Report
- On 25 October 2006 the President of the Senate, Senator the Hon. Paul Calvert,
received a submission from Dr Clive Hamilton, Executive Director, The Australia
Institute Ltd., seeking redress under the resolution of the Senate of
25 February 1988 relating to the protection of persons referred to in
the Senate (Privilege Resolution 5).
- The submission referred to comments made by Senator the Hon Eric Abetz
in the Senate on 18 October 2006 during question time. The President, having
accepted the submission as a submission for the purposes of the resolution,
referred it to the Committee of Privileges on 30 October 2006.
- The committee met in private session on 7 November 2006 and, pursuant to paragraph (3) of Privilege Resolution 5, decided to consider the submission. The
response, which the committee now recommends for incorporation in Hansard,
has been agreed to by Dr Hamilton and the committee in accordance with
Resolution 5(7)(b).
- The committee draws attention to paragraph 5(6) of the resolution which requires
that, in considering a submission under this resolution and reporting to the
Senate, the committee shall not consider or judge the truth of any statements
made in the Senate or of the submission.
- The committee recommends:
That a response by Dr Clive Hamilton in the terms specified
at Appendix One, be incorporated in Hansard.
John Faulkner
Chair
Appendix 1 - Response by Dr Clive Hamilton
Pursuant to Resolution
5(7)(b) of the Senate of 25
February 1988
On 18th October 2006, in reply to a question from Senator Heffernan, Senator Abetz
launched a personal attack on me ostensibly in response to my comments on
drought relief to Australian farmers. By taking some words of mine wholly out
of context, he attempted to defame me by ridiculing my religious experiences.
The same words
used by Senator Abetz were used by Senator Parer to attack me on 25th September 1997, in reply to a question from Senator Abetz ostensibly about
my views on greenhouse policy. The Privileges Committee recommended that my response
to Senator Parer be incorporated in Hansard, which was duly done on 21 October 1997.
In 1994 I was
invited by Caroline Jones to be a guest on her ABC Radio program The Search
for Meaning. The Search for Meaning was a long-running program that provided
an opportunity for well-known people to discuss their personal spiritual and
religious journeys. It was difficult for me to decide whether to accept the
invitation to appear because it would require some intimate revelations about
my own spiritual journey. I feared that I may be misunderstood and, possibly,
ridiculed by people who have little understanding of the subject. After the
program, I had many letters and telephone calls from people around Australia
thanking me for my candour and willingness to speak of these issues.
Senator Abetz
has selected from the one-hour interview my description of the stage of the
spiritual journey known as the ‘confrontation with the shadow’, a well-known
aspect of the process of ‘individuation’, that is, the process of achieving
psychological wholeness. There is an extensive psychological literature on this
process.
Many eminent
Australians—including authors, scientists, poets, academics and religious
leaders—have spoken or written of similar experiences, as any regular listener
of Caroline Jones’ program would know. The experience of confronting the shadow
is a persistent theme of the world’s literature. Some celebrated examples
include Goethe’s Faust and Dante’s Inferno. I could name dozens
more which deal with it explicitly. The theme also figures prominently in
Australian literature including the work of A.D. Hope and Patrick White, the
latter in his seminal work Voss, to name but two.
This literature
in turn reflects the graphic treatment of these experiences in the great
religious writings of the world. They feature prominently, for example, in both
the old and new testaments of the Bible and in the Bhagavad-Gita. Several of
the best-known Christian theologians, including St John of the Cross, Master Eckhart
and Hildegard of Bingen, provide detailed accounts of their experiences which
closely resemble mine in form, content and resolution.
I was dismayed
to hear Senator Abetz use intimate revelations about my spiritual journey in an
attempt to smear me as an individual and undermine my credibility as a
commentator on drought relief. The very same views on drought relief have been
expressed recently by a wide range of experts and commentators including Professor
Peter Cullen, Professor Mike Young, Mr Ross Gittins, the Productivity
Commission and the Government-endorsed Agriculture and Food Policy Reference
Group.
My credentials as a commentator have not been questioned by
anyone, but in case any observer should have doubts after Senator Abetz’s
attack I would like to record the following. I hold a degree in Pure
Mathematics from the Australian National University, a First Class Honours
degree in Economics from the University of Sydney and a DPhil from the University
of Sussex. I have held permanent or visiting positions at the Australian National
University, the University of Sydney, the University of Technology, Sydney and
the University of Cambridge.
I have published widely, including seven books and many
articles in Australian and international refereed academic journals. I have
been employed to carry out research by many government, business and community
organisations including the House of Representatives Standing Committee on
Environment, Recreation and the Arts, the Department of Environment Sport and
Territories, the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and the
Sustainable Energy Development Authority.
Clive Hamilton
19 October 2006
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