Matter of Privilege

Premier's Remarks

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (10:30): Deputy Speaker, I rise on a matter of privilege. I believe that a member of this chamber, namely, the Premier, has knowingly and deliberately misled this house and abused the privileges of this house. Yesterday, namely, 8 June 2016, in response to a question on the negotiation of compensation for victims of the erroneous chemotherapy dosing, while outlining the government's position in respect of the state acting as a model litigant, he stated:

So, we made a proper suggestion that people obtain legal advice. It was always our intention to pay for that legal advice. That would be part of the settlement that would be reached in relation to this matter, and that is certainty the approach we have taken.

Today, details of the first identified victim of the erroneous chemotherapy treatment, who has since died, have now been published. In particular, a member of the deceased's family claimed that, in the settlement they had received from the government, they had to pay their own legal costs

This disclosure is in direct contradiction of the Premier's claim of how the state operates in respect of compensation claims and where a settlement is paid. The Premier's response to a subsequent question was:

That's my advice, and I will bring back some further details for the house from the people that provided me that advice.

That was in response to a question of whether the Premier could provide any evidence that there has ever been any offer made by the government insurers to cover the legal cost, not whether legal costs were included as part of the settlement, and this provides no relief to the Premier as a qualification to his misleading statement to his answer to the first question. I ask that you rule on a prima facie case of breach of privilege regarding misleading the house.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: As you know, I am not the Speaker. We will refer the matter to the Speaker for his consideration and advice to the house.