Kim Beazley Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
3:20 pm
Mr Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.
David Hawker Speaker
Does the Leader of the Opposition claim to have been misrepresented?
Kim Beazley Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
Serially, so there are a couple of misrepresentations I want to get to.
Kim Beazley Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
The first was by the Prime Minister, who quoted from a speech I made in 1998 on migrants and then linked that speech to my argument against temporary entry visas under 457. Can I say that if he had listened to any of a dozen speeches I have made in workplaces in the last couple of months he would have heard me strongly defend the skilled migration program. I believe in skilled migrants; what I do not believe in is rorted, tenured, indentured labour—
David Hawker Speaker
Order! The Leader of the Opposition has made his point.
Kim Beazley Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
which is what, effectively, you do with 457 visas. Secondly, the minister for workplace relations suggested that my support for the 107 workers who have been fined $28,000 for participating in a piece of industrial action that was endorsed by their union was based on some direction to me by the CFMEU. Can I assure you, Mr Speaker, my position on that is based on simple human decency—
David Hawker Speaker
The Leader of the Opposition will not debate his point.
Kim Beazley Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
for ordinary Australian families; something he is totally bereft of.
Julia Gillard Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Manager of Opposition Business in the House
3:22 pm
Mr Speaker, I also wish to make a personal explanation under standing order 68.
David Hawker Speaker
Does the Manager of Opposition Business claim to have been misrepresented?
Julia Gillard Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Manager of Opposition Business in the House
Yes, I certainly do.
Julia Gillard Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Manager of Opposition Business in the House
In question time today the Minister for Health and Ageing referred to and completely misrepresented the content of a speech I gave at the Earl Page lecture this year in Armidale. He claimed that that speech said that I believed public hospitals could not see reform. This is not the contents of the speech. I gave the speech on health reform that the minister for health does not have the guts to—