Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications and Cyber Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Does the honourable member claim to have been misrepresented?

Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications and Cyber Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do, Mr Speaker, quite grievously.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Please proceed.

Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications and Cyber Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In question time today, when talking about his 'social media bill', which is designed to stand up to trolls, the Prime Minister described me as a troll when he made reference to, 'It seems that the trolls aren't limited to the internet.' This statement can't possibly be true, because the word 'troll' is not defined anywhere in the Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill. Indeed, the word does not appear anywhere in the bill other than in the title, a fact that the Attorney-General's Department has told the Select Committee on Social Media and Online Safety, referred to by the Prime Minister, is misleading, given that the bill is about 'defamation and defamation alone'. Indeed, the eSafety Commissioner has said that the Prime Minister's continuing conflation of defamation reform and online safety is 'not ideal' and is making her job harder by causing confusion amongst the targets of online abuse. Indeed, given these facts, if anyone was engaging in trolling in question time today, it was the Prime Minister.