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

Everybody should be truthful before the royal commission. A lack of truthfulness presents a threat to the government's agenda. I was asked about threats to the government's agenda, Madam Speaker. On the Ben Fordham program Ben Fordham said to him:

Considering that this is all history now, are you willing to admit that you did give your word to Rudd supporters a week before the coup?

Bill Shorten said:

On June the 19th I hadn't changed camps.

We know that is not true. Ben Fordham asked, 'You hadn't?' And Bill said no. The reality is that is just as bad a lie to Ben Fordham on 2GB as the lie he told to Neil Mitchell on 3AW. It behoves the Leader of the Opposition to correct the record, to ring Ben Fordham and apologise to him and all of his listeners for lying. If Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard could not trust the Leader of the Opposition and if Neil Mitchell and Ben Fordham could not trust the Leader of the Opposition, why should the Australian people trust him on election day next year? The reality is that the Leader of the Opposition is a dead political duck.

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