Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The honourable member will do everything he can to distract attention from Senator Dastyari. He will talk about anything, anything at all, except the fact that his leader refuses to take the right decision, the decision that a person of strong character and a person determined to protect Australia would take, which is to say to Senator Dastyari, 'You are out of the Labor Party.'

The Labor Party seeks to be the government. The Leader of the Opposition seeks to be the Prime Minister. The first job of every government is to protect the nation's safety. National security is the first responsibility, so how do you tolerate somebody in your party room, somebody on your Senate benches, somebody who until very recently was on your front bench, who has gone to the home of a foreign national, a home very familiar to the Leader of the Opposition, and told him to be wary that he may be under surveillance from ASIO, and then given him practical advice as to how to avoid it? Does the Leader of the Opposition think that the job of his party and his members is to help ASIO keep Australia safe? Or is it simply to sell Australia out?

If they think they're currying favour in Beijing by doing this, they are not. Senator Dastyari is a figure of contempt—of contempt—despised, because the Chinese people are patriots. They stand up for their nation and they can't understand why Australia has an opposition leader who won't stand up for his.

See this speech in context