Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

That is right, Mr Speaker. Standing and sessional orders must be suspended so that the Prime Minister can answer the charge from Laurie Oakes that she is silly and slippery and slimy and shifty. She must be given the opportunity to come into this place and explain this same behaviour that emerged over the Australia Day riot. When the truth would have done just fine, this Prime Minister gave a version of events that has proven not to be true. Even on the most straightforward issues the Prime Minister seems incapable of calling it as it is. After unleashing her dogs of war with a most personal and vitriolic attack on the member for Griffith, she now wants to believe that she was not publicly humiliating him—she was in fact honouring him. Standing orders must be suspended so she can explain this behaviour. The Prime Minister could not even get it right when she was talking about his achievements, saying that the member for Griffith created the G20 and created the East Asia Summit. Not even the member for Griffith would claim such grandiosity. That is why the Prime Minister must explain herself.

Standing orders must be suspended so that the Prime Minister can give her version of the events of the Carr wreck. We will recall that the Prime Minister said she was not involved in the toppling of the member for Griffith; that she was not in any plot to overthrow the Prime Minister. We now know she was hawking around polling; she was having speeches written in her own office. Her version of events is simply implausible. Last week the Prime Minister's version of why the member for Griffith had to be removed was revealed as not sustainable. She said she believed that it was a good government that had lost its way, but we now know that she did not believe it was a good government. She in fact thought it was chaotic and disorganised and paralysed and not focused on the national interest. In fact her deputy said—and this is what she should be called in to explain and this is why standing orders must be suspended—that this was a government that had contempt for the cabinet, contempt for the caucus, contempt for the parliament and contempt for the public. So, far from the Prime Minister's version that it was a good government that lost its way, she now admits that it was a bad government getting worse. That is why standing orders must be suspended.

The Prime Minister wanted us to believe that she did not tell the truth about the events of 23 and 24 June because she did not want to hurt the feelings of the member for Griffith. Spare us, Mr Speaker! Do we have to have any more of this? Having unleashed the most personal abuse on the former Prime Minister of this country, she now wants us to believe that she did not want to hurt his feelings. The fact is that the Prime Minister's instinct is to manufacture and to fabricate to suit her political purpose. No wonder a third of her caucus decided that she was not worthy of their vote.

Standing orders must be suspended so the Prime Minister can explain the circumstances surrounding the role of the Minister for Defence in vetoing the Prime Minister's choice of Bob Carr for foreign minister. The Prime Minister says that allegation is completely untrue, but we will soon know. If the Prime Minister appoints the defence minister to be the foreign minister, that is evidence of his veto. Surely the Prime Minister would not otherwise want to appoint the fourth Labor defence minister in four years. We have learned that the minister for regional Australia has also vetoed the Prime Minister's choice of Bob Carr, so both ministers want the job. The Prime Minister is faced with a choice between the member for Perth and the member for Hotham—a choice between a rooster and a feather duster, so wipe the floor with that one. Standing orders must be suspended so the Prime Minister can explain how she can claim a new assertiveness one day when the next day she is completely and comprehensively undermined by the factions.

Standing orders must be suspended so the Prime Minister can explain matters that go to her very character, to her personal integrity and to her fitness to hold office. We are seeking the opportunity for the Prime Minister to explain why she seeks to construct versions of events when the truth will do. Members will recall the Prime Minister telling us that she was a prize winner in Bible studies. Perhaps she might remember Matthew 12:37: by your words you will be justified; by your words you will be condemned. (Time expired)

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