Derryn Hinch (Victoria, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will be supporting this amendment by the Greens. I'm surprised that the government are not supporting it, especially after their justifiable criticisms of the opposition, the Labor Party, over 'Medismear' during last year's federal election, and especially after the Prime Minister's nocturnal comments on election night, when he got up and attacked Medismear, which, of course, saw their majority reduced to one seat. If this were the commercial world and you came out and made some non-factual claim about a miracle cure, the advertising watchdog would get you and hit on you, and you could be fined and have your product immediately withdrawn. If you are wrong in fact, as has been stressed by Senator Di Natale—not opinion or innuendo, as Senator Cormann says—then I think that you should be attacked. It should be withdrawn and you should be fined if proven guilty. It's not good enough to put your name on it and then, down the track, three months later after the election, or after the postal ballot on SSM, marriage equality, somebody says: 'Oh, that was bad. You shouldn't have done it. Naughty boy.' That's too late. If something is wrong in fact, it's wrong in fact. It should be withdrawn. It's an amendment well worth supporting.