Page 1315 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 11 April 2018

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(d) the letter and the “haveyoursay” website may combine to create a false impression that they are proceedings of the Assembly or its committees;

(e) submissions made via the “haveyoursay” website will not be covered by privilege. Authors of submissions being sent to the “haveyoursay” website are not being correctly cautioned as to the nature of privilege;

(f) as political parties are not subject to the Privacy Act 1988 (section 6C), there is no law governing how any information collected in the name of the Assembly, but by the website, will be used, or that all submissions made were accurately forwarded to the committee; and

(g) the possibility that submissions to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts were biased, and hence the course of the inquiry has been corrupted;

(2) pursuant to standing order 277, a Select Committee on Privileges be established to examine whether there has been a breach of the standing orders by contempt of the committee individually, or by a conspiracy of Mr Coe, Ms Lee and Miss C. Burch in relation to matters noted and any other relevant matters, including whether the conduct constitutes;

(a) interference with the Assembly;

(b) improper influence of Members in their committee work;

(d) false reports of proceedings of a committee;

(e) disobedience and obstruction of orders; and

(f) interference with or molestation of witnesses;

(3) the Committee shall report back to the Assembly by the last sitting week in 2018; and

(4) the Committee shall be composed of:

(a) two members nominated by the Government; and

(b) two members nominated by the Opposition; and

to be notified to the Speaker by 4pm Thursday, 12 April 2018.

I note that this has been brought on for debate as a matter of precedence. On that basis, I am moving this motion and delivering my speech. However, due to the very late hour in the day and the significance and seriousness of this motion, I would be comfortable with—indeed, I urge members to do so—adjourning this debate at the conclusion of my speech and to make the debate an order of the day for the next sitting day so that we can thoroughly debate the motion.

The quality of our public institutions and our public discourse are important. Maintaining the strength of our democracy relies not just on the good functioning of its institutions but also on the behaviour of those in public office. The motion I move today relates to a very serious matter. It is an issue that I hope all members here take seriously. I know I do.

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