Dr EMERSON (9:01 AM) —Mr Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.

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

Dr EMERSON —I do.

The SPEAKER —Please proceed.

Dr EMERSON —A story in the Australian today reports claims that I told a small business meeting that I had not employed extra staff for the small business I ran before entering parliament because of fears about the unfair dismissal laws. Having been told last night by a representative of COSBOA that I made no such statement at the meeting, the journalist persisted with the story. The truth is that our small business did employ an extra staff member and had no difficulty terminating the employment. This fact, reported in the same story, completely refutes the claim.