Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I seek to make a personal explanation.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Does the Manager of Opposition Business claim to have been misrepresented?

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do. Today in question time the minister for immigration made assertions about the number of people who put their lives at risk on the high seas during my time as immigration minister. During my time as minister for immigration, the number of people arriving by boat had previously spiked following the Liberals' rejection of the Malaysia agreement. It then dropped by 86 per cent in the 10 weeks I held office.