Mr CREAN (2:23 PM) —My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, in your previous answer you stated that on 7 October there was `unambiguous evidence' that children were thrown overboard. Prime Minister, didn't the report that you tabled yesterday from Major General Powell conclude as follows on the events that occurred at 5 p.m. that day:

I am continuing the quote—

Prime Minister, do you still claim that there was unambiguous evidence?

Mr HOWARD (Prime Minister) —I thought I said `advice' but I will check that. But if I said `evidence', as distinct from `unambiguous advice', I was wrong, because it was unambiguous advice that I was referring to. I will check that. But if that encourages the Leader of the Opposition, well, be encouraged, mate. I quote from the task force report that was prepared on the seventh:

Those were the words that were put into the task group report on 7 October.

Mr HOWARD —The Leader of the Opposition is asking me about my state of knowledge when I made certain statements, and I answer in relation to my state of knowledge when I made those statements. The Leader of the Opposition gets excited about this. Yesterday the Leader of the Opposition was making great play of the juxtaposition of this issue in relation to the election campaign. When I look through the interviews that I gave, I see that the very day before the election, in an interview with Cathy Van Extel on ABC Radio National, I had this to say:

And this is me speaking on 9 November, not speaking from the vantage point of reports and so forth. It remains the case that we received advice that children were thrown overboard. That is the advice that I read out. That was the advice that was given. That was the advice that was given to the minister for immigration, and it was the advice that was used in good faith by the minister and the advice that was used in good faith by me. I went on to say:

That was a statement as to my state of mind in relation to the matter on 9 November. What Admiral Shackleton said in his doorstop interview yesterday, as I read it, related to what was on the video and it did not relate generally to the whole issue. The truth is that we were given unambiguous advice, from people whom we were entitled to rely on, that children had been thrown overboard. Not unnaturally, that advice was made public. At no stage did I receive advice from my department or from Mr Reith or from any other official—

Mr Crean —Or from your staff?

Mr HOWARD —or from my staff indicating that that advice was wrong.

The SPEAKER —Leader of the Opposition! I make no more demands on him than I do on the Prime Minister. There is an obligation on the occupiers of both the Prime Minister's seat and the Leader of the Opposition's to allow whoever is at the dispatch box to be heard in silence. Has the Prime Minister concluded his answer?

Mr HOWARD —Mr Speaker, I just repeat again the fundamental facts in this. We received unambiguous advice on 7 October. It was advice tendered in good faith. It was advice that ministers were entitled to use in good faith. They did; they made statements based on that advice. At no stage, as found by Ms Bryant of my department—not as found by me; as found by the person who was commissioned to carry out the inquiry—was advice tendered to me by my department. No advice was tendered to the minister for immigration by his department, and at no stage was I told by Defence, by Mr Reith or by anybody else that the original advice was wrong.