Privilege — Statements Made in the House—General Debate

Members, I have received a letter from Jamie Arbuckle raising a matter of privilege about a statement made by Tākuta Ferris during the general debate last week. In the debate, Mr Ferris said, “A knowledge gap is a dangerous thing. It allows lies to be presented as truths. Politicians call this obfuscation—the art of making something unclear, intentionally vague, ambiguous, to conceal or obscure the truth, to confuse others. Lies, in other words. Many in this House are masters of it,”.

Following a point of order alleging that he had called members liars, Mr Ferris replied, “I haven’t made that statement.” There is an apparent inconsistency between Mr Ferris’ speech and his response to the point of order about it. The offence of calling another member a liar has long been regarded as an offence against the House, which operates on the basis that members behave truthfully and honourably. That would normally be dealt with as a matter of order. However, in denying that he made the statement, it is possible that Mr Ferris has, himself, deliberately misled the House. That is a matter for the Privileges Committee to judge. Accordingly, I find that a question of privilege arises and stands referred to the Privileges Committee.