Speaker’s Rulings — Documents Tabled By Leave—Release 
Speaker’s Rulings — Documents Tabled By Leave—Release 
[Volume:640;Page:10369] 
Speaker’s Rulings 
Documents Tabled By Leave—Release 
Madam SPEAKER 
: On Thursday before the House rose for the adjournment the Rt Hon Winston Peters raised a point of order concerning the tabling of documents by leave and their subsequent release by the Clerk’s Office. The issue was resolved by the House ordering the documents in question to be published but there are implications arising from the tabling of documents and their subsequent handling that deserve examination. 
Many documents are tabled by leave. By and large their release by the Clerk’s Office is straightforward because of their innocuous nature. However in the same way that members have to make an immediate decision about whether to allow a document to be tabled from time to time the Clerk’s Office is faced with making judgments about whether there is a potential legal risk in subsequently disseminating a document outside the House. Documents tabled by leave are for the information of members and are made available to members without question. However unless they are ordered to be published their subsequent dissemination to other persons may not be absolutely privileged. 
In the incident before the adjournment only part of a document was tabled. Its origin and status were not immediately apparent. The Clerk’s Office had to make a judgment about the document’s subsequent release to the media. A cautious approach was taken so as to avoid any legal liability that might flow from the decision to disseminate. Requests from the media for the document were referred to the member’s office the Clerk’s Office having first checked that the member’s office had copies available. No one was denied access to the document; members of the press were simply referred to another source. Contrary to the impression that was conveyed in a media report the Clerk of the House was not involved personally in this decision and did not know of it until the matter arose in the House. 
I have now given consideration to the rules surrounding the release of documents tabled by leave and think that a greater degree of guidance is necessary for staff when dealing with requests for documents tabled by leave the dissemination of which may involve legal risk. These would elaborate on Speakers’ rulings 134/1 and 134/2. The general presumption should continue to be that documents tabled by leave will be made available on request the House having accepted them in the first instance. Staff of the Clerk’s Office are not expected to scrutinise such documents prior to their release. However the House’s tabling procedures ought not to be used to publish material that is known to be subject to a court order or some other protection order or that is clearly defamatory. If a member considers that there is a public interest in releasing such material that is the member’s responsibility; the member cannot transfer that responsibility to the Clerk unless there is an order of the House. 
Therefore the Clerk’s Office will not make a document tabled by leave available other than to members where it contains material that is known to be the subject of a court suppression order; the purpose of which is clearly and primarily to defame; that is pornographic; or that is confidential to a select committee. Ideally the House would not allow such documents to be tabled by leave in the first place. If they are the member has the option of clarifying the status of the document in order that the Clerk’s Office may safely release it or the member can take responsibility for its release himself or herself. 
The Clerk’s Office will inform the Speaker of any decision that it not publicly release a document tabled by leave. I expect that such decisions will be rare. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. Unfortunately I was interrupted when you were giving that statement and I missed the point as to whether the documents I sought to have released by the Clerk’s Office were in fact released. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: My understanding is that they were and that the matter was referred back to the member. I am aware that the ruling was a long one so it will be available for members to read at their leisure.