Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I am going to ask you to have a look at the relevance of these questions. The suggestion that I ought to be commenting on what Senator Brown did or did not do with a member of his party is way out of line in terms of my responsibilities in representing the Prime Minister. The Labor Party’s position on the state of Israel, the support for its right to exist and its support for religious freedom in this country has been longstanding and remains. We have always condemned extremist views and those include views that encourage anti-Semitism. That has always been our position; it remains our position. It has always been my personal position. I think all members of the parliament ought to think about the contributions they make to questions of race and religion in this country. Some leadership from all sides of politics would be helpful for the nation’s politics. (Time expired)