Wayne Swan Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer
3:36 pm
Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.
Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker
Does the honourable member claim to have been misrepresented?
Wayne Swan Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer
Steve Lewis ran a story in today's News Limited newspapers, including on the front page of the Daily Telegraph. As was said earlier, this story asserted that as a result of budget cuts school kids visiting Parliament House would be deprived of bottled water and fruit snacks. The story went on to say that I was responsible for this decision. As you have made clear, and it has been made clear by the parliament, no decision was ever taken to cut the program. Mr Lewis would have known this had he checked with the department, as he was advised to do so by Senator Wong's office yesterday. He did not contact my office.
Given how these newspapers have misled their readers, I have called on the papers which published the story to publish a correction of equal prominence tomorrow morning, which, for the Daily Telegraph, means page 1.
Embarrassingly for the shadow Treasurer, the opposition was informed of the department's decision on Friday and yet we had the shadow Treasurer in today's story calling the program cuts 'pathetic'. This is flat out dishonesty from the shadow Treasurer, criticising the program for a cut while knowing full well that it had not been touched.
Ms Anna Burke Deputy-Speaker
Order! The Treasurer needs to show where he has been misrepresented.