Regarding Mr Scott MP, Peter Andrewartha noted (Southern Free Times July 19) that MPs lack hard and fast rules determining what is right and wrong. “Those guidelines are so loose as to be meaningless and to ensure that MPs remain unaccountable.” wrote Peter.
Years ago I asked numerous federal MPs’ staff for their politician’s Duty Statement. I thought it would be along the lines of “Members of Parliament are to represent the will of their electors and to advise their constituents of all government policy matters affecting their community”.
The best I got was, “oh Mr so and so is always very busy and doesn’t need a duty statement.”
However, Australian High Court case (‘Home v Barber’ (1920) 27 C.L.R. p. 500) concluded that:
“When a man becomes a Member of Parliament, he undertakes high public duties.
These duties are inseparable from the position: he cannot retain the honour and divest himself of the duties.
One of the duties is that of watching on behalf of the general community the conduct of the Executive, of criticizing, and, if necessary, of calling it to account in the constitutional way by censure from his place in Parliament – censure which, if sufficiently supported, means removal from office.
That is the whole essence of responsible government, which is the keystone of our political system, and is the main constitutional safeguard the community possesses.
The effective discharge of that duty is necessarily left to the Member’s conscience and the judgment of his electors, but the law will not sanction or support the creation of any position of a Member of Parliament where his own personal interest may lead him to act prejudicially to the public interest by weakening (to say the least) his sense of obligation of due watchfulness, criticism, and censure of the administration.”
Serving Defence Force members pay their own superannuation contributions every fortnight. However, their pensions are indexed at a much lower rate than old age pensions and heaps lower than MPs’ pensions.
When Minister for Veterans Affairs, did Mr Scott ever try to redress that outrageous imbalance?
Have our MPs never read the above High Court ruling or, “False balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight”?
Geoff Pickering
Warwick
