Mr KELVIN THOMSON(10.30 p.m.) —I have been sent a copy of a letter written by Senator Noel Crichton-Browne to members of the Liberal Party which expresses great concern at the double standards evidenced by members of the Liberal Party of Western Australia. By way of example, he states:

You will recall the indignation at my private banter with a journalist at the Western Australian Liberal Party's State Conference which was then repeated by one of my bitter opponents to an antagonistic journalist on The Sydney Morning Herald , and of which much was made.

Yes, Senator, we do recall. He goes on to say:

The same people, supporters of Mr Cameron—

the member for Stirling—

had nothing to say about Mr Cameron's conduct on a light aircraft to a Liberal Party function at Exmouth in Western Australia. Shortly after the aircraft arrived at Exmouth, Mrs Margie Bass, the President of the Liberal Party's State Women's Council came to me very distressed, claiming that during the flight, Eoin Cameron had said to her, "We all know you Margie, you like young men with big—

and I think at this point, Mr Deputy Speaker, he uses what in context I suspect is an unparliamentary expression. I suppose if we were talking about the head of the river it might not be unparliamentary. Senator Crichton-Browne goes on to say:

Mrs Bass happens to be married to—

Mr Slipper —Mr Deputy Speaker, I raise a point of order. I wish to draw your attention to the provisions of standing order 75, which says:

No Member may use offensive words against either House of the Parliament or any Member thereof . . .

I believe that the suggestions made by the member opposite are indeed offensive, and I believe they ought to be withdrawn.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Nehl) —I thank the honourable member for Fisher. I recognise that the honourable member for Wills might be getting close to the bone, but he has not been offensive as yet. So I encourage the honourable member for Wills to be a little careful in how he continues his contribution.

Mr KELVIN THOMSON —Thank you for your ruling, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am quoting the words of Senator Crichton-Browne. He goes on to say:

Mrs Bass happens to be married to a younger man. She was very upset, not only at Mr Cameron's filthy language to her but also by the fact that Senator Sue Knowles fell about the aircraft laughing at his dirty talk.

In addition, according to Senator Crichton-Browne, raids by the Australian Federal Police established that an attempt to blackmail him `had been transmitted from the facsimile machine in the electorate office of the member for Stirling' and that the Australian Federal Police, according to him, did not prosecute because they `could not prove who sent the blackmail from the member for Stirling's electorate office'. The Australian Federal Police raid found on the computer of the member for Stirling a document which he describes—

Mr Pyne —Mr Deputy Speaker, I raise a point of order. Through the honourable member for Wills reading from a letter from a senator from another place, he is impugning grossly the member for Stirling. Under standing order 76 I would ask you to ask him to discontinue, in the same way as previous Speakers asked members of the then opposition to discontinue when they were trying to read screeds into Hansard in order to damage other colleagues of ours.

Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER —The point of order is upheld. The member for Wills will resume his seat or be very circumspect in the presentation of his adjournment speech.

Mr KELVIN THOMSON —Thank you for your ruling, Mr Deputy Speaker. Senator Crichton-Browne has expressed concern that a smear sheet concerning his wife Esther was obtained by Mr Ian Viner from court records and collected by the son and electorate officer for the member for Stirling and typed into his computer by his son-in-law. Copies of that sheet were anonymously distributed, including being distributed to Labor MPs, and Esther's revoked court order was reprinted in bright colours and distributed.

According to Senator Crichton-Browne, the clerk who gave Mr Viner the document just prior to Liberal preselections had been associated with the Liberal Party and was charged under the Public Service Act, demoted and transferred to another government department. Yet when Esther sought, through freedom of information, Mr Gaspar's application for a court document, Mr Gaspar objected to Esther's obtaining it—and that is as indeed it should be. The member for Stirling then had the audacity to ask the government to pay for his legal fees incurred as a result of the Australian Federal Police investigations.

According to Senator Noel Crichton-Browne, the member for Stirling told a preselection committee that he and his staff were not involved in circulating these—(Time expired)