By SID MARRIS, JAMES MADDEN and ALISON CROSWELLER

18mar02

THE evidence supplied by Senator Bill Heffernan of Justice Michael Kirby's alleged impropriety was "scant" and he should be punished for abusing parliamentary privilege, Opposition leader Simon Crean said yesterday.

Labor and the Greens Senator Bob Brown renewed calls for Senator Heffernan to be sacked as parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister after publication of the two pieces of new information sent to the NSW Police.

Senator Brown accused John Howard of his own breach of parliamentary privilege when he detailed accusations by Senator Heffernan about an alleged encounter with a boy, 17, in a letter to police.

Those allegations were not part of the senator's original allegations, he said.

But Government ministers refused to get drawn into judging the claims. Employment Minister Tony Abbott said the matter was now up to the NSW Police and their actions would determine any further response. Mr Abbott refused to be drawn on Mr Howard's comments last week that illegality was not the only reason needed to remove a judge.

A statutory declaration and Commonwealth car dockets were revealed in The Sun-Herald as the new information sent to NSW police.

The Australian understands the information covers two different episodes. The handwritten statement claims to be from a man who says he was a male prostitute and heroin addict, who had given a statement to the Child Protection Enforcement Agency about his alleged sexual encounters.

Senator Heffernan is understood to have told colleagues he did not allege illegality in his original speech, only suggesting the alleged behaviour is inappropriate for a judge.

He is also understood to have told colleagues that Police Commissioner Peter Ryan with officers from CPEA visited High Court Chief justice Murray Gleeson to discuss his allegations.

Mr Crean said the Prime Minister must act immediately rather than allow the issue to run while overseas discussing the fate of Zimbabwe. "If this is all the additional information that Heffernan is relying on it is scant indeed," he said.

"It is not new information going to criminal activities and on that basis alone the Prime Minister should sack him. The Prime Minister fuelled this controversy and now he is going to flee the country."

Senator Brown has accused Mr Howard of debasing parliament and breaching its legal safeguards by extending Senator Heffernan's allegations against the High Court judge.

The Greens leader released a legal opinion drafted by Victorian barrister Brian Walters, SC, outlining the Prime Minister's abuse of parliamentary privilege in comments about Justice Kirby.

"The Prime Minister advised Senator Heffernan that he ought not breach privilege and then himself went into the Parliament and made a major breach of privilege," Senator Brown said.