❓ A parliamentary question probes the Attorney General's intent when providing documents to the Minister for Health, focusing on whether it was in an official or personal capacity. The Attorney General's response is evasive, leading to further debate.
AnsweredQoN 207Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the fact that the Attorney General gave the Lewandowski affidavit and a number of other documents to the Minister for Health on Saturday, 8 June 2002. (1) In doing so, did the Attorney General consider he was acting in his official capacity of Attorney General? (2) In doing so, did the Attorney General consider that he was giving the documents to the Minister for Health in the Minister for Health’s official capacity? (3) In doing so, did the Attorney General consider that the Minister for Health was receiving the documents in an official capacity? (4) To the extent that the Attorney General considered that he or the Minister for Health were each acting in their official capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider was being served? (5) To the extent that the Attorney General considered either of them were acting in a personal capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider he was serving? (6) If the answer differs according to any particular documents, please identify to which category each document given is to be attributed and the reason for the difference? Hon NICK GRIFFITHS
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
(1) In doing so, did the Attorney General consider he was acting in his official capacity of Attorney General? (2) In doing so, did the Attorney General consider that he was giving the documents to the Minister for Health in the Minister for Health’s official capacity? (3) In doing so, did the Attorney General consider that the Minister for Health was receiving the documents in an official capacity? (4) To the extent that the Attorney General considered that he or the Minister for Health were each acting in their official capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider was being served? (5) To the extent that the Attorney General considered either of them were acting in a personal capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider he was serving? (6) If the answer differs according to any particular documents, please identify to which category each document given is to be attributed and the reason for the difference? Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
(2) In doing so, did the Attorney General consider that he was giving the documents to the Minister for Health in the Minister for Health’s official capacity? (3) In doing so, did the Attorney General consider that the Minister for Health was receiving the documents in an official capacity? (4) To the extent that the Attorney General considered that he or the Minister for Health were each acting in their official capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider was being served? (5) To the extent that the Attorney General considered either of them were acting in a personal capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider he was serving? (6) If the answer differs according to any particular documents, please identify to which category each document given is to be attributed and the reason for the difference? Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
(3) In doing so, did the Attorney General consider that the Minister for Health was receiving the documents in an official capacity? (4) To the extent that the Attorney General considered that he or the Minister for Health were each acting in their official capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider was being served? (5) To the extent that the Attorney General considered either of them were acting in a personal capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider he was serving? (6) If the answer differs according to any particular documents, please identify to which category each document given is to be attributed and the reason for the difference? Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
(4) To the extent that the Attorney General considered that he or the Minister for Health were each acting in their official capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider was being served? (5) To the extent that the Attorney General considered either of them were acting in a personal capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider he was serving? (6) If the answer differs according to any particular documents, please identify to which category each document given is to be attributed and the reason for the difference? Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
(5) To the extent that the Attorney General considered either of them were acting in a personal capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider he was serving? (6) If the answer differs according to any particular documents, please identify to which category each document given is to be attributed and the reason for the difference? Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
(6) If the answer differs according to any particular documents, please identify to which category each document given is to be attributed and the reason for the difference? Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
(1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
(1) In doing so, did the Attorney General consider he was acting in his official capacity of Attorney General? (2) In doing so, did the Attorney General consider that he was giving the documents to the Minister for Health in the Minister for Health’s official capacity? (3) In doing so, did the Attorney General consider that the Minister for Health was receiving the documents in an official capacity? (4) To the extent that the Attorney General considered that he or the Minister for Health were each acting in their official capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider was being served? (5) To the extent that the Attorney General considered either of them were acting in a personal capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider he was serving? (6) If the answer differs according to any particular documents, please identify to which category each document given is to be attributed and the reason for the difference? Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
(2) In doing so, did the Attorney General consider that he was giving the documents to the Minister for Health in the Minister for Health’s official capacity? (3) In doing so, did the Attorney General consider that the Minister for Health was receiving the documents in an official capacity? (4) To the extent that the Attorney General considered that he or the Minister for Health were each acting in their official capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider was being served? (5) To the extent that the Attorney General considered either of them were acting in a personal capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider he was serving? (6) If the answer differs according to any particular documents, please identify to which category each document given is to be attributed and the reason for the difference? Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
(3) In doing so, did the Attorney General consider that the Minister for Health was receiving the documents in an official capacity? (4) To the extent that the Attorney General considered that he or the Minister for Health were each acting in their official capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider was being served? (5) To the extent that the Attorney General considered either of them were acting in a personal capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider he was serving? (6) If the answer differs according to any particular documents, please identify to which category each document given is to be attributed and the reason for the difference? Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
(4) To the extent that the Attorney General considered that he or the Minister for Health were each acting in their official capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider was being served? (5) To the extent that the Attorney General considered either of them were acting in a personal capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider he was serving? (6) If the answer differs according to any particular documents, please identify to which category each document given is to be attributed and the reason for the difference? Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
(5) To the extent that the Attorney General considered either of them were acting in a personal capacity, what public interest did the Attorney General consider he was serving? (6) If the answer differs according to any particular documents, please identify to which category each document given is to be attributed and the reason for the difference? Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
(6) If the answer differs according to any particular documents, please identify to which category each document given is to be attributed and the reason for the difference? Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question. The Attorney General has provided the following answer - (1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
(1)-(6) State of mind is a concept essential to many governmental and legal issues. However, when it is qualified by the subjective evaluation of an individual, it loses its precision and therefore its utility. More specifically, I fail to see the point the member is seeking to make about my subjective view at the time. Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
Hon Peter Foss: Therefore, the Attorney General did not know what he was doing at the time. Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
Hon NICK GRIFFITHS: I am not sure the member knows what he is doing by wasting the time of this House by asking these questions. The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
The PRESIDENT: Order, members!
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