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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Lucy Bladen

MLA cleared by standards commissioner

ACT Greens crossbencher Johnathan Davis has been cleared of breaching the members code of conduct. Picture: Sitthixay Ditthavong

ACT Greens crossbencher Johnathan Davis has been cleared of breaching the members code of conduct, after he was referred to the Legislative Assembly's Commissioner of Standards.

Mr Davis was referred to the commissioner after the opposition accused him of a breach after he included his contact details on a letter endorsing Greens federal candidates.

But the Commissioner for Standards, Ken Crispin QC, dismissed the complaint, saying he was not satisfied that the inclusion of the details resulted in a breach.

Mr Davis said his details were included so that constituents could contact him about local issues.

Opposition whip Nicole Lawder brought the motion to refer Mr Davis to the commissioner earlier this month. She said the inclusion of the contact details was an issue because it suggested a use of Assembly resources. Ms Lawdser said if someone called the office about the campaign it would likely be a member of Mr Davis' staff who would receive that call in "a lovely climate controlled building paid for by the taxpayer".

In his defence of the letter, Mr Davis wrote to the commissioner to say he had sought advice about sending the letter from Legislative Assembly Clerk Tom Duncan.

Mr Davis said he personally paid for the printing of about 5000 letters and there was no use of stationary or printing facilities at the Legislative Assembly.

He said while a staff member had helped to prepare the letter, this had happened in their capacity as a Greens volunteer and had occurred outside of normal business hours.

Mr Davis said he had been advised by his staff that no emails or phone calls had been received in relation to the letter.

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