Personal Explanations — Parliamentary Privilege—Jim Peron

Two weeks ago I raised the issue of an American bookseller, Jim Peron, in Parliament. I described him as a paedophile, which, according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, is “a person who displays paedophilia.”, paedophilia being “sexual desire directed towards children”. Today I tell the House that I stand by that description. My comments were intended to be a warning to the Government about an abuse of the immigration system by a person who should not have arrived here and who should not be allowed to stay in this country. Instead, I have been personally attacked for using parliamentary privilege by apologists for Mr Peron. I described him as a paedophile because he is a sick individual who has promoted the cause of sexual relations between adult men and boys. Anyone who promotes sexual relations between adult men and boys should not be allowed citizenship, residency, or even a temporary visa.

I support my earlier comments with the following evidence. First, a copy of a publication called Unbound, which was published by Free Forum Books, a store in San Francisco owned by Mr Peron in the late 1980s. Second, the publication contains proof of his connection to it. Mr Peron was the editor of that publication and contributed articles to it. Third, through the publication Mr Peron promoted paedophile activities, paedophile writings, and the use of young boys as sexual objects. Fourth, he published pictures of naked boys. In my opinion, that is the work of a paedophile. I will repeat this statement this afternoon outside Parliament.