Brendan Nelson, you have reached a whole new level of fail.

Brendan Nelson never asked the woman he quoted in his (not-sorry) speech if he could use her story.

An angry and sobbing Ms Lyman told ABC Radio: "He took my story from Many Voices oral history out of context."

Dr Nelson rang Ms Lyman on Thursday night and promised to ring her again next week to find out if she was still angry and upset, she said.

"He said: `I just wanted people to know your story'," she said.

"I asked him why he didn't ring me, and he couldn't answer that.

"How dare he use my story for his political career.

"He told me he read this three years ago so he had plenty of time to get in contact with me."