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

And I see that they are very exercised about this answer. Of course, Labor's actions in government belie the way that they have behaved since they were in opposition, particularly when we see the weakness that they have attracted to their foreign policy with respect to the South China Sea. In the last week or two, we might have started to see an inclination as to why the Labor Party have changed their mind about the South China Sea over recent times, or at least significant people within the Labor Party, because Sam Dastyari, who was a senior member—Shanghai Sam, as my colleague the Treasurer dubbed him—said about the South China Sea:

The South China Sea is China's own affair. On this issue, Australia should remain neutral and respect China's decision.

And now we know why, because, when Senator Dastyari had bills that he needed to have paid, he simply sent them to the piper. We know that the person who pays the piper calls the tune, and that is what happened with Sam Dastyari and these Chinese businesspeople. What we really need to know, though, from the Leader of the Opposition is: what did he do?

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