House debates Questions without Notice
Prime Minister
Tanya Plibersek Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education
2:14 pm
My question is to the Prime Minister. Why did the Prime Minister falsely claim a News Corp journalist had a harassment claim filed against them when it wasn't true? Why does the Prime Minister always accuse first and make excuses later?
Peter Dutton Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence
Mr Speaker, the first point is that the second half of that question is clearly out of order. It's a reflection on the Prime Minister. It's not a factual statement. It's not anything other than a slur, and it should be ruled out of order.
Andrew Wallace Fisher, Liberal Party
I'm happy to hear from the Manager of Opposition Business.
Mr Tony Burke Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Arts
To the point of order: it's an unusual one. Questions of this form have been asked for some time. And, effectively, what is being put by the Leader of the House is that it's not open to us to test the credibility of the Prime Minister.
Andrew Wallace Fisher, Liberal Party
I'm going to allow the question. The Prime Minister has the call.
Scott Morrison Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
2:15 pm
I thank the member for the question. I addressed those issues some time ago, including with those who were directly impacted by those remarks. I was relying on some reports which proved not to be correct, and I took the appropriate action by contacting those who were directly affected and remedying that matter directly with them. That's what one should do in those circumstances, and that's exactly what I did.