Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

He's more than embattled. Embattled would be a step up for this minister. He could only dream of being embattled. He has been caught out, red-handed. He has such a born-to-rule attitude that he thought he could stand up with complete confidence and everyone would nod and admire him. He has been caught out. Under the ministerial standards, he has today to go to the dispatch box and tell the truth. He has today to go to the dispatch box and make clear exactly what happened. Someone created a doctored document. Someone created a forgery to embarrass a public official. Somebody did that. And we know from all the public evidence that that didn't start from the City of Sydney's website. We know from all the public evidence that that didn't come from where he says it came from. So the obligation is on the minister to tell the truth. And the obligation is on the Prime Minister to demand that the ministerial standards be upheld. If the Prime Minister won't even demand his ministerial standards be upheld on this the most obvious demonstrable example anyone can remember then there are no standards left. If that's what this government wants to become—we will know by 7.30 tonight whether they have given up on the ministerial code completely.

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