Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I'll quote from Practice. It is relevant to whether the Treasurer should have tabled a document that he's now taken from the House, as I provided to you during question time. Page 510 of Practice says:

If a Minister quotes from a document relating to public affairs, a Member may ask for it to be presented to the House. The document must be presented unless the Minister states that it is of a confidential nature. This rule does not apply to private Members.

I put to you, Mr Speaker, that the Treasurer did not state that the document was of a confidential nature; he stated the exact opposite and then refused to table it, which is in breach of a very clear statement in Practice.

See this speech in context