Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Families and Social Services, Senator Ruston. When I asked the minister about the budget measure for ongoing funding for 1800RESPECT the minister insisted: 'It is not a reannouncement; it is a new announcement.' She promised to return to the Senate that day to correct the record if she was wrong. When I followed up during estimates, the minister asked to correct the record and said, 'I used the word "announcement"; I should have used the word "measure."' Can the minister confirm that in her answer provided on 7 October she was wrong and that the budget measure was in fact a reannouncement? Why did the minister fail to return to the Senate to correct the record at her earliest opportunity?