An Australian politician has apologised to New Zealand business lobbyist Roger Kerr for plagiarising a speech he made on labour market reforms.
An essay by Deputy Liberal Leader Julie Bishop in a new book, Liberals and Power: The Road Ahead, includes parts of the speech delivered by Mr Kerr nine years ago in Ireland.
The book is edited by an academic, Dr Peter van Onselen.
Mr Kerr told Morning Report he got a call from Ms Bishop on Sunday night to explain what had happened and to apologise.
He said Ms Bishop told him a staff member had indicated to the publisher that parts of the essay needed to be footnoted, but it was not picked up and the publisher went ahead.
Mr Kerr says he has no intention of suing Ms Bishop or the publisher, Melbourne University Press.
It's the second such controversy involving Ms Bishop, who was accused of lifting material from The Wall Street Journal in September in a speech in the federal parliament.
