Imprisonment Of John Drayton
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The imprisonment of John Drayton in 1904 was the first and, until the
Browne–Fitzpatrick privilege case, 1955 ''R v Richards; Ex parte Fitzpatrick and Browne'' (1955) 92 Commonwealth Law Reports, CLR 157, was a legal case concerning the right of privilege of the Parliament of Australia, Australian Parliament. Background On 3 May 1955, Charles Morgan (Au ...
, the only time that an Australian parliament punished somebody under
parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties. ...
provisions.


Incident

The incident arose over the forfeiture and subsequent reinstatement of a gold mining lease. The lease, known as "The Empress of Coolgardie", was owned by the Phoenix Company, which went into
liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...
in 1902. The following year a prospector named Daniel Browne applied for forfeiture of the lease on the grounds that it had not been worked properly by the owner. The Phoenix Company responded with the assertion that it was protected from the labour conditions of the lease under the
Companies Act Companies Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Botswana, Hong Kong, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom in relation to company law. The Bill for an Act with this short title ...
, because it was in liquidation. This argument was initially rejected, and the lease forfeited. Eventually, however, the matter came to the attention of the Attorney-General of Western Australia, Sir Walter James, who ruled that the forfeiture was not valid. The lease was then reinstated. During the incident,
John Drayton John Drayton II (June 22, 1766 – November 27, 1822) was Governor of South Carolina and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. Education and career Born on June 22, 1766, in Char ...
was the editor of a
Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...
newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
called the ''Sun''. The ''Suns coverage of the incident included allegations that the then minister for mines, Henry Gregory, had "robbed the prospector to reward the capitalist", and was to blame for the reinstatement of the lease.


Investigation

Late in 1904, the Western Australian Legislative Assembly established a
select committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system), a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues *Select or special committee (United States Congress) *Select ...
to look into the incident. A number of witnesses, including Drayton, were
summons A summons (also known in England and Wales as a claim form and in the Australian state of New South Wales as a court attendance notice (CAN)) is a legal document issued by a court (a ''judicial summons'') or by an administrative agency of governme ...
ed to appear before the committee on 30 October. On receiving his summons, Drayton reportedly stated that he did not intend to answer it, and accordingly he was not present at the appointed time. After receiving a telephone call from the clerk of the house, Drayton did eventually attend, but refused to be sworn or provide any information, on the grounds that what he had published was hearsay. When Drayton's refusal to cooperate with the select committee was announced to the Legislative Assembly on 1 November, the Premier of Western Australia, Henry Daglish moved that Drayton be fined £100. Two days later it was discovered that the amount of the fine exceeded limits imposed by the standing orders of the Legislative Assembly, and the fine was reduced to £50. Drayton responded by writing a letter to the house, claiming to be unable to pay the fine. The assembly then resolved that Drayton be imprisoned either until he paid the fine or until the end of the current parliamentary session. Drayton was taken into custody on 12 November 1904.


Release

On 8 December, Drayton's imprisonment was raised again in the assembly. Some members were concerned that the incident was being viewed as an attack on the
freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...
, while others argued that the House had been too hasty in deciding to use its powers in this way. It was then decided that Drayton had been sufficiently punished, and his release was ordered.


References

* {{cite book, author=Okely, Bruce and Black, David, year=1991, chapter=Parliamentary Privilege in Western Australia, editor=Black, David, editor-link=David Black (historian), title=The House on the Hill: A History of the Parliament of Western Australia 1832–1990, pages=385–428, location=Perth, Western Australia , publisher=Parliament of Western Australia, isbn=0-7309-3983-9. 1904 in Australia 1904 in Australian law Political controversies in Australia Mining in Western Australia History of mining in Australia 1900s in Western Australia