Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

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

Leave granted.

Senator Sherry gave today a spiel which asserted that I was fervently against the Gorgon project. That was baseless. He, I imagine, has made that assertion from a report on News Radio which, even at that point in time, I had placed a caveat on, saying that little was known of the details of the deal at this point in time. I then said that if it were a state owned enterprise that had purchased the rights, that would be a concern, while clearly stating that details of the deal had not been clearly circulated. By the time we got to the Senate today further details had come out and it had become clear and apparent that Exxon Mobil and Shell were the main backers of the project, which involves the sale of product to PetroChina, the largest capitalised firm in the world. I have clearly stated that I have no problems dealing with China—I have no problems with the trade to China. I have clearly stated that over and over again. But that was not represented in the way that Senator Sherry was addressing the chamber. It is a shame that he can—