Parliamentary secretary Warren Entsch has dug himself into further trouble. He now says that he left his accountant in charge of his companies and therefore did not breach Prime Minister John Howard’s reinterpretation of the ministerial code of conduct. Mr Entsch now argues that as he was not involved in the day to day running of Cape York Concrete Pty Ltd there was no conflict of interest in the company securing a contract with the RAAF. The trouble with that is that the Corporations Law requires directors and company secretaries to behave with diligence which requires an active interest.
Mr Entsch appears like a man scrambling around for defences without thinking them through. Much the same could be said about his leader, John Howard, and the Attorney-General, Daryl Williams.
Last week in the House of Representatives, Mr Williams put a motion, which was carried, that Mr Entsch “”does not have any direct or indirect pecuniary interest with the Public Service of the Commonwealth within the meaning of Section 44(v) of the Constitution by reason of any contract entered into by Cape York Concrete Pty Ltd since 3 October 1998, and the Member for Leichhardt is therefore not incapable of sitting as a member of this House.”
It was a brave attempt to exclude the possibility of a High Court challenge to Mr Entsch’s position. The Williams motion was relying on a section of the Constitution that allows the House to determine matter relating to the qualification of members. The court, however, might find that disputes over disqualification arising out of Section 44 are judicial matters to be determined by the court.
It would be extremely dangerous to allow a majority of the House to determine its own membership. What could stop it from deeming all ALP members disqualified. It is precisely because of this danger that we have a separation of powers in Australia. Whether a particular MP has offended the constitution or any other law is a judicial matter and should be for the courts, not his mates in Parliament, to determine. Parliamentary secretary Warren Entsch has dug himself into further trouble. He now says that he left his accountant in charge of his companies and therefore did not breach Prime Minister John Howard’s reinterpretation of the ministerial code of conduct. Mr Entsch now argues that as he was not involved in the day to day running of Cape York Concrete Pty Ltd there was no conflict of interest in the company securing a contract with the RAAF. The trouble with that is that the Corporations Law requires directors and company secretaries to behave with diligence which requires an active interest.
Mr Entsch appears like a man scrambling around for defences without thinking them through. Much the same could be said about his leader, John Howard, and the Attorney-General, Daryl Williams.
Last week in the House of Representatives, Mr Williams put a motion, which was carried, that Mr Entsch “”does not have any direct or indirect pecuniary interest with the Public Service of the Commonwealth within the meaning of Section 44(v) of the Constitution by reason of any contract entered into by Cape York Concrete Pty Ltd since 3 October 1998, and the Member for Leichhardt is therefore not incapable of sitting as a member of this House.”
It was a brave attempt to exclude the possibility of a High Court challenge to Mr Entsch’s position. The Williams motion was relying on a section of the Constitution that allows the House to determine matter relating to the qualification of members. The court, however, might find that disputes over disqualification arising out of Section 44 are judicial matters to be determined by the court.
It would be extremely dangerous to allow a majority of the House to determine its own membership. What could stop it from deeming all ALP members disqualified. It is precisely because of this danger that we have a separation of powers in Australia. Whether a particular MP has offended the constitution or any other law is a judicial matter and should be for the courts, not his mates in Parliament, to determine.