Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last night, senior members of the Morrison government were exposed by claims of branch stacking and the misuse of taxpayer funded resources. Assistant Treasurer Mr Sukkar is at the centre of this scandal, caught out endorsing the use of taxpayer funded electorate officers employed within the offices of federal Liberal MPs for the sole purpose of branch stacking. His position is untenable. We know what the Prime Minister says about branch stacking. In June he called it corruption. The Prime Minister should be judged on his own words. This is a test for the Prime Minister, his leadership and his integrity, a test that he set himself.

True to form, however, the Prime Minister won't take responsibility for the bushfires, won't take responsibility for the Ruby Princess, won't take responsibility for aged care and now won't take responsibility for branch stacking and corruption within his own party. The Leader of the Opposition, by contrast, moved immediately to expel from the party the senior Labor figure accused of branch stacking and appointed Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin to lead a reform process. The Victorian Premier removed from his frontbench those implicated in the scandal. That's leadership. The staff of politicians are paid to serve the public, not to stack party branches. The question is: will the Prime Minister follow Anthony Albanese's lead and act decisively against senior figures within his own party?