4 April 2007

Incident at Parliament leads to meeting between Speaker and Police Commissioner

Police national headquarters and the Speaker’s Office will work together on a protocol to cover security issues, the rights of accredited members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery and visiting delegations.

This follows an incident last week involving a visiting Chinese government delegation and a member of the Press Gallery.

‘The Speaker’s Office has always had a good relationship with the police and this morning’s meeting with the Commissioner was very constructive,’ she said.

‘We have several protocols in place already covering events such as serving search warrants on Members of Parliament, interviewing them and serving summonses.’

Ms Wilson said even though the protocol would be between the police and the Speaker, she would meet with the Press Gallery to discuss the proposed protocol.

‘This was an incident which raised issues of freedom of expression and freedom of the press. It also raised issues of security.

‘These are issues which affect us all and I believe it is right that the Speaker should take the lead to ensure we do not again see similar scenes in the Parliamentary complex,’ she said.

ENDS

© Scoop Media