Senator CRICHTON-BROWNE —by leave—Mr President, I wish to make a personal explanation because I claim to have been misrepresented. Mr President, you will recall last week a matter which in some respects was trivial, but I refer to a dishonest and quite scurrilous allegation made by that despicable Mike Seccombe from the Sydney Morning Herald, claiming that I had slipped on some tiles at a French restaurant and then pleaded, notwithstanding bruises to both my back and my hip, for a free meal for myself and Laurie Oakes.

  Of course, as the proprietor correctly stated the next day, it was utterly untrue and simply a manufacture on behalf of Mr Seccombe. I might say that on Saturday he apologised, as best he was able, which was very inadequately. However, I am appalled to say he rang the proprietor of the restaurant and claimed that I had invented the story myself. So it gives us some idea of the lies, deceit, incompetence and vendetta which are run by this creature that sits up there from time to time to report on the trivial events of politics. I am only ever so pleased that he is not asked to report on anything of consequence.

  I refer to one other article relating to me by the same grub. If I might just give part of the article, it says:

  Let's end on a happy note. The Liberal Party's arch-conservative Western Australian numbers man,—

this is historic, of course—

Senator Noel Crichton-Browne, has finally announced that he will not recontest his Senate position, having been revealed as a wife basher. This was in doubt until recently—

I take it he is referring to the fact that I am not contesting rather than recently I was a wife basher—

Word in the party was that he was going to renominate for the Senate, even though he resigned when the news of his domestic violence broke.

  Of course, simply by renominating, even though he would certainly have been defeated for preselection, it would have been enough to have secured him a lifetime gold travel pass. But now he won't. That means this side of the country will see rather less of him, we hope. Although the downside is that he may spend more time at home.

That is the sort of filth that this man goes on with. In the next couple of weeks we are going to be talking more about him in his happy and unhappy domestic life. But, in the meantime, can I say—

  Government senators—Oh!

Senator CRICHTON-BROWNE —I tell you what: if you can't tell your wife the truth, how can you write the truth to the rest of the public? It has arrived at the point where I will no longer tolerate that sort of garbage. And tomorrow I will be saying something about that which he had to say about my wife.

  Nobody knows better than you, Mr President, that simply renominating would not have given me a gold pass. But it does not prevent the grubby lies from this character who thinks it is clever to write filth of that nature reflecting on people, their families, their reputations and their status. And they are the nice things I have to say about him, Mr President.