House debates
Tuesday, 28 February 2006
Personal Explanations
3:56 pm
Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.
David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Does the honourable member claim to have been misrepresented?
Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Yes, I was misrepresented by the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, both in question time and then subsequently in the speech just made, suggested that I attacked the character of three individuals who were Department of Foreign Affairs officers or Austrade officers and had previously served in offices of the Deputy Prime Minister and other ministers. I did absolutely no such thing. On the Sunday program when that matter was mentioned I quite explicitly said I thought it was a good thing that they had served in ministers’ offices and then served in the Public Service. What I said at the time was that it made any suggestion that information could not get into—
Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Hunt interjecting
Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Idiot Boy, be quiet while I am talking!
Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
It meant that it was entirely credible to suggest that they would at least know how to ensure documents that ministers needed to see went to ministers’ offices.
David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The leader has made his personal explanation.