Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

And we could have had a royal commission on 'wheat for weapons', as the member for Melbourne Ports reminds me. We could have had a royal commission into the corruption that was obvious to all where the foreign minister, and indeed the Prime Minister and the minister for trade, would have been summoned to those inquiries. These are far more serious matters than are actually subject to the current commissions that have been established by this government.

But the reality is that this government will be willing to spend millions upon millions of taxpayers' dollars—$80 million so far—to go after the Labor leader, and not the first Labor leader but the third Labor leader. Is it remarkable? I think it is remarkable that in 15 months three Labor leaders have been forced to an inquiry. It is not a judicial inquiry; it is an executive inquiry run by the government and established by the government. Summonsing the leaders to those inquires is an abuse of power, an abuse of taxpayers' money and a complete and utter national disgrace. It should be called out for what it is. This is an abuse by Tony Abbott. Tony Abbott is abusing taxpayers' money and abusing the powers of the state—

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