Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition's question proceeds on a false premise. I remind the Deputy Leader of the Opposition that, in order for an association to be incorporated in Western Australia, the intention to incorporate that association has to be advertised. It was so advertised in the West Australian newspaper on Friday, 6 March 1992. So persons who bought or read the West Australian newspaper on that day or who had cause to look back on those records at some later date would have seen it—it was there very publicly. It is a requirement of association law. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition is trying to create a false premise about what could be known about this association. I refer her to the fact that the incorporation was publicly dealt with in the newspaper.

More generally, the opposition's questions today have been all about smear and innuendo. The questions they have asked are ones I have dealt with on the public record as long ago as 1995. If the opposition genuinely thinks there is a serious allegation against me at the heart of all this, why hasn't the Leader of the Opposition asked a question? The Leader of the Opposition has asked me questions up hill and down dale about matters like carbon pricing. He has engaged in hard-hitting speeches in this parliament. He has never been shy of insults. He has never been shy about giving me a character assessment.

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