Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to make a personal explanation.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Does the honourable member claim to have been misrepresented?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Please proceed.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In a report broadcast on ABC AM earlier today and repeated in further reports on ABC News 24, it was stated that a proposal for discussion at the National Security Committee of cabinet regarding mandatory quarantine measures for anyone arriving in Australia from Ebola affected regions of West Africa was brought by me to that body for discussion. It said that the approach flagged could be best run by my existing Operation Sovereign Borders team. It claimed that there was a split on this proposal and that I was frustrated, allegedly, by the approach of the Chief Medical Officer.

This report is completely and utterly false. No attempt was made to verify this report with me or my office. I can inform the House that both the Minister for Health and I are completely in agreement on the way that arrivals from West Africa are being handed on border protection.