Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Cormann. Last week the Prime Minister repeatedly referred to a statement by Ms Liu but refused to assure the parliament and the Australian people that she is a fit and proper person to sit as a member of the Australian parliament. Is the Prime Minister prepared to declare to the parliament that Ms Liu is a fit and proper person to be a member of the Australian parliament?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Liu was validly elected as the member for Chisholm, and the Prime Minister has full confidence in her. This question that the Labor Party is asking here should actually be ruled out of order because, quite frankly, this is just part of Labor Party trickery. As I said last week, you're still going through your seven stages of grief. You still haven't accepted that you lost the last election. You still haven't accepted that you lost the seat of Chisholm, and you thought you already had it in your bag.

You are accusing Ms Liu of being part of organisations that your Labor candidate was a member of. On the weekend we had this amazing attempt at a diversion by the Leader of the Opposition, who said, 'Oh, that shouldn't really matter, because the Labor candidate was Taiwanese.' We are not actually accusing anyone of having done anything wrong by being part of these organisations. We think it's normal that Australians of Chinese origin are involved in Chinese community organisations. It's only the Labor Party that is trying to run a smear. Whatever way you want to put it, the imputation is that you are trying to get the message to the Australian people that the Labor Party thinks that Ms Liu is a spy. That is the accusation that you are running.

Senator Wong interjecting—

You're not saying it. You're not using the words, but that is what you're trying to spread.

Scott Ryan (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Keneally, a supplementary question?

Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week, Ministers Cormann and Payne refused on four occasions to assure the Senate that Ms Liu is a fit and proper person to be a member of the Australian parliament. Minister, will you do so now?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister has full confidence in the member for Chisholm.

Scott Ryan (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Keneally, a final supplementary question?

Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) | Link to this | Hansard source

One government MP is quoted in media reports as saying, 'There should have been concerns when she was being chosen to stand as a candidate and I believe those concerns were ignored.' Given members of the government hold concerns about Ms Liu, why is the Prime Minister refusing to allow her to make a statement to the parliament?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) | Link to this | Hansard source

Oh, another newsflash: something else that would never have happened on the Labor side! There is competition in preselections. Oh, in political parties we have competition and there are some people who might have been on the losing side of a contest! Oh, let's have another front page! Maybe we should splash that on TheAustralian front page tomorrow! The Labor Party are grasping at straws. You are so desperate. It is unbelievable that you haven't got anything more important to go on about other than a newly elected member of parliament who had a bad interview.

Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) | Link to this | Hansard source

A point of order on relevance: the minister only has 30 seconds left. The question was quite specific about things that government MPs have said. He has been speaking about preselection candidates. By the very nature, he's not answering the question. It's about government MPs.

Scott Ryan (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister has concluded his answer.