Michael Forshaw (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

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

Leave granted.

On Saturday, 12 May 2007 the Herald Sun published an opinion piece by Gerard McManus under the heading ‘Rattling in the ranks’. The article canvassed a range of issues in connection with ALP federal preselections in New South Wales and Victoria. This article contained untrue and defamatory allegations and statements about me. The article stated in particular:

It is likely Arbib will be placed on the No.1 spot on the Senate ticket, following in the footsteps of a long line of NSW ALP assistant secretaries into the Senate.

Arbib reportedly wants to take over from Victorian senator Stephen Conroy as Labor’s Senate deputy leader—a contest that will cause serious internal ructions.

However, under the original plan, Arbib was to have taken the place of Michael Forshaw, a senator since 1994, who had himself taken the spot of another Labor head office chief, Graham Richardson.

Senator Forshaw is not up for re-election and therefore his resignation would have created a casual vacancy for Arbib to step in.

The problem was, Senator Forshaw refused to go, demanding a promise in writing that he would be “looked after” in a similar way to the way Senator Amanda Vanstone was recently taken care of when she quit the Senate.

This allegation and these statements are completely untrue. At no stage have I ever sought or requested a promise, either verbally or in writing, of an appointment in return for resigning my office as a senator. In fact, the opposite is the case. When speculation about my future started to occur recently in the media, I made it very clear to anyone who asked, including journalists, that I was intending to remain in the Senate and was looking forward to being part of a Rudd Labor government.

The article then went on to say in the next paragraph:

But when the NSW power-brokers declined to oblige, Forshaw decided to stay put, forcing the party to tip another woman, Senator Ursula Stevens, down to the precarious third spot on the Senate ticket at the coming election.

This statement is also untrue as it is based on a false allegation that I had sought a promise in writing. When I was advised of the article, which appeared in a Saturday morning Melbourne newspaper, I was shocked and outraged, as I believe the article seriously impugned my reputation and character. I should also state that Mr Gerard McManus did not speak to me or attempt to contact me prior to the publication of his article. Given the serious nature of his allegations, I believe this was both unethical and unprofessional. I contacted Mr McManus as soon as possible after the article was published to advise him that his allegations were both untrue and slanderous. On Saturday, 26 May the Herald Sun published the following retraction and apology in Mr McManus’s column:

Two weeks ago this column reported on recent preselections in the NSW ALP.

The column included a claim that Senator Michael Forshaw demanded a promise in writing that he be “looked after” if he agreed to party demands to quit the Senate early.

Senator Forshaw has denied he made any such demand, and says all the requests for him to make way for another Labor figure were made by other parties.

He rejected all overtures.

The Herald Sun accepts Senator Forshaw’s version of events and that he did not initiate talk about a post-political appointment and apologises for any hurt caused.

However, the Herald Sun stands by the story that offers were made to Senator Forshaw.

With regard to that last sentence, I would point out that this was not the original story that was written by Mr McManus and published in the Herald Sun.