Bolger ‘misused privilege’

Press, 21 July 1988, Page 6

Bolger ‘misused privilege’

PA Auckland The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, has misused Parliamentary privilege in referring to people connected with the Justice Department’s corporate fraud squad, says the Auckland Council for Civil Liberties.

The council’s vice-presi-dent, Ms Margaret Lewis, said it was difficult to see what justification Mr Bolger could provide for falsely claiming that John Victor Evans, a “close contact” of the unit’s head, Mr lan Ramsay, and an undischarged bankrupt, had been arrested and charged with conspiracy to defraud the

Inland Revenue Department; and for identifying an Auckland lawyer whose name was suppressed when he appeared in court on the same charge. "Mr Bolger has misused Parliamentary privilege, which is present to serve the greater good of society, and it is hard to see what justification he could have apart from creating a sensation and political point-scoring.”

She said that if a District Court judge had seen fit to suppress a name in the interests of justice it could only be against the interests of justice to reveal the name.