Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Nor has the member for Paterson, I would suggest, who goes around the country presenting himself as the shadow minister for defence. He must send Senator Johnston absolutely mad, presenting himself as the shadow minister for defence on a regular basis. It is not surprising that he seeks to fill the vacuum left by Senator Johnston’s inactivity. It would have been a much more responsible act if Senator Johnston had come into my office and said: ‘Mate, I think we have a problem with our special forces soldiers and, mate, you and I both know we do not want this to be a public issue. We do not want the personal issues confronting our special forces soldiers aired as part of the public debate.’ If Senator Johnston had done so, I would have welcomed him to my office with open arms, got straight on to the phone to the Chief of the Defence Force and said: ‘Angus, this must be fixed and fixed now. This is unacceptable.’

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