IRRELEVANCY OF DISCISSION

Press, 14 August 1976, Page 11

IRRELEVANCY OF DISCISSION

By

A. K. GRANT

I hree members of Parliament have been referred t the Parliamentarx Privileges Committee after a debate in the House yesterday on the subject of Thursday evening's television. The snap debate occ .red during the Address ii Merivale debate and a out of an observat'. ■ .by the Deputy-Leader of :ie Opposition Mr Tizard. Mr lizard said that he did not think “Dad’s Arm) was as good as Usual n Thursday night. I-,.- observation was imme . atelv challenged by the Prime Minister, Mr Muldoon. who said that ‘ Dad - Army" was better than isital on Thursday night and that anybody wh thought otherwise was a traitor. After a brief discussion with the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Rowling, Mr Tizard made a statement withdrawing his criticism of “Dad's Army.” He said the Labour Party’s view was that “Dad’s Army' had been outstanding on Thurday night. He was then accused by Mr Muldoon of having misled the House when he criticised the programme

and the Speaker, Sir Roy Jack, ruled that a prima facie breach of privilege had been established. Mr Rowling was the next member to be referred to the Privileges Committee after some critical remarks about the programme “M.A.S.H.” He said that in general terms he regarded “M.A.S.H.” as an excellent programme but that it lost credibility for him because of the relationship , between Frank Burns and Major Houlihan. Burns was such a jerk that it was impossible to believe that Major Houlihan would put up with him for five minutes. The Minister of Social Security, Mr Walker, said that Mr Rowling, in calling Major Burns a jerk, had criticised a serving officer of an A.N.Z.U.S. Pact nation and called on Mr Rowling to withdraw the word “jerk.” Mr Rowling refused to do so and Mr Walker successfully moved the Speaker to rule that a prima facie breach of privilege had been committed.

The third member to find himself facing the committee was the former Attorney-General. Dr Mar-

tyn Finlay. During a debate on the programme “Policewoman,” Dr Finlay was heard to say that the abundant charms of Angie Dickinson did not make up for the fact that Thursday’s episode was a bit far-fetched. The Speaker ruled that the term “far-fetched” was unparliamentary, and called on Dr Finlay to withdraw it. Dr Finlay said that the Speaker was exhibiting the impartiality of a South African referee. Uproar followed and the Speaker ruled that Dr Finlay’s criticism of him amounted to a prima facie breach of privilege. Defending his remark. Dr Finlay said that he had intended no criticism of the Speaker in likening him to a South African referee. He said he had intended the expression to be taken as a term of endearment. He was nevertheless referred to the committee. The Government then took urgency on a number of measures, including the Number of Urgent Measures Bill and the Umpteeth Broadcasting Reshuffle Act, which passed its third reading, whatever that is.