Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

An article in the Australian yesterday under the title 'Sick of the drivel' grossly misquoted me from a speech to the National Press Club on 25 August 2010. Attributed as direct quotations were a medley of quotations taken from other sources in a cut-and-paste collage of misinformation. Of the 157 words used in a key quotation attributed to me personally, only 44 of those words were actually spoken out of my mouth; 15 per cent of those words, including 'they can damn well change the Woolworths-Coles democracy', were actually those of the member for Kennedy.

Honourable members interjecting—

That is the misrepresentation. Thirty-five per cent of those attributed to me as direct quotes, including 'if you people are sick of the nonsense you've had to put up with', were those of the member for New England. Even more concerning, nearly one-quarter of the article—again attributed to me as a direct quotation, including 'I'm hearing the optimism, I'm hearing the new paradigm vibe'—was in truth the actual words of the Australian's own chief political correspondent, Matthew Franklin, in his very own question at the Press Club on that day.

There can be little doubt that this menagerie of misquotations from four separate sources goes beyond simple research error and once again raises questions over agendas within political reporting of some publications via misrepresentation.

See this speech in context