March 20 2002

Prime Minister John Howard must return to Australia immediately to answer why he allowed Senator Bill Heffernan to use bogus documentation against Justice Michael Kirby, Opposition Leader Simon Crean said today.

Mr Crean also demanded Senator Heffernan resign from parliament and called on Mr Howard to expel him from the Liberal Party.

He said the Labor Party had no doubt Mr Howard knew Senator Heffernan's documentation was fake and he must leave London immediately to return to parliament tomorrow to face the music.

"We now know that the government knew for two years that the documentation upon which Senator Heffernan was relying was bogus ... the prime minister must have known it," Mr Crean said.

"If the government knew that, how did it allow him to continue to peddle it? "This was no frolic alone by Senator Heffernan, this was a government that knew.

"We want to know what the prime minister's state of knowledge was and why he didn't act to prevent Senator Heffernan perpetrating the smear through a forgery." Senator Heffernan was sacked as cabinet secretary on Monday and formally apologised to Justice Kirby yesterday after alleging last week the judge trawled for rough trade among male prostitutes in Sydney.

The Senator used a Comcar driver's record to back his claim which he has since conceded was a forgery.

Mr Crean said he must now resign from the Senate for abusing his parliamentary privilege.

"Senator Heffernan is not fit to sit in the parliament and if he had any shred of decency left in him he would resign from the parliament," he said.

"But the Liberal party also ought to expel him from their ranks.

"He's not worthy of membership of them either.

"If they're prepared to continue to condone someone who peddles a lie, peddles a forgery, then they're in a pretty sorry state of affairs."

AAP

The Age