Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition
3:20 pm
Mr Speaker, I seek leave to make a personal explanation.
Harry Jenkins Speaker
Does the honourable member claim to have been misrepresented?
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition
I very much do so.
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition
In question time today ministers have claimed, as they have on previous days, that the former government, in particular me as health minister, ripped money out of the hospital system. I have here material from the Parliament Library stating that total Commonwealth health expenditure in 1996-97 was $19,809,000,000. In 2006-07, it was $39—
Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House
Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. As the Leader of the Opposition would be aware, this is not a time for him to enter into a debate. He must show where he was personally misrepresented and then sit down.
Harry Jenkins Speaker
The Leader of the Opposition understands his responsibilities. He is indicating where he has been misrepresented and he will do so quickly.
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition
In the final year, spending was $39,882,000,000—a $20 billion increase in health and hospital expenditure, and I suggest members opposite should stop telling lies about the record of the former government.
Harry Jenkins Speaker
Order! The Leader of the Opposition will withdraw.
Christopher Pyne Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training
Mr Pyne interjecting
Harry Jenkins Speaker
Again, the member for Sturt thinks that he can just ignore standing orders by interjecting all the time. I have asked the Leader of the Opposition to withdraw.
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition
Mr Speaker, I was suggesting that members opposite should not tell lies and, if that is unparliamentary, I withdraw.
Unidentified interjection - Hansard doesn't record who said this
Honourable Members:
Harry Jenkins Speaker
Order! Everybody will just be quiet and everybody will resume their places.
Sophie Mirabella Indi, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research
Mrs Mirabella interjecting
Harry Jenkins Speaker
The member for Lyons! The member for Indi! Yet again, we get to the stage after question time where everybody wants to get absolutely excited, including myself, and I am trying to remain calm. There were two things at the end. It was brought to my notice that last week, in a personal explanation, the Leader of the Opposition got in the same expression as I was getting him to sit down for. I would have on that occasion asked him to withdraw. There are two reasons for this: (1) it is unparliamentary—he cannot get up and debate that on the withdrawal—and (2) by that stage, when he is saying things like that, he is entering into debate on a personal explanation. I think that for both those reasons I seek the withdrawals. I am not going to enter into an argy-bargy about the quality of the withdrawal. I accept that it has been withdrawn. I would simply say to the Leader of the Opposition: on occasions when he is asked to withdraw, it would assist the House if he did so without comment.
Christopher Pyne Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training
Mr Speaker, I have a point of order based on the interaction that you have just had with the Leader of the Opposition. Under standing order 91(f), which is about disorderly conduct:
A member’s conduct shall be considered disorderly if the member has …
- (f)
- been considered by the Speaker to have behaved in a disorderly manner.
The point that the Leader of the Opposition has just gone to is that it seems entirely unfair and unreasonable that members of the government should be able to tell lies about the Leader of the Opposition—
Harry Jenkins Speaker
The Manager of Opposition Business will resume his seat. He has been here long enough to know that, over several parliaments, the House has tried to struggle with this very point. I can remember members having to make personal explanations of the ilk that are being made now—day in, day out—as ministers of the day made the same accusations. This was something yet again in those previous parliaments that the House did not address. I believe that I am applying the standing and sessional orders in the practice of the House as has been done consistently. If there is a problem, this is a problem of the House’s inability to actually deal with matters that have caused concern for several parliaments.
Peter Dutton Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing
Mr Speaker, I seek leave to make a personal explanation.
Harry Jenkins Speaker
Order! The member for Dickson will resume his seat. I simply say to the Leader of the House that I took it that this was an illustration of this problem that has occurred over several parliaments. The indications of lying on that occasion as part of the point of order were of the ilk that has happened over several parliaments where there is frustration with the need to have withdrawals. I did not believe that it was specific to anything that happened. It was perhaps intemperate language but I understood where the Manager of Opposition Business was coming from. I sat him down before he completed his point of order. He might feel aggrieved by that and he has left his standing orders behind. But the point was that I felt able to deal with the matter because it is something that has been unsatisfactory for several parliaments. But I will continue to apply the rules as they have been applied in the past. That includes where I think that people are absolutely specifically calling other individuals or groups liars and I will ask them to withdraw. In that case, it was part of the point of order that the Manager of Opposition Business was making. It may or may not have been helpful but, as the chair, I understood where he was coming from.
Peter Dutton Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing
3:28 pm
Mr Speaker, I seek leave to make a personal explanation.
Harry Jenkins Speaker
Does the honourable member claim to have been misrepresented?
Peter Dutton Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing
Yes.
Peter Dutton Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing
Thank you, Mr Speaker. In question time today and elsewhere the Minister for Health and Ageing has asserted that the Leader of the Opposition and I are ‘anti-nurse’, which of course is ridiculous and, secondly, that the coalition is blocking the midwives bill currently in the Senate. That assertion also is completely untrue, without foundation and the minister should—
Harry Jenkins Speaker
Order! The honourable member will resume his place. That was borderline as being specific to the member. This is risk-taking. I thought that the member for Sturt had indicated that he was going to seek a personal explanation.
Christopher Pyne Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training
Mr Speaker, I seek leave to make a personal explanation.
Harry Jenkins Speaker
Does the member claim to have been misrepresented?
Christopher Pyne Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training
I do.
Christopher Pyne Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training
In question time today the Minister for Education tried to pretend that I had asked her a question last Thursday about Tyalgum Primary School on the basis of the costings of the school. I did not. The question was about why the prefabricated library that was delivered to that school did not fit the foundations when it was off-loaded from the back of a semi-trailer. That is exactly what happened and anything else is false.
Harry Jenkins Speaker
Order! The member for Sturt will resume his seat. That is the end of that matter.