George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

As Senator Parry said, stand down the home guard. It was a great disappointment to me that, when Senator Lightfoot invited Brett Mason and me to accompany him on a visit to Kurdistan in the early months of 2006, I received a telephone call from Mr Tony Nutt, the then Prime Minister’s principal private secretary, who counselled me and Senator Mason that this was perhaps not such a good idea. Mr Nutt said to me words to the effect that Kurdistan was a pretty dangerous place, and I was left with the rather doleful feeling that, although, of course, my wellbeing and Senator Mason’s wellbeing were a matter of acute interest in the Prime Minister’s office, the potential embarrassment to the government of any harm that might come to us was a matter of even greater concern.