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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 9 Hansard (21 August) . . Page.. 2719 ..

MS GALLAGHER (continuing):

asylum-seekers?" The original response published was: "Yes, 18 per cent. No, 71 per cent." From this we were led to believe that 71 per cent of respondents believed children should not be freed from these places.

Today, in a tiny corrections article on page 2 of the Canberra Times, we are told that the question actually should have read, "Should children be held in detention camps holding asylum-seekers?" and that the response should have been "Yes, 18 per cent. No, 82 per cent". So the true result of this tele-poll was that 82 per cent of the respondents didn't believe that children should be held in detention camps. I don't want to speak about my views on refugees and people seeking asylum in this country but I do want to draw the mistake by the Canberra Times to the Assembly's attention.

The debate about refugees and asylum seekers in this country is an important one and the mistakes made and published in the Canberra Times do not do anything to inform the debate. They only contribute to the already abundant amount of misinformation.

I also note, Mr Deputy Speaker, that you put out a media statement on the original incorrect article in the Canberra Times. I acknowledge that the statements made in this release were based on the published facts at the time in the Canberra Times article but I think in light of the corrections noted in the Canberra Times today you should also note that this statement was incorrect.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

The Assembly adjourned at 5.25 pm, until Tuesday, 27 August 2002, at 10.30 am.

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