Truth (Brisbane, Qld. : 1900 - 1954), Sunday 17 November 1946, page 19


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pRESAGED by minatory rumblings that eddied out to the public, following the seizure of contraband tobacco at the home «

Minister Williami, eye- witness o / alleged fight.

of the Minister for Health and

Home Affairs (Mr. T. A. Foley) at Camp Hill, on October 22, and given a sensational overture by Parliamentary and police court t proceedings less than a fortnight ago, a political seismic wave struck the | whole Parliamentary struc- 1 ture of Queensland, during i the week, with a reverbera- 1 ting impact that is without historic parallel in this State.

Not in a generation has the State Parliament House been the venue of such a sequence of stirring scenes, and passionate and embittered debates, as bef el in the past week. Out of this maelstrom of political conflict has t

come the non-party decision in Parliament that a Royal Commission shall be Ml_ appointed to investigate the circum- , _

stances surrounding the seizure of the tobacco at Mr. Foley's home, and it is likely that the Commission, with the terms of reference, will be announced by the Premier (Mr. E. M. Hanlon) to-morrow. This was not the only sequel to the contretemps at Camp Hill, following the visit of the searchers from H.M. Customs. Directly related to it was an incident between Minister

Foley and Mr. J. F. ('Bombshell') Barnes, M.L.A., in the Parliamentary din1/ ing room at the House on Tuesday, during which blows were allegedly struck.

SERIES OF SENSATIONAL SCENES

IN 3-DAY CONFLICT

This incident ended in Mr. Barnes being susnended from the services of Parliament for the eighth time, after refusing to apologise, as Mr. Foley. had done. 'THROUGHOUT most of the dayx light hours of Wednesday's sitting, a passionate and often acrimonious debate, punctuated with interjections and innuendo, gyrated round the point whether Mr. Barnes (who denied guilt) should be asked to apologise in common with Mr. Foley (who admitted guilt) for any part he may have played in the incident. Late in the afternoon, an Odposition amendment seeking to call both members before the Bar of the House was lost, and the motion accenting _ the Minister's apology and asking one from Mr. Barnes was carried. The curtain fell on this part of the political drama on Thursday morning, when, in terms of the previous day's motion. Mr. Barnes was asked to apologise. He thrice refused, stating the whole procedure was unconstitutional, and was suspended by vote j-f the House. *? So imnartlallv ?

devastating was the criticism that swept back and forth across the House on Wed

DEVASTATING

nesday that no party or faction in the State political economy remained unimpugned as accuser or accused when the day ended. There were crave allegations of malpractice against members of the Government, and Opposition mem'~bers were accused of being actuated in their attacks on Mr. Foley by the most venal motives of political cupidity and malice. Observers will not readily forget the 13th day of November. 1946. when some point seemed to be given to the superstition that anger fills the House when the jacaranda blooms! And there was the additional potent circumstances that the thermometer was soaring over the 93 degree line, with consequenct irritability also making a peak on the mental graphs oJ members. When Mr. Foley rose in his place on Tuesday morning, to make his promised statement, there was no perceptible indication of the fierce political storm, heralded by an alleged scuffle in the dining-room a little later in the morning, which was to beat about the chamber throughout Wednesday, and reach its climax, on Thursday morning. ' Speaking under stress of considerable emotion, Mr. Foley said, 'I feel I have had the misfortune to' be the

victim of a set of circumstances which occurred independently of my will and the will of my wife, in that we had no cause or grounds for suspicion, let alone knowledge, that there were any goods brought on to our premises that, were excisable goods.' Mr. Foley then stated the circumstances of the matter to the House as follows: 'About 4 p.m. on Tuesday, October IS, Mr. A. Pianta arrived, during my absence, at my home in Stephens-street, Camp Hill, by motor truck. On that day I was here at Parliament House from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. ' 'Mr. Pianta, who was accompanied by Mr. B. J. Goldfinch, arrived without my wife (who Is his sister) knowing of him 'Mr. Pianta asked Mrs. Foley if he could leave the track in oar yard and place A few things in the garage, in case it rained, to which she readily assented. 'On my arrival home late that evonlng, noticing the truck In the yard. I inquired how it came to be

there. ? and my wife said that her [ram Ifownsvllle and had left the truck there. 'I did not see my

. brotner-In-law until the following Sunday night, when he paid us a visit in the usual way that one . relative does to another. Wo chatted on general subjects for a couple of hours, and he left. 'The truck was In the yard for about a week, during which time I paid no particular notice to it. There was nothing about its appearance which gave cause 'The first Indication that I received that there might be any excisable goods on my premises was on the afternoon of October S2, when Mrs. Foley 'phoned me at Parliament House and informed me that Customs officers desired to search the premises for excisable tobacco. I told her to give every possible assistance to the officers. 'Since then, proceedings have been instituted against Pianta for possession of excisable tobacco. ,_,..? 'It was only after this search that I learned that a portion of these goods had been placed in my garage, enclosed In sacks which would give no Indication of their contents, more particularly as the sacks were covered by a tarpaulin. 'The position^ of my garage makes it so dilllcult of access that I never use It for parking my car. In consequence, neither my wife nor myself have occasion to enter it, nor did we do so during the week in question. 'At no time did any of the circumstances surrounding the visit of my brothor-ln-law or the parking of the truck jive rise to suspicion on the part of either my wife or myself. 'So far as we know. Pianta has never been in any trouble before. The goods were never at any time In the possession of either myself or my wife.

k Mr. J. F. Barnes, who was the centre f t of a series of storms in the House, J I and was ultimately suspended for the t * eighth lime in his ' Parliamentary t J career. There has seen a hint. (oo. { 4 that the Speaker is saving up some' f * thing else for him tohen-he .returns, .f t ? .in a fortnight. .' J

'The allegation against my brotherin-law astounded and shocked both myself and my wife.. 'He has since been before the court., convicted and punished, and I can assure the House sincerely. . with a perfectly clear conscience, that the facts alleged and proved against him. were entirely beyond our knowledge. .' Following the Minister's statement the Premier (Mr. B. M. Hanlon) gave notice of motion as follows:

Premier Hanlon, had a headachy week.

'This House, havinc accepted without qualification the statement of the hon. member for Folfy),' exonerate pllcity™™ any'ofthe with the seizure of H&ce'lf 'nHT/H tne'nonW'enIbe? H Windsor in the House on Wednesday last, and expresses its satisfaction that not been privy to any breach of the law ciated with the allegations in this case,' Hardly had the House settled down to normal business with members trickling out to the Parliamentary dining-room for morning tea, when, it was subseqently reported, an incident occurredwhich which was destined to knock to bits the schedule planned for next day, making two full-dress debates instead of one, and giving both

proceedings a continuously acrimonious quality rarely sustained in the Chamber. This allegedly arose out of the recorded and unrecorded interjections of the member for Bundaberg (Mr. J F. Barnes) while Mr. Foley was making his statement to the House a few minutes earlier. These two members met in the dining-room, and varied versions of what took place were given to the House next morning when, after question time, the Speaker (Mr. S. Brassington) announced that he

lud received two letters — one from Mr. Foley, and one from Mr.

Barnes. Many women, and several prominent members of the i C.I3. were in the gallery, and \ interested groups, among J whom was noticed the Commisf sioner for Police (Mr. C J. 1 Carroll), were in the lobbies as the Speaker read the letters to iv the House. 1 Mr. Foley's letter alleged f that Mr. Barnes had ap] proached him in a threatening attitude and attempted to assault him, making it necessary for him to defend himself. Mr. Barnes's letter alleged that the Minister had assaulted him.

Mr. Foley, in an amplifying statement, intimated that while speaking the previous day, he had distinctly heard Mr Barnes interject something

that conveyed a reference to rackets, and later he thought he heard Mr. Barnes make a derogatory interjection regarding Mrs. Foley. Mr. Foley said he was boiling with inriiematinn when hp lefr. t.hA nhnmhpr

to have a cup of tea. Mr. Barnes followed him, and came towards him in the dining-room, leering at him h. in ai\ in-nili:inf wnv nrtrt saving

he (the Minister) 'could not . take it,' and also mention

ing something about racj.kets. %. 'I told him.' said the

Minister, ''that I m ? ~~

considered him a duty low cur.' Barnes was then lifting his hand — ' Mr. Barnes: Filthy lies! The Minister continued that he countered what was an intended blow, and saw Barnes reel backward and then, run behind a table. He removed his glasses, expecting Barnes to attack again, but he did not. Barnes was most provocative throughout the incident, said the Minister, and he had no alternative but to defend himself. After the Minister had apologised to the House for any part he may have played in the incident, the Sneaker asked Mr. Barnes if he also wished lo apologise. Mr. Barnes declared that he had made a complaint to the Speaker under the Constitution Act, which provided that the Speaker should notify the House that he had lodged the complaint. If Mr. Foley had made a complaint against him, said Mr. Barnes, then he had the right to be charged. Declaring that the whole procedure was unconstitutional, Mr. Barnes said that the previous day he had interjected about three times, because he had no assurance that the House would be given the opportunity to debate the contraband tobacco incident. He admitted interjecting, 'Bid Mrs. Foley say to the Customs people, Tom will have the summons stopped'?'

Mr. Barnes said that, with Mr. Luckins (QPJP.), he went to the dining-room. Mr. T?nlpv whn TOn£ '

accompanied by Messrs. Gair and Williams, came up' to him, said Barnes, and said something inaudible and delivered a 'king punch.' He ducked and caught perhaps only the last knuckle of Foley's hand on the chin. Up to this point, said Mr. Barnes, he had not spoken. Being a quick thinker, he realised the possible implications of hitting the Minister. He thought that if he hit the Minister, who was wearing glasses, he might knock his eyes out. . 'I could have knocked him out if I wished,' said Mr. Barnes, 'but I refrained from punching because I knew the Constitution pro

} Afr. L. W t Luckins, M.Lul J who gave an eyef witness account of

vides penalties for assault or insulting behavior in the House ? I said to him, '1 will not hit you, because it is onconstituti o n a t, and you have too many witnesses, who will swear black is white.' ' Mr. Barnes said he had intended to apologise and consider the inci

dent closed, but now that the Minister had put a counter-charge against him he would bring witnesses before the Bar of the House. . The Premier (Mr. E. M. Hanlon) said he was pleased to hear Mr. Foley's apology, and he trusted Mr. Barnes would take similar action. When Mr. Barnes said he had nothing for which to apologise, the Premier said he had no alternative but to move in these terms: ?That In view of the_ explanation by the hon. member for I£ormanby of tho sequence of events whfh led to the assault complained of. and taking into consideration the ample apology offered to House resolves to accept his apology; and ir is further resolved that In view of the provocatory nature of the Interjections made by the hon. member for Bundaberg antecedent to the alleged assault and his actions leading up to it he be asked to tender his apology to the House.' 'Both Culpable.' In rnovine the motion, the Premier

said he felt both memb -s were culpable, and that an apology on the part of the participants would meet the occasion. Every member had heard the remark Mr. Barnes had passed concerning Mr. Foley's wife, and an insult of that nature naturally raised the heat and anger of the person subjected to it. When the Minister for Works (Mr. Bruce) had seconded the motion, the Deput- Leader of the Q.P.P. (Mr. Hiley) moved to amend the motion to require both members to attend at the Bar of the House next day. Mr. L. Luckins, Mr. Williams (Minister for Education), and Mr. Gair (Minister for Mines) detailed to the House eye-witness accounts of the dining-room incident. Mr. T. Aikens (Mundingburra) said he considered Mr. Barnes's interjections the day before were not in the best of state, and he had remonstrated with him in the lounge afterwards. 'But no matter how great was the provocation to Mr. Foley, the fact remained -that Mr. Foley struck and Mr. Barnes received,' declared Mr. Aikens. 'As Mr. Barnes denies guilt it would be a tremendous wrong to compel him to apologise.' Ths Leader of the Opposition (Mr. G. F. Nicklin) said there was only one way to deal' with members, and that was to bring them to the Bar of the House. Mr. Barnes said the House was

'SHOOT ME'

asKing mm to apologise for some thing he had not done. 'I refuse to apologise. They

can snoot me nrst,' he cried. 'In any case, I have not done wrong, and it will give me pleasure to upset in the Full Court of Queensland the decision that is, going to be given in this House.' The amendment was lost by 34 votes to 19, and when the motion was put, the Opposition, with the exception of Mr. Walker (Cooroora), walked out of the chamber. The motion was carried, Messrs. Walker, J. F. Barnes, Paterson, Aikens, and Marriott voting against the Government. When Opposition members had returned to the chamber the Premier moved the motion, of which he had given notice on Tuesday: (Continued on Page 334

MOTION TO CLEAR FOLEY

Premier Sought To -v-Gct House's O.K« ~ XjPONTINtJED from Page 19). — The motion which the Premier moved was to accept Mr. Foley's explanation and exonerate him from any complicity in any of the events associated with the seizure of the tobacco at his home, and free him of 'the innuendoes' in.Mr. Pie's notice of motion.

The Premier said it was good to . see that notwithstanding that Mr. Foley was a Minister of the Crown and responsible for the administra- tion of the Police Department, his premises had been searched pursuant to a warrant, without any hesitation -t all. MB. HANLON'S motion was: 'This House, having accepted without qualification the statement of the HonouraDls Member for Normanby exonerates him from any complicity in any of the events associated with the 'seizure of contraband tobacco and tho innuendoes conveyed in. the notice of motion which .was y given by the honorable member - for Windsor in tho House on 'Wednesday last, and expresses its satisfaction that tho honorable member has not been privy to snr breach of the law that may t-« asso_/ij»f«d with tho allegations in this case.' ^Spopposing the motion, the leader of the QJ?J. (Mr. Bruce Pie) said that his motion of the previous week had been framed so as to treat the Minister with scrupulous fairness and generous sympathy. It consisted of nothing ? but straightout ? allegations, which had since been proved in court to be the exact truth and nothing but the truth. Allegations were mrde that excise officers had seized, at the -Minister's home, a quantity of contraband tobacco — and no one would deny that — and that he (the Minister) was in possession of excisable goods. Mr. Foley rose to object to this statement, asking for a withdrawal on the grotmd that neither he nor his wife was at any time in possession of excisable goods. Accepting the denial, Mr Pie went on to survey what he called 'vital facts which are in my possession. Mr. Pie said his information from three reliable sources was that police officers who accompanied the raiding Customs men were later called oft by nolice headquarters and he could not

escape the unhappy coincidence that the Minister involved was the one controlling the police force of the State. ? Mr; Walsh: Are you suggesting that the Minister gave instructions? Mr. Pie: I am not, because he did not. Mr. Pie went on to survey 'facts which the Minister could not deny concerning the raid at the Minister's home. He said that Customs officers, protected by police, followed an unnumbered lorry and a black sedan to the Foley home. There,, a buyer agreed to buy tobacco, and while it was being loaded into the lorry the Customs and police officers began their raid, immediately a man named Russell rushed into the house, where he was found later using the 'phone. For some minutes the police were refused admittance. Becoming aware of the gravity of the situation, said Mr. Pie, the police officers called headquarters and were told to proceed with their duty. A little later these officers were ordered, through their car radio, to return to headquarters. ? 'The Minister under oath may deny he gave any instructions to the police — and I believe he did not,' said Mr. Pie, 'for I am informed that they came from pressure by another member of the Government benches, who would appear on the evidence I have in my possession to be deeply involved in this unfortunate business.' The Leader of the Opposition (Mr. G. F; Nicklin) then moved that the

motion be amended to provide for the appointment of a judge as a Royal Commission. When the amendment . was accepted by the House, it was put as the motion, - and was carried without a dissentient. Remarking to the House on the extraordinary quiet with which the Opposition had received the House's agreement to the appointment of a Royal Commission, the Premier said: 'This was a stunt put up to-day. They thought the Government would not take any notice, and would not appoint a Royal Commission, consequently they could say anything, true or false, and spread slanderous attacks and get away with it.' Mr. Hanlon said that he intended to ask the Federal Treasurer (Mr. Chifley) to investigate Bruce Pie & Co. and other concerns, to see how much money was being poured out vilifying the Labor Party through QPJ-. channels, and put down to business expenses. In a passionate attack on the Q.PJP., the member for Mundingburra (Mr. T. Aikens) said that a Royal Commission was the last thing- the QJ'J' desired. Who were these Q .P.P. men? 'In Townsville, while there was a sprinkling of honest, decent, and gullible fellows in it,' he declared, P1he four behind the Q.P.P. throne there are: V a social climbing woman; 2 a particularly filthy and loathsome type of brothel-owner; 3 a 'peter-tickler,' and embezzler of workers' funds; and, 4, a convicted black marketeer. When Mr. Pie objected to 'innu-endoes' associating him with anything in TownsviUe, Mr. Aikens withdrew at the request of the Deputy Speaker (Mr. Mann).

Olga Masscy plays Russian refugee princess m BA.T. production, 'Who Are ?They?' comedy-muslery, to be presented at Albert Hall, December 5 and 6.

He congratulated both the Government and Mr. Foley on the decision to have a Royal Commission, which left the Opposition in the position where they were now wondering 'how they would get their pimps and topoff s' out. of a difficulty. Shortly before 10 o'clock the House rose till next morning. Final scenes in the week's drama came on Thursday morning, when, for the eighth time, the member for Bundaberg (Mr. J. F. Barnes) was suspended from the service of Parliament for a fortnight, this being a sequel to the dining-room ^incident of Tuesday morning. In accordance with the motion of the previous day requiring him to apologise, Mr. Barnes was requested to do so by the Speaker. Three times Mr. Barnes refused, declaring he would not be a party to an unconstitutional action, and demanding to be brought before the Bar of . the House. . - ' The Premier's motion that Mr. Barnes be ^suspended for two weeks was carried by 34 to 19. Bitter comments were flung across the chamber between Mr. Barnes and the Government benches during- the division, and the member for Bundaberg left the -chamber calling out, 'I'll see you in court.' And quiet came back to the House again. But the jaearandas are still blooming, and .