Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Given the Minister for Foreign Affairs is currently overseas, will the Prime Minister also be talking directly to the foreign minister about the political and personal consequences of leaks from cabinet?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would have thought that the opposition would have been very pleased that the foreign minister is doing what she always does: promoting the interests of our country abroad. That is what she does. She is promoting the interests of our country abroad. Thanks to the fine work of the foreign minister, the standing of our country has rarely been higher in the councils of the world. Everything that this government does, including what we did in cabinet last Monday night, is designed to strengthen our national security and strengthen our economic security. I am sure that, as part of her trip to Paris to sit down with our partners and allies to talk about what can be best done to disrupt, degrade and ultimately to defeat the Daesh death cult, she will be referring to the fine work that our Air Force is doing in strikes on Daesh positions inside Iraq and the fine work that our Army is doing in training members of the Iraqi security forces and advising and assisting the Iraqi special forces in their vital mission to regain control of their country. I am very pleased with the work that the foreign minister has done and I am sure she will add further lustre to her record in Paris this week.