Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I notice that the once great Liberal Party has hauled up the surrender flag on tax policy and has now moved on to a debate on border protection. It took just three days of debate in this chamber on tax before they returned to old faithful. The Leader of the Opposition referred to coalition policy. The question arises as to whether this particular policy actually went through the coalition party room. This has been a matter of some debate today and we turn to our good friend the member for Cook, who had an interesting discussion on a radio program in Melbourne early this morning on 3AW. Neil Mitchell asked the member for Cook this question:

Mitchell: Has this gone through the party room yet?

Morrison: It has gone through our internal processes, as our policies do, and that is appropriate.

Mitchell: So has it gone through the party room yet?

Morrison: It has gone through our internal processes. It is official coalition policy.

Mitchell: What does that mean?

Morrison: It has been signed off the way we sign off policy. That is what happened Neil.

Mitchell: Does that involve the party room?

Morrison: It enjoys the strong support of the party room.

Ten times he was asked this question; ten times he refused to answer. We know why because the member for Kooyong has already belled the cat. There was no internal party room process. Which begs the question: is this the full gospel truth or is it the Tony Abbott truth? Is it in writing or is it not in writing?

Can I say this in response to the Leader of the Opposition’s question: back in March in Melbourne he came out through the Melbourne Herald Sun guaranteeing he would stop the boats and shut the border. That was his guarantee on 31 March. Two months later, it is pretty interesting to hear what the Leader of the Opposition had to say in a press conference earlier today. Listen carefully to what the Leader of the Opposition said today when asked to provide the same guarantee. The journalist asked, ‘Can you guarantee that you will stop the boats?’

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