Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I will. Did Mr Hodges speak to any other activists or protesters on Australia Day in relation to the events that were unfolding at the Lobby restaurant? If so, to whom? What was the content of those conversations? Why were the Prime Minister's media advisers telling press gallery journalists on Thursday afternoon that the Leader of the Opposition had started a riot if they were not trying to gain political mileage from the events of Australia Day? Who were those staff members? Has any action been taken in her office in relation to those staff? Who were the other three prime ministerial office staff at the Lobby on Thursday when Mr Hodges was communicating with Kim Sattler of Unions ACT at the tent embassy protest? Have they been questioned as to their involvement in the events of the day? Can she guarantee that no other staff were involved in the events that led to the Australia Day affray?

What conversations occurred between her head of communications, John McTernan, and Kim Sattler on Friday, Saturday and Sunday? What was the content of those conversations that would lead Kim Sattler to describe herself as being the meat in the sandwich? Did any conversations occur between the Prime Minister's office and Kim Sattler on Sunday that would cause her to alter her account of her interaction with the Prime Minister's staff from the one she gave News Ltd papers on Saturday and upon which the Prime Minister relied today, conveniently forgetting the statement she had made on Saturday to the News Ltd press?

Did Mr Hodges, when passing on the comments of the Leader of the Opposition, make any mention of his remarks in his historic apology in 2008 or the proposal for recognition of Indigenous Australians in the Constitution? When Mr Hodges informed his immediate superiors on Australia Day of his phone calls to the office of the ACT minister for Indigenous affairs and Ms Sattler, who else was subsequently told about the events? Who in turn did they tell? Why was the Prime Minister not told for close to 24 hours? Once informed on Friday afternoon, why did the Prime Minister not immediately tell the public rather than wait until after 6.00 pm that night, conveniently outside the media cycle? Was Mr Hodges required to sign a confidentiality agreement or an agreement of nondisclosure upon his resignation from the Prime Minister's office? When initially making contact with the office of Chris Bourke, the ACT Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, to whom did Mr Hodges speak? What was the content of that conversation? During that conversation, was the suggestion made that Mr Hodges speak to anyone else? Who made that suggestion?

Has anyone in the Prime Minister's office spoken to senior AFP figures in relation to the events of Australia Day? Given the gravity of the Australia Day protests, has the Prime Minister or her chief of staff initiated a review of their internal processes? To whom did Prime Minister's staffers Sean Kelly and John McTernan speak once they were informed of events by Mr Hodges on Thursday? While working to establish the facts, did they speak to anyone else in the Prime Minister's office or other ministerial offices or to other Labor or union figures? When did Mr Kelly or Mr McTernan inform Mr Ben Hubbard of the matters raised with them by Mr Hodges? What instructions did any member of the Prime Minister's office convey to Labor members of parliament on Australia Day about the use of social media, including Facebook and Twitter, about the events that had occurred? Of course, the final question is: where is Mr Hodges? Is he in a witness protection program? He has gone to ground. We have not seen him since his resignation, yet he was very prepared to be upfront on Australia Day.

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