Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, that is actually part of the rules, Senator Patterson. When you mislead the Australian parliament, when you mislead the Australian public, you are meant to correct the record at the first opportunity. Let us be clear: this is a clear breach of parliamentary standards, it is a clear breach of your government’s alleged standards and you should be doing something about it, Senator Minchin, as the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Let us get onto some equally substantive issues. It would not matter if the minister had learnt her lesson, but she was at it yet again this morning, on the 9am with David and Kim show. She was misleading the Australian public again. She said that everyone will get the same speed by 2009—that is, 12 megabits per second. She had to correct the record last night because she knows she cannot give 12 megs to everyone. God could not deliver 12 megabits by satellite.