The PRESIDENT —During the adjournment debate last night Senator Conroy made several allegations about matters relating to the Select Committee on A New Tax System. One of those allegations was that I and the Clerk of the Senate improperly authorised the payment to Mr Chris Murphy, the consultant to the committee, of a sum specified in a consultancy contract with him. I reject that allegation. The question of whether Mr Murphy had fulfilled his contract and should be paid was considered at a meeting I had with the chair and deputy chair of the committee, Senator Cook and Senator Ferguson. It was agreed that Mr Murphy would be approached concerning work it was suggested he had not done. This resulted in an offer by Mr Murphy to perform additional work for an additional sum.

After viewing the correspondence with Mr Murphy which was forwarded to me, I concluded that there was no basis to withhold payment from him and I also thought that his offer settled the matter. It was in that context that I wrote to the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate indicating that the matter had been settled. I table a letter from the Clerk of the Senate setting out the history of this matter and related correspondence.

Senator Conroy also made allegations about the conduct of Senate staff who served the committee. The letter from the Clerk indicates that those allegations are unfounded. I deprecate the making of such allegations under privilege against staff who serve the Senate so well.