Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to 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—

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! You are starting to debate the issue, Senator Joyce. You are allowed to make a personal explanation. You must relate it to that.

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

Thank you, Mr Deputy President. My explanation surrounds the fact that Senator Sherry was obviously misrepresenting me. He had an opportunity to do that without a reply from me. It is a shame that he can say whatever he likes without it being on the record immediately—

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! You are now going beyond making a personal explanation. Resume—

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy President, on a point of order: we have now listened to a diatribe from Senator Joyce, which started out on reasonable basis making a personal explanation. It has now gone well beyond that.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And I have asked him to sit down.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

He is now not only providing argument but also, I suspect, criticising Senator Sherry. Senator Sherry made a statement. If Senator Joyce feels that he needs to correct the record by making a personal explanation, then he should do so. I gave leave on that basis.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And I have asked him to resume his seat.

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

Can I conclude my remarks?

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thought you had concluded, Senator Joyce.

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

May I conclude?

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will listen carefully to what you say.

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

Senator Sherry’s diatribe misrepresented me. I am not in any way, shape or form averse to trade between Australia and China. In fact, I encourage it, as long as that trade is on the premise that we are not relegated to tenant farmers in our own land; as long as we maintain some sovereignty over the resource in the ground. I feel that that sovereignty is not represented by state owned enterprises when they—

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You are now starting to debate the issue, Senator Joyce. Resume your seat.

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

I seek leave to make a short statement in relation to Senator Arbib’s answer to a question during question time.

Leave granted.

I do not claim that I have been misrepresented, because in Senator Arbib’s excitement in delivering his response I did not quite hear what he was saying. He mentioned something about a letter from me and I think he said it was in support of the government’s policy on the stimulus package. I am not exactly certain, but that was the point he was trying to make by waving around the letter. First of all, I am making this point because, if Senator Arbib wants to carry on in that childish way, that is up to him, but he should table the letter he is referring to. I think the letter he was referring to is a letter from me to the Deputy Prime Minister supporting an application by the Carpentaria Shire Council, up in the Gulf Country, for funding through the federal government’s Jobs Fund. I am not supporting the Jobs Fund; I am supporting the Carpentaria Shire Council’s application for funding. It relates to four programs in the Gulf Country of Queensland: the Karumba sewerage project, the upgrade of the Normanton Rodeo Grounds, the Normanton bike path and the restoration of the Burns Philp building in Normanton. I have indicated that that very remote part of Australia could always do with support for employment, particularly Indigenous employment.

I just to say to Senator Arbib: if he is going to do this again and give away any sense of being able to correspond with a minister—the Deputy Prime Minister, in my case, but he ended up with it—then he needs to carefully think about that. And, if he is going to mention it—and there is nothing in this letter that I have any embarrassment about—he should table the letter and be clear about what he is actually referring to in the letter. As I said, I am very proud to be able to support the Carpentaria Shire Council. These are very good projects. I make it clear to everyone who comes to me that we certainly oppose the stimulus funding money, but, as the government have succeeded in having it there and they are splashing money around everywhere, why shouldn’t the small, remote communities of north-west Queensland get part of the action rather than it being simply allocated to marginal Labor seats in the south of the country? I just want to put that on the record. While I am on my feet, I urge the government to assist those remote country towns in any way that they can while they have money available for use in Australia.