Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

There is no basis on which Senator Wong can deduce that Senator Cash in any way misled the Senate based on her answers to the questions that she has asked. Senator Wong made a number of assertions about what somebody else asserted today. As Senator Cash very clearly indicated in her answers today, her statements to Senate estimates and since have been based on her state of knowledge. As I understand from her answers, her state of knowledge hasn't changed. The point of order is to reject the proposition of Senator Wong that somehow there is an answer to be provided in relation to misleading the Senate. There isn't, because I think that Senator Cash's answers to the first two questions were self-explanatory. Senator Cash made very clear—in fact she was emphatic, in particular, in relation to the second question, answering 'yes and yes'—that she maintains and stands by the statements that she has made, and the statement in relation to the first matter was based on her state of knowledge at the time. There is nothing that has indicated that her state of knowledge has changed since that time, irrespective of the statements that may or may not have been made by a third party.