REWRITING HANSARD WON’T EASE GARRETT’S HUMILIATION
29-October-2010
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has some serious explaining to do.
It appears the Government has tried to expunge embarrassing comments from Hansard.
This is after it emerged today that the documentary record of Wednesday’s House of Representatives Question Time has been altered to provide a sanitised record of Schools Minister Peter Garrett’s answer to a question.
Mr Garrett’s trademark incompetence as a Minister was on display yet again in the course of his answer, as it indicated he hadn’t been briefed on the Government’s plans to dump its election promise to introduce a Cleaner Car Rebate scheme.
To compound his ordeal, he also called the program ‘Cash for Clunkers’ – a title that Labor politicians and even public servants, in an absurd piece of spin, have reportedly been ordered never to use.
It now turns out that someone has sought to cover up his embarrassment – by choosing to rewrite the answer in the official record of the proceedings.
Labor isn’t content with rewriting history; it now wants to rewrite Hansard as well.
This is a disgrace, and Ms Gillard must apologise and reinstate the accurate record of parliamentary proceedings.
ATTACHMENT – PETER GARRETT’S ORIGINAL AND ALTERED ANSWERS TO A QUESTION ON CASH FOR CLUNKERS FROM SOPHIE MIRABELLA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 27 OCTOBER 2010:
Original:
Mr GARRETT–I thank the honourable member for her question. And the decisions that the government has made in respect of the cash for clunkers scheme and the statements that have been made by the minister–
Opposition Members interjecting–
Mr GARRETT–The scheme that she refers to, and the statements made by the relevant ministers, constitute our policy and they’ll be committed.
Altered:
Mr GARRETT–I thank the honourable member for her question. The decisions that the government has made in respect of what the honourable member refers to as the ‘cash-for-clunkers’ scheme and the statements made by the relevant ministers constitute our policy and that policy will be implemented.