Valley: No parliamentary licence to malign

PARLIAMENTARIANS have no licence to malign the character of private citizens and must be mature enough to admit when they are wrong. 

This was the advice offered by Leader of Government Business Ken Valley during last Friday’s sitting of the House of Representatives when he read an apology to Reginald Dumas into the Hansard. Valley said during his 17 years as a parliamentarian, he has always had “the highest regard for parliamentary privilege” and it was unfortunate that other parliamentarians did not exhibit similar behaviour. “Members of this Honourable House would agree that parliamentary privilege is exactly what it states: a privilege afforded to the parliamentarians. It is not a licence to castigate, abuse or malign private citizens. At all times it is of paramount importance that we adhere to the responsibility which our positions as parliamentary representatives place on us,” Valley declared.