Function and purpose

On 7 September 1971, the House of Representatives referred to the Privileges Committee, for report and inquiry, an article written by Mr Alan Reid that appeared in the Daily Telegraph of 27 August 1971 alleging that a group of ALP (Australian Labor Party) Parliamentarians walked out of the Chamber when the quorum was called, causing the collages of the House of Representatives.  The referral was prompted by Mr James Cope, Member for Watson, who raised the matter in the House on 7 September 1971.

The Committee conducting the inquiry consisted of Mr E N Drury (Chairman), Mr N A Brown, Mr D M Cameron, Mr H J McIvor, Mr F Crean, Mr W G Turnbull, Mr A D Fraser, Mr E G Whitlam and Mr A W Jarman.

The Committee met on 14, 28, 30 September, 6-7, 12, 26-27 October and 3-4, 9-10, 24-25 November 1971.  It called upon and examined Mr John Pettifer, Clerk Assistant, House of Representatives; Mr Donald Piper, Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms, House of Representatives; Mr Alan Reid, a journalist employed by Australian Consolidated Press; Mr Arthur Calwell, MP; Mr L H Irwin, MP; Mr Alan Turner, Clerk of the House of Representatives; Mr W J Fulton, MP; Mr P E Lucock, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives; and Mr David McNicoll, Editor-in-chief, Australian Consolidated Press.

On 25 November 1971, the Committee presented to the House their report entitled Committee of Privileges Report relating to an article published in the Daily Telegraph 27 August 1971 together with Minutes of Proceeding and Minutes of Evidence of the Committee.

The Committee found:

(a)    That the article published in the Daily Telegraph of Friday, 27 August constituted a contempt of the House of Representatives, and

(b)   That Mr Alan Reid as writer of the article and Mr David McNicoll as Editor-in-chief, Australian Consolidated Press Limited, were both guilty of a contempt of the House of Representatives in that they were responsible for the publication of a newspaper report which incorrectly described the proceedings of the House and misrepresented the proceedings of Members in the House.

The Committee recommended to the House of Representatives that:

(a)    Mr Alan Reid be required to furnish to Mr Speaker a written apology for his inaccurate reflections on Members.

(b)   the Editor-in-chief, Australian Consolidated Press Limited, be required to publish on the front page of the Daily Telegraph a correction and apology with the position and prominence of the original article.

This series comprises twenty items.  These items appear to be the only Privileges Committee files extant for this particular inquiry.

Finding aids

The items in this series in the custody of the National Archives as at October 2001 have been entered onto RecordSearch.

Access conditions

The records in this series were authorised for publication on 1 January 2002 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 in October 2001.

Sources

The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, Parliamentary Paper 242 of 1971 - House of Representatives Committee of Privileges:  Report relating to an article published in the Daily Telegraph 27 August 1971 together with Minutes of Proceeding and Minutes of Evidence of the Committee, Parliamentary Papers, 1971 Session, Volume 11 Parliamentary Committees (continued), pp. 151-253