By Jorian Gardner
OPPOSITION Leader Zed Seselja attended a Liberal Party fund-raising dinner for what was believed to be a select group of Canberra business identities while the ACT Assembly sat late into the night debating important legislation on May 8.
While there is nothing improper about the Leader’s behaviour, sitting days are few (only 15 left before the election) and one might think that Mr Seselja would be taking every opportunity to make his mark in the Assembly before the October poll.
“If I had had more notice on the late-night sitting, which the Government simply used to ram through changes to the Electoral Act and the Civil Partnerships Bill with massive amendments, then I would have had the time to change the private function,” Mr Seselja told “CityNews”.
Who was at the dinner? Where was it held? “No comment, I don’t comment on Liberal Party fundraising activities”.
On May 8, parliament sat from 10.30am until 3am the following morning (May 9), but Mr Seselja was absent from the Assembly from the minute he finished his own Budget reply – 4pm – not returning to hear other Budget speeches by independent Richard Mulcahy, the Green’s Deb Foskey or for that matter his own Shadow Treasurer, Brendan Smyth nor vote on two significant pieces of legislation – the Civil Partnerships Bill and changes to the ACT Electoral Act. 
Mr Seselja had informed the Assembly he would be absent until 6pm – but did not disclose (as is the practice) his intended absence for the rest of the long session.
“CityNews” has obtained a copy of early morning emails between the two major party whips (Karin MacDonald, Labor, and Jacqui Burke, Liberal).
Ms MacDonald wrote to Mr Seselja just before 1am on May 9 asking for the reason for his absence, saying: “At just after 10.30pm I was informed by Mrs Burke that you would not be back for the evening… there is a certain level of courtesy that I expect from all sides of the House to provide each other.”
As Mr Seselja was not there to get the email, Ms Burke responded defensively at 2.07am: “I think the Government has a nerve to lecture the Opposition on ‘courtesy’ and any other matter quite frankly… no sanctimonious lectures, Karin”.
In a November 24, 2004, email from then-Liberal whip Vicki Dunne, to Ms MacDonald, she wrote that: “As a general rule we believe that members should be in the chamber or available to be in the chamber during sitting hours, especially as they (sic) are so few of them.”