By Catherine Hockley
Adelaide Now
September 22, 2011
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/senator-nick-xenophon-faces-scrutiny-over-naming-priest-in-parliament/story-e6frea8c-1226143045534
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| Senator Nick Xenophon used parliamentary privilege to name Ian Dempsey. |
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| Monsignor Ian Dempsey, with members of his Brighton Parish, responds to Senator Nick Xenophon\'s allegations. Picture: Kelly Barnes |
A SENATE committee will today consider complaints about Senator Nick Xenophon's use of parliamentary privilege last week to name a priest accused of rape.
Senate president John Hogg has received two letters about Senator Xenophon naming Monsignor Ian Dempsey.
It's also understood the letters include complaints about the use of privilege, and that one of the letters is from Monsignor Dempsey.
Civil libertarian Terry O'Gorman has also written to Senator Hogg urging an investigation into the naming of the priest, describing it as an abuse of privilege.
In a letter responding to Monsignor Dempsey this week, Senator Xenophon says he acted in "good faith".
He has told The Advertiser he believed in a "thorough and fair process".
"As a member of the Senate I should be subject to the scrutiny of the Senate along with every other member," he said.
Senator Hogg can decide whether an inquiry should be established by the privileges committee.
The committee can also consider a request for a person who has been named in Parliament to have a right of reply, where their response is included in Hansard.
Monsignor Dempsey has comprehensively rejected the allegation of rape. He said in a letter to Senator Xenophon responding to the claim "I am innocent of these allegations which you used parliamentary privilege to name me".
"For over forty years I have served with integrity and honour as a Catholic priest ... you irreparably smeared and denigrated my reputation."
Archbishop John Hepworth, the leader of a breakaway Anglican group seeking union with the Catholic Church, alleged that Monsignor Dempsey raped him more than 40 years ago when the two were young priests in their twenties.
He went public in the past fortnight with his claims, alleging that the Adelaide archdiocese of the Catholic Church failed to swiftly resolve the case. In the Senate last Tuesday night, Senator Xenophon named Monsignor Dempsey and criticised the Adelaide archdiocese of the Catholic Church in its handling of the allegations.
The archdiocese says it asked Archbishop Hepworth to authorise an investigation two years ago, but he only signed a letter permitting the case to be investigated in February this year. Some of Senator Xenophon's Senate colleagues have expressed concern over his use of parliamentary privilege in this case.
Yesterday a second senator used parliamentary privilege this time to name a Sydney businessman accused of fleecing investors.
NSW Nationals Senator John Williams produced a dossier of documents as evidence against the businessman, Ian Lazar, demanding a royal commission into white collar crime.
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