Ron Boswell (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a personal explanation as I claim to have been misrepresented.

Leave granted.

Last Wednesday A Current Affair suggested that I was personally using eight mobile phones. Despite being provided with facts to the contrary, which we provided to Channel 9 verbally and in writing, they suggested that my staff phone allocation was rorting or at least flouting the system. I am not an octopus; I do not use eight phones. I just use one mobile phone and the others are for the staff. I am sure the Leader of the Opposition does not personally use all of his 55 phones that he is allocated under the same entitlement. The member for Calare, who criticised me through the program, has three mobile phones himself. So there are 55 phones with the Leader of the Opposition, and he is entitled to that. My entitlement is the number of phones I mentioned earlier. To suggest that I use eight mobile phones personally was wrong. Channel 9 knew that story was wrong, but they proceeded to play it, quite dishonestly.