James Paterson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Cameron needs to get out more. If that was an exciting question time, can I recommend he develop some hobbies, some activities outside politics, because if he was excited by that I do worry a little bit about him.

Let's put some facts on the table. The opposition leader in New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, has said that what happened here was inappropriate. Even Senator Wong in her contribution to the debate earlier today acknowledged that what her chief of staff had done was wrong and inappropriate. Yet there are some ALP senators, Senator Cameron among them, who have sought to defend the conduct of the opposition, Senator Wong and her chief of staff in this affair. I agree with Senator Fifield's observations this morning in the debate. It was a very interesting contribution from Senator Wong. It was perhaps the most low-key contribution I've seen her make in the parliament in the 18 months I've been here. It was very carefully worded, unlike some of the contributions of her colleagues on this question. One might wonder why that would be the case. She chose her words very carefully, and that was probably advisable.

But the best defence that those opposite have been able to mount so far has been the so-called Fairfax defence: yes, what Senator Wong's chief of staff is alleged to have done is wrong, and, yes, what the New Zealand member of parliament then did with that was also wrong, but it's not a problem, because Fairfax Media was also asking these questions at the same time.

Senator Cameron interjecting—

Whether Fairfax was asking questions at the same time or not is not relevant. Either it was right for Senator Wong's chief of staff to involve himself in this affair in this way or it was wrong. Fairfax Media has a very different role from that of the chief of staff to the shadow foreign affairs minister, who should behave in a very different way.