Labor has opened a new front in the controversy over the leaked NBN Co documents, asking the privileges committee to examine whether there has been “improper interference” or “attempted improper interference”, with Stephen Conroy’s free performance as a senator.
The Senate president, Stephen Parry, gave the matter precedence in the Senate on Wednesday afternoon, and senators will determine whether or not the matter proceeds to substantive consideration on Thursday.
In making the case for the matter to be given precedence, Conroy told Parry he wanted to pursue whether any contempt had been committed during the police raids and during the investigation into leaked documents by either the Australian federal police or by the NBN Co.
Conroy said he was concerned that his telecommunications and communications by his staff may have been intercepted and accessed by the AFP – an action, he said, that “may constitute a contempt”.
“I am also concerned that NBN Co may have acted on information obtained during the raids, over which I had claimed privilege, to penalise NBN Co staff alleged to have been connected to the provision of information to enable me to carry out my functions as a senator,” Conroy said in a letter to Parry.
“Any adverse action against an employee of NBN Co because of a suspicion that they provided a senator with information in relation to proceedings in the parliament may also constitute a contempt,” he said.
Parry agreed to give the issue precedence, but in a statement to the chamber, he said that decision was procedural rather than an overt signal that he believed the matter should go to the privileges committee for inquiry.
The Senate on Wednesday agreed that the privileges committee would determine whether material obtained by the AFP in their controversial raids during and after the election campaign will be protected.
The government had been signalling it was not inclined to support Labor in referring the matter to privileges, but waved the reference through after Coalition senators expressed concern about the police conduct and the accessing of parliamentary communications.
The Liberal senator Cory Bernardi signalled he could side with Labor in sending the matter off to the privileges committee.
The contempt motion raises the stakes in the transaction further, because it is possible, at least technically, that the Senate could resolve to apply sanctions.
The privileges act has penalty provisions which include “imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months for an offence against that house determined by that house to have been committed by that person”.
Labor appears confident it has the support to send the contempt inquiry to the committee when the vote happens on Thursday.
