Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

When Senator Dastyari was discovered to have had his personal expenses paid by TOP Education Institute—$1,600, in fact, of his personal expenses paid—the advice of Labor's candidate for Bennelong, Kristina Keneally, to Senator Dastyari was to 'fudge it'. She was asked about it on Australian Story. She said: 'I remember asking him, why did you do this? Like, how are you going to explain this? Why did you do this?' And he said, 'Because I didn't want to pay the bill,' to which she said: 'Well, you can't say that. Don't say that.' What did she expect Senator Dastyari to actually say—that the dog ate his homework or that the tram got a flat tyre? She was advising him to do what exactly? Not to tell the truth. That is what Kristina Keneally was advising Senator Dastyari to do. She was advising him to fudge the issue, to come up with some other kind of excuse. She didn't realise the gravity of the situation that Senator Dastyari found himself in. Having had his personal expenses paid, being compromised by a company with links to the Chinese government, he then changed Labor's policy, for which he suffered a sanction, and then he warned another Chinese donor about how to avoid being surveyed by ASIO or any other government agencies.

What is it about New South Wales Labor that they don't get how to behave, don't get what the boundaries are for members of parliament and putative ministers? Eddie Obeid crowned Kristina Keneally as the Premier of New South Wales. Senator Dastyari anointed the Leader of the Opposition as the leader of the Labor Party. Why couldn't the Leader of the Opposition win a clean fight? Why did he have to have Senator Dastyari rorting the ballot for the ALP leadership? Why were those 50 votes sent from private homes to Senator Dastyari's office? Who voted for those people? There needs to be an investigation into this, and we will not rest until the Leader of the Opposition orders New South Wales Labor to have an investigation. (Time expired)

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