Was Nick Xenophon Being Brave or Waging One Stunt Too Many?, by Catherine Hockley In Canberra, Adelaide Now, September 15, 2011

Was Nick Xenophon Being Brave or Waging One Stunt Too Many?

By Catherine Hockley In Canberra
Adelaide Now
September 15, 2011

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/was-nick-xenophon-being-brave-or-waging-one-stunt-too-many/story-e6frea8c-1226137273656

South Australian Independent Senator Nick Xenophon used parliamentary privilege to name Ian Dempsey.

THE use of parliamentary privilege to name a priest at the centre of sex abuse allegations has been dismissed as a "stunt".

And colleagues of independent Senator Nick Xenophon have questioned whether he overstepped the mark in his decision to name Monsignor Ian Dempsey in Parliament on Tuesday night.

But last night, an AdelaideNow poll showed that 3660 voters agreed with the decision, compared to almost 1500 who were opposed.

And Senator Xenophon was firm in his resolve, saying his naming of Monsignor Dempsey had prompted "hundreds" of emails and phone calls from people supporting him.

He warned of more complaints about the Catholic Church's treatment of alleged abuse victims.

"Today I have received a large volume of correspondence from constituents expressing serious concern about the way their claims of abuse have been processed by the Catholic Church in South Australia, and I will be working with those people in the coming days," he said.

Catholic Bishop Christopher Saunders, the chairman of the Australian Social Justice Council, yesterday defended Monsignor Dempsey, saying he was a "fine man".

"I've known him for a long time, and I've always found him to be a fine person," Bishop Saunders, who studied at St Francis Xavier Seminary in Adelaide, said: "Like anyone in Australia he's got the same rights as the rest of us, the right to be innocent until proven guilty."

He said that Senator Xenophon had "perpetrated a stunt which should hold

great fear for everyone in Australia in terms of use of the parliament".

SA Premier Mike Rann told State Parliament it was a publicity-seeking act.

"So naming a person in parliament, unsupported by evidence, rather than telling the complainant to go to the police, is really about publicity for the MP," he said.

Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham added: "I think parliamentary privilege is just that. It is a privilege; it's to be used cautiously, judiciously, sparingly".