Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, the point of order relates to standing order 193(3), which says—and I precis—that ‘a senator shall not use offensive words against’ any other senator, and ‘all imputations of improper motives and all personal reflections on’ senators are ‘highly disorderly’. That is the standing order. I now refer you to question time yesterday, when I asked Senator Wong a question in these words:

At that festival Mr Jim Turnour, the member for Leichhardt, said he and Senator McLucas were representing the federal government, and he said that the federal government wanted to ensure the continuing success of the festival so that the Commonwealth could help nurture and protect the culture of Indigenous people. I ask the minister … was Mr Turnour speaking the truth in that he was saying the federal government wanted to nurture the culture through this festival? If he was speaking the truth, why is it that the government did not provide the normal funding for the festival?

To which Senator Wong then replied:

… I will seek advice from Minister Garrett and provide an answer … It is unfortunate that Senator Macdonald chooses to use question time to smear—

to smear—

members of the government who cannot stand up in response to his question …

Mr President, my point of order is that Senator Wong’s imputation that I was smearing a government member by simply asking whether he was telling the truth in indicating that the government wanted to help nurture Indigenous culture, when clearly the government was not because they had stopped funding, is, I suggest to you, an imputation on my integrity. I was not trying to smear Mr Turnour. I was simply asking the rhetorical question ‘Was he telling the truth in saying that the government wanted to do this, and if he was’—so I ask you, Mr President, to rule that Senator Wong’s imputation against me is, in accordance with standing order 193, highly disorderly.