Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I table advice from the Clerk and related correspondence on the subject of a criminal case in the Northern Territory in which subpoenas had been issued for senators to give evidence on a sitting day. The error has now been rectified. Senators may give evidence voluntarily but, under the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987, they are immune from compulsory attendance at a court or tribunal on or near sitting days, the rationale being that a senator’s first duty is to the Senate.