Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Services, Territories and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

A few moments ago the Prime Minister gave a press conference, which has been described by some as swinging between offensive and febrile. He has threatened to distort the processes of parliament because he does not agree with a private member's bill which would provide for the medical evacuation of children from Nauru. I'm not offended by the fact that over the last six months the Prime Minister has picked his own nickname, has changed everything from his signature to his footy team and sculls beer before lunchtime—I think this stuff is just silly, and I hope for the sake of the country he leaves this stuff behind and gets on with governing—but I am offended by the approach that he has taken to this issue, because it is completely contradictory to some of the things he said in the past. I believe the Prime Minister was sincere when he told a Lifeline conference that he got down on his knees and prayed for the future of those children on Nauru. I believe his sincerity—

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