Mr BEAZLEY (3:16 PM) —Mr Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.

Mr SPEAKER —Does the honourable member claim to have been misrepresented?

Mr BEAZLEY —Yes.

Mr SPEAKER —Please proceed.

Mr BEAZLEY —It is now almost unnecessary to make a personal explanation as the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (Mr Ruddock) managed to read out the entirety of my explanation. Nevertheless, I will make it, since he insists on his interpretation of it standing. The minister alleged that I had said one thing to FECCA and another thing in public. I do not know how the minister came to the conclusion. When the minister read the statement that I had made where I pointed out the $3 billion that this government has added to spending, unfunded, since the election—

Mr Tuckey —Mr Speaker, on a point of order: I draw your attention to the standing orders—but when is he going to sit down? There are two of us on our feet. Sit down!

Mr SPEAKER —The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat.

Mr Tuckey —Sit down! Go on, sit down.

Mr SPEAKER —The honourable member for O'Connor will adopt normal courtesy. The Leader of the Opposition will sit down.

Mr Tuckey —He has to sit down. He knows the standing orders. Go on, sit down.

Government members —Sit down!

Mr SPEAKER —The Leader of the Opposition will resume his place so that we can hear the point of order.

Opposition members interjecting—

Mr SPEAKER —When the members of the opposition resume some silence, I will call the honourable member for O'Connor. The member for O'Connor.

Mr Tuckey —The standing orders relating to personal explanations require the member seeking to make a personal explanation to lay out the grounds on which they have been misrepresented and they say that they are not to debate the issue.

Mr SPEAKER —I thank the honourable member for O'Connor. The member will resume his place.

Opposition members —Sit down!

Mr SPEAKER —When members of the opposition remain silent, I will call the Leader of the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition will continue his personal explanation and he should be well aware of the requirements in doing so.

Mr BEAZLEY —It is a full moon, Mr Speaker. The minister suggested that I had said one thing to FECCA in terms of the massive cuts that the government has made to social security in relation to the immigration program and that I had said another thing subsequently publicly. I do not know where he got that from. The only article that I have seen, which comes from the press clipping service of his department, is headed `Labor keeps migrant benefits freeze,' which then has a series of—

Mr SPEAKER —The Leader of the Opposition has to show where he is personally misrepresented.

Mr BEAZLEY —I was misrepresented when he said that we were going to overthrow the freeze. Every publication on this has made amply clear that I said to FECCA exactly what I have said elsewhere publicly; that is, that we will not be restoring those cuts, that we will not be in a position to restore those cuts. I was misrepresented by the suggestion that I had said one thing in one place and another thing in another. The minister himself, of course, demonstrated the point by reading from my speech which indicated precisely that.