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

Madam Deputy Speaker, I second this motion. Standing and sessional orders must be suspended because the scandal that has engulfed the member for Dobell is a stain on the Prime Minister, on the government and on the parliament. That stain will remain while ever the member for Dobell remains in the parliament voting in support of this sordid government.

After three years of investigation into that e activities of the member for Dobell, after the Prime Minister expressed her total confidence in the member for Dobell, belatedly there was the spectacle of the member for Dobell being suspended from the Labor Party. The Prime Minister claimed in her press conference at the time that it was her decision to stand him down and that she had acted decisively. Well, as we now know, that was contradicted by the member for Dobell who claimed that it was his idea and that he initiated the call. Standing orders must be suspended to debate this motion, as the member for Dobell has since reportedly said that he offered to be suspended from the Labor Party at least six months ago but this Prime Minister rejected his offers. It is clear that both the member for Dobell and the Prime Minister knew the extent and the seriousness of the allegations against the member for Dobell well before the Fair Work Australia report was released yesterday. The reason for last year's charade is that the Prime Minister has known for at least three years of the seriousness of these allegations. That is why standing orders must be suspended. We must debate why the Prime Minister did not act earlier to suspend the member and why she continues to accept his vote.

In fact, there was a report in the Sydney Morning Herald by one Mark Davis on 10 April 2009 which set out in detail the allegations against the member for Dobell, which have now been confirmed three years later by the Fair Work Australia report released last night. Mark Davis said at the time:

Backed by the Health Services Union, the now member for Dobell started his own cash splash in the Central Coast electorate of Dobell just after he moved into the area at the end of 2005.

Standing orders need to be suspended so that a procedure can be put in place for the member for Dobell to answer these allegations. He has offered to make a statement in the past. We are giving him that opportunity. Mark Davis went on:

The funds continued to flow all the way to election night in November 2007 when Mr Thomson and his supporters celebrated his 6430-vote thumping of the Liberal Ken Ticehurst.

Union money was pumped into Dobell to buy the recently arrived HSU national secretary a profile and to curry favour both with ALP preselectors and the wider community.

That is why standing orders must be suspended, so the member for Dobell can make a statement to explain how it is that Mark Davis could write in the Sydney Morning Herald in April 2009:

HSU national office funds were used to:

It was in fact $267,000 of HSU members' money that was used by the Labor Party to buy votes in the Dobell electorate in 2007. Mark Davis was able to go on and say in 2009:

The latest details of the HSU spending spree follow claims Mr Thomson's union credit card was used to make payments to Sydney escort services and to withdraw more than $100,000 in cash over a five-year period.

Standing orders must be suspended so that the Prime Minister, who has left the chamber, can come back and answer these allegations and debate the motion as to why the member for Dobell should not be suspended from this House and explain why she should continue to accept his vote.

The investigation report by Fair Work Australia does contain far more details and raises many more allegations. The Prime Minister must have been aware of the serious nature of these allegations so why did she not act sooner? Why did she not suspend the member for Dobell from the caucus? Why is she still accepting his vote? Well, if you believe the member for Dobell, she has not acted at all in relation to these allegations. The answer lies in the judgment and instincts of the Prime Minister. She fails to understand the seriousness of the allegations that hundreds of thousands of dollars in union fees collected from people around the country have been used for the personal gain of the member for Dobell. The motion should be supported. (Time expired)

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