House debates Personal Explanations

Wednesday, 30 May 2012 House of Representatives

Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition

3:13 pm

Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

Does the honourable member claim to have been misrepresented?

Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition

I do.

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

Please proceed.

Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition

In question time today the Leader of the House referred to an email from Nolan's Transport. There was in fact a dodgy email circulating about Nolan's Transport. It did not come from me and the minister should not suggest that it did. As it happens, Nolan's Transport hates the carbon tax, which will cost them $300,000—

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat! He needs to indicate where he has been misrepresented. The Leader of the Opposition has the call.

Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition

The Leader of the House further suggested in question time today that I had been banned from Norsk Hydro on the weekend. This is also false and they have made it clear to me that I am welcome to visit at any time.

Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House

I said neither thing.

Ms Julie Bishop

Ms Julie Bishop Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition

3:15 pm

Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

Does the honourable member claim to have been misrepresented?

Ms Julie Bishop

Ms Julie Bishop Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition

I do.

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

Please proceed.

Ms Julie Bishop

Ms Julie Bishop Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition

In question time today the Prime Minister in an answer to a question from me said that I had misquoted the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and she said that I had misled the House as a result. I quote from page 27 of Hansard where the minister for immigration said on 29 May:

The application from Roy Hill came in—

Peter Dutton

Peter Dutton Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing

Stop being a bully, Albo!

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

Order! The member for Dickson! The Leader of the House has the call.

Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House

I ask that that be withdrawn.

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

To progress matters I am going to ask the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to indicate where she has been misrepresented.

Ms Julie Bishop

Ms Julie Bishop Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition

The Prime Minister said today that I had misquoted and thereby had misled the parliament, and I take that very seriously. There are two statements by the minister that I wish to read.

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition cannot debate the issue she can merely indicate where she has been misrepresented.

Honourable members interjecting

Ms Julie Bishop

Ms Julie Bishop Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition

Madam Deputy Speaker, I am showing where I was misrepresented. On page 27 it says:

The application from Roy Hill came in, as I recall it, in the few months after that. It was, perhaps, in early 2012 or late 2011. I updated—

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition will resume her seat. The Leader of the House is seeking the call.

Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I will wait for the Deputy Leader of the Opposition to sit down. I have got the call, so you have to sit down.

Honourable members interjecting

No, you just have to sit down.

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

The Leader of the House will resume his seat. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition will come quickly to where she has been misrepresented.

Peter Dutton

Peter Dutton Dickson, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing

She has got the call!

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

The member for Dickson is not assisting in any way, shape, size or form. The Leader of the House on a point of order.

Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House

The fact of the matter is that it cannot possibly be in order on a personal explanation to read Hansard. We all get Hansard. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition does not have to engage in this.

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

The Leader of the House will resume his seat. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition will come quickly to where she has been misrepresented and it might be difficult to prove when she is quoting from someone else's Hansard.

Ms Julie Bishop

Ms Julie Bishop Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition

I have been accused of misquoting and misleading, and that is a very serious allegation for the Prime Minister to make. I am proving this by reading that I did not misquote; in fact, I accurately quoted the minister because on two occasions—on pages 27 and 29 of the Hansardhe said he had updated the productivity committee of the cabinet informally in relation to this enterprise migration agreement. The Prime Minister has misled the House.

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

Order! The member for Higgins has the call.

Kelly O'Dwyer

Kelly O'Dwyer Higgins, Liberal Party

3:19 pm

I seek leave to make a personal explanation.

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

Does the member for Higgins claim to have been misrepresented?

Kelly O'Dwyer

Kelly O'Dwyer Higgins, Liberal Party

I do.

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

The member for Higgins has the call.

Kelly O'Dwyer

Kelly O'Dwyer Higgins, Liberal Party

The Minister for Small Business, the member for Gorton, came into question time today and he claimed that I had misled the public and therefore the House over a photo that I posted on Twitter. The tweet said, 'A picture tells a thousand words'. The photo was of a small business person who was standing outside his shop. On his shop he had painted the sign 'Thanks Julia, closing down'. Unlike the Minister for Small Business, I am not afraid to meet with small businessmen and women.

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

The member for Higgins needs to demonstrate where she has been misrepresented. This is not an opportunity for debate or we will diminish the ability for people to make personal explanations. The member for Higgins has the call.

Kelly O'Dwyer

Kelly O'Dwyer Higgins, Liberal Party

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

Honourable members interjecting

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

Order! The member for Higgins has the call. The Leader of the House will resume his seat. The member for Higgins needs to show where she has been misrepresented and not to debate or I will take action.

Kelly O'Dwyer

Kelly O'Dwyer Higgins, Liberal Party

It goes to the point of the photo that has been raised in this place by the minister in question time: specifically I asked the small business owner why he had painted the sign on his store. He said the sign had been painted because of government policies to do with changes to Fair Work, to do with changes to the carbon—

Ms Anna Burke

Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker

The member for Higgins will resume her seat. She is now debating the point. The discussion is now concluded.