house.
Mr Williams began his letter of invitation by appealing for "your assistance in our plight for some fairness to be put back into our ACT laws on domestic violence". Yet Mr Connolly refers to the letter as extremist ratbaggery. In 1981 the Minister for the Capital Territory, Michael Hodgman, said that Mr Williams had achieved more benefits for lone parents than any other known person or organisation. As well as censuring the Attorney-General for his slanderous and untrue statements, this Assembly must leave the Minister in no doubt that he should seek to make amends for the harm he has done by, at the very least, apologising to the people whom he has needlessly damaged and to this Assembly.
The next statement made by Mr Connolly in this house that I wish to highlight was:
... my letter to the person who invited me made it very clear that we would not be repealing these laws.
This is another untrue statement by the Attorney-General. His letter made no such mention, let alone making it very clear. Let me read the letter Mr Connolly sent in reply to the invitation by the Lone Fathers Association. The letter is addressed to Mr Williams, national and ACT president, Lone Fathers Association, and is dated 21 January 1993. It reads:
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