Mr BRENNAN (Batman) . - I think the Deputy Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Forde) is to be heartily congratulated upon the speed and effectiveness with which he has met this enemy upon its first appearance. The very fa.ct that the honorable member's presentation of the case raises a technical question as to whether or not he has been a little premature in what he has done goes fur,ther to prove the public importance of the matter which he has ventilated this morning. Further proof of its importance and of the effectiveness of the honorable gentleman's speech in support of it is the obvious restiveness of honorable members on the other side of the House. I do not propose to attempt a lengthy speech upon this subject at the moment. Apparently the Attorney-General (Mr. Menzies) has brooded over the matter for years when his thoughts might well have been turned in a more useful and practical direction. But, notwithstanding his years of profound reflection, he finally acted precipitately and without due consideration of what would be the immediate consequences of what he was saying to the press. "When these statements appeared with appropriate conspicuousness in the morning press most people thought that the Attorney-General of the Commonwealth was speaking on this matter for the Commonwealth Government, and that is, indeed, the impression which might reasonably be gathered from what he said. But apparently he was not speaking for the Government, and apparently also he has not the approval and support of members of the Government because, having set these words on the wing, he hastened to assure the public generally that it was just a little thing of his own and that he had no intention whatever of involving the Government. The right honorable gentleman has apparently lived a sheltered life in the law courts and elsewhere, and as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition rightly said, with little practical experience of parliamentary affairs and little knowledge of parliamentary history, and little knowledge, consequently, of the blood and tears through which the boon of parliamentary privilege has been won and maintained throughout the centuries. But some of us regard the root and history of privilege of Parliament much more seriously than he does. We recognize that, when we speak here in defence of the privileges of Parliament, we are not speaking in support of the privileges of individual members of this Parliament; we are speaking in support and maintenance of public rights outside this Parliament. This Parliament is the instrument by which the people - the common people, of whom the right honorable gentleman does not claim to be one - express themselves and maintain their rights. It is a long history of struggle and fight and, fortunately, finally, a history of conquest by the people over the Executive, and over individual privilege in and out of Parliament.Now what does the right honorable gentleman say? I take it that he accepts as being correct the reports as read by the Deputy Leader of the. Opposition ; up to the present they have not been denied; in fact, the right honorable gentleman this morning has reaffirmed everything that has appeared in the press. The Attorney-General said -

Sir Frederick Stewart - Surely the honorable gentleman does not disagree with that?