00:00and I deny that I conspire to commit a contempt of Parliament.
00:06I remain committed to the principles of integrity, fairness, and respect for the rule of law
00:13that have guided my professional life, and I will continue to uphold those values in my service to this country.
00:21I hereby inform the Senate and the national community that I have offered my resignation
00:27to the honorable leader of the opposition.
00:31After close to three weeks of public concern and criticism,
00:35Opposition Senator Janelle John-Bates came to the Senate today,
00:39offering explanations, apologies, and a resignation.
00:44But the move was too late to avoid parliamentary debate on her conduct.
00:49Government Senator Leroy Batiste moved the motion,
00:52calling on the Senate to adopt the special report of the PAC,
00:56citing breaches and contempt of Parliament.
01:00If the integrity of a watchdog committee is compromised,
01:07who will guard the guard?
01:16If members collude with witnesses,
01:19if proceedings are leaked,
01:23if impartiality is abandoned,
01:27then oversight itself collapses.
01:31Indeed.
01:33The executive goes unchecked.
01:38However, while several independent senators agreed with the ethical concerns raised,
01:45they questioned the process and purpose of the motion.
01:49The report appears to have been finalized three days before the expiry of the very deadline
01:55that had been provided for the member to respond.
02:00That sequence of events inevitably raises an important question.
02:05If a member is given time to respond,
02:09how can the process be concluded before that time has elapsed?
02:13I query whether it is the role of the committee
02:18to start to get into an investigation
02:22of whether there was a contempt of Parliament
02:25or to get into an investigation of the facts that may be relevant to that issue.
02:33I think that,
02:36I stand,
02:37I'm subject to correction,
02:38I think that would be the role of perhaps a privileged committee.
02:41Government Senator David Narkid subsequently brought the privileges motion
02:46against both Senator John Bates and Senator Arawi.
02:51All the process matters,
02:54as we've heard
02:54ad infinitum,
02:57so does truth.
03:00So does truth.
03:04Having said that,
03:06Mr. President,
03:07I hereby seek your leave
03:09in accordance with Standing Order 32
03:13to raise a matter directly
03:15concerning the privileges of the Senate.
03:17Meantime,
03:18Senator Farris Arawi noted
03:20that he's not a member of the committee in question
03:23and put it on the parliamentary record
03:25that he is, however,
03:26representing former minister Terence de Al-Singh
03:29as legal counsel
03:30and is therefore covered.
03:33However,
03:33he questioned
03:34why more focus
03:35is not being placed
03:36on an apparent conflict of interest
03:39as it relates to chairman of the committee,
03:42House Speaker,
03:43Jagdil Singh.
03:44Because, Mr. President,
03:45when I look to the
03:46minority report
03:48and the statements about
03:49the chairman,
03:50Mr. President,
03:52and the issue being raised
03:54as his prior advocacy
03:55for clients,
03:57there's an automatic principle of law
04:00that he must recuse.
04:02This report is poisoned at its roots.
04:05The vote to adopt the special report
04:08was taken
04:09with the results as follows.
04:1118 votes for,
04:137 against,
04:14and 4 abstentions
04:16from the independent bench.
04:18The report is therefore adopted.
04:22The Senate president
04:23also delivered his judgment
04:25on the privileges motion.
04:27I am satisfied
04:29that a prima facie case
04:33has been made
04:35in each instance.
04:39Accordingly,
04:41I now refer
04:43both matters
04:45to the committee
04:47of privileges
04:49for investigation
04:52and report.
04:55Renasa Katting,
04:56TV6 News.
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