Sophie Mirabella (Indi, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education, Childcare, Women and Youth) Share this | Hansard source

I can understand why there are some in the Labor Party who want to create some position of moral equivalence, as if to say that my comment ‘How can you say that?’ and my question ‘Are you a man hater?’ equate to the comments made by the member for Robertson. It is such a desperate, desperate attempt to try to protect the member for Robertson. I do not know why they want to; she is hardly a jewel in the crown of the New South Wales Labor Party. But that is their choice. It was recorded in the report in paragraph 1.19, that:

The only potential matter of privilege arising from the events referred by the House is a question of possible deliberate misleading of the House by the Member for Robertson in denying that she made certain statements in the Main Committee. The Member for Indi acknowledges this point in her submission.

In other words, the main purpose of the committee’s deliberations was to determine whether there was a possible misleading of the House. That arose out of the comments made by the member for Robertson, my subsequent request for a withdrawal and a denial of those comments being made. No-one else denied making comments. No-one else was asked to withdraw any comments. This committee deliberated on the question of the possible deliberate misleading and found, on a very tight interpretation, that there was not a deliberate misleading. So let me remind those members: the Australian public knows what you are trying to do and they will pass— (Time expired)

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