Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Leader of the Opposition) 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.

Yesterday I was the victim of a great calumny perpetrated by two government dissimulators in an attempt to defend the glaring contradiction between the statement of the Prime Minister and that of Senator Pratt. For the record, yesterday I asked a question of the government and I quoted from a speech given by Senator Pratt that contained elements that were in direct contradiction to statements contained in a press release by Ms Gillard. For the record, Senator Pratt stated in her speech on Monday, 4 July:

We know that all revenue from a carbon price will be used to provide households with fair and generous assistance.

I know that Senator Pratt is entirely embarrassed that she contacted her own Prime Minister, but that does not justify the outright deception that was later played out in this chamber by Senator Pratt and her accomplice, Senator Marshall.

Senator Pratt maintained in this chamber that she was misrepresented in the Senate by my quotation of her very own statement. To support her claim she quoted from an entirely different page in the Hansard. Senator Marshall went even further. He claimed that my question was 'totally dishonest' and 'absolutely fabricated'. Again he quoted from Senator Pratt's speech using a different page of the Hansard. Further, he called for me to apologise. Clearly, both Senator Marshall and Senator Pratt have made fools of themselves by uttering such falsehoods.

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Bernardi. You have sought leave to make a personal explanation. You are now venturing into debating the personal explanation. It would be advisable to wind up your personal explanation.

Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will, Mr Deputy President. I understand that in the argy-bargy of politics sometimes injustices are done, but that does not excuse outright false and misleading statements being made in this chamber. So I ask you, Mr Deputy President, and I also invite the respective senators, to review their mendacious statements and, in the case of the respective senators, do the honourable thing: withdraw and apologise for them. If they do not, I would ask you, Mr Deputy President, to review them and take the appropriate action.

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Bernardi. The matter that you have raised will be looked into and, if there is any cause to come back to the chamber for any further statement by the President or anyone else, that will take place.