Function and purpose
On 3 October 1951, the House of Representatives referred to the Privileges Committee, for report and inquiry, comments by the Chief of the Canberra Bureau, Mr Alan Reid, that appeared in The Sun of 2 October 1951 regarding Members' purchases in the Parliamentary Refreshment Rooms. [1] The referral was prompted by the Member for Wide Bay, Mr Bernard Corser.
The Committee conducting the inquiry consisted of Mr JJ Clark, Mr HV Evatt, Mr AM McDonald (Chairman), Mr J McLeay, Mr T Sheehan, Mr RWC Swartz and Mr WG Turnbull.
The Committee met on 4, 16, 17, 23, 25 and 31 October 1951. It called upon and examined Mr FC Green, Clerk of the House of Representatives; Mr RW Hillyer, Chief Clerk and Accountant, Joint House Department; and Mr Alan Reid, Chief of The Sun Canberra Bureau.
On 1 November 1951, the Committee presented to the House their report entitled Report from the Standing Committee of Privileges relating to an article written by the Chief of The Sun Canberra Bureau, appearing in the Sydney newspaper The Sun of the 2nd October 1951 together with Minutes of Proceedings of the Committees. [2]
The Committee found that:
(a) a breach of privilege had been committed;
(b) the article, while not wholly untrue, contained statements regarding conduct of Members which were grossly exaggerated and erroneous in their implications, and consequently conveyed a false impression; and
(c) it did not recommend the taking of punitive action against the writer of the article as it considered the House would best serve its own dignity by taking no further action in this matter. [3]
This series comprises five items. These items appear to be the only Privileges Committee files extant for this particular inquiry.
Relationships with other records
Items 1 and 2 of this series were registered into A1842 Correspondence Files, Two Number Series. This series has been registered as a separate series since the Privileges Committee records were maintained as a distinct physical entity by the Privileges Committee secretariat.
Finding aids
All items in this series in the custody of the National Archives as at December 2000 have been entered onto RecordSearch.
Access conditions
The records in this series were authorised for publication on 1 January 2001 by a motion passed by the House of Representatives on 7 December 2000. They were authorised for release to the public by the Speaker of the House of Representatives on 20 December 2000.
End notes
1. Votes and Proceedings, 1951-53 Session, p.111.
2. Votes and Proceedings, 1951-53 Session, p.149. This report was not printed and so is not available in the Parliamentary Papers. The report consulted in the preparation of this note may be found in Item 1 of this series.
3. Report from the Standing Committee of Privileges relating to an article written by the Chief of The Sun Canberra Bureau, appearing in the Sydney newspaper The Sun of the 2nd October 1951 together with Minutes of Proceedings of the Committees, Canberra, 1951, p.8 as in Item 1 of this series.
Sources
LM Barlin (editor), House of Representatives (3rd edition), Canberra, 1997 as published online at www.aph.gov.au December 2000.