Gary Nairn (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party, Special Minister of State) Share this | Hansard source

Obviously, the member for Bruce was not listening very well last night in the Main Committee when these matters were canvassed over a quarter of an hour. What occurred was pretty straightforward. A journalist indicated that the Australian Electoral Commission had made a statement that the Kirribilli function could be disclosable. We knew that the Electoral Commission had not requested any information and therefore could not make such a statement. Peter Phelps, on behalf of me, the Special Minister of State, simply contacted the Electoral Commission to determine what the Electoral Commission had actually said to the journalist. The Electoral Commission officer indicated that he had answered a question that was a hypothetical question not in relation to Kirribilli, and we ensured that the Electoral Commission knew that the media statement was going to be different.

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