Function and purpose

On 13 September 1971, the House of Representatives referred to the Privileges Committee, for report and inquiry, a letter to the editor signed by P. Wintle of Mundingburra, Queensland that was published in The Australian of 13 September 1971.  The referral was prompted by Mr Cohen, Member for Robertson, who raised the matter in the House on 13 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, and 6-7, 12, 26-27 October 1971. It called upon and examined Mr Owen Thomson, the editor of The Australian.

On 27 October 1971, the Committee presented to the House their report entitled Committee of Privileges Report relating to a letter to the editor published in The Australian 13 September 1971 together with Minutes of Proceedings of the Committee.

The Committee found;

(i)                  That publication of the letter to the editor signed by P. Wintle of Mundingburra, Queensland and published in The Australian of Monday, 13 September 1971 constituted a contempt of the Parliament.

(ii)                That the author of the letter and the editor of The Australian were both guilty of a breach of Parliamentary Privilege.

(iii)               That the letter was published by The Australian without malice towards the House or any Member of the House.

(iv)              That there was no evidence to substantiate the allegations contained in the letter.

The Committee recommended to the House:

(i)                  That no further action be taken against the editor of The Australian provided that, within such time as the House may require, he published in a prominent position in his newspaper an apology to the following effect, namely:-

(a)    That a diligent search failed to reveal the alleged author of the letter;

(b)   That publication of the letter signed P. Wintle constituted a contempt of the Parliament and that it should not have been published;

(c)    That the editor disassociates himself from the allegations contained in the letter;

(d)   That the editor believes that allegations are without foundation, and

(e)    That the editor apologises to the House of Representatives therefore.

(ii)                That it consider publication of an apology by the editor of The Australian does not absolve the author of the letter of his guilt in the matter.

This series comprises twelve 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 182 of 1971 - House of Representatives Committee of Privileges:  Report relating to a letter to the editor published in The Australian 13 September 1971 together with Minutes of Proceedings of the Committee, Parliamentary Papers, 1971 Session, Volume 11 Parliamentary Committees (continued), pp. 305-327