David Bradbury (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, representing the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. Will the minister outline the importance of maintaining integrity in e-communication and what lessons can be learned from National E-security Awareness Week?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I accept that the question is in order but I am confident that the answer will not be. Mr Speaker, I would seek your assistance in terms of maintaining the order of the House in holding the minister strictly to matters—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Warringah will resume his seat. As acknowledged by the member for Warringah, to the point that we are at at this stage the question was in order. The minister for infrastructure has the call.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lindsay for his question. The member for Lindsay knows how important integrity in written material is because he was the victim of a fake pamphlet prior to the last election. In the modern age, the integrity of emails is just as important. That is why the Rudd government has marked National E-security Awareness Week. It began, very interestingly, just two weeks ago—two weeks ago, the day after the first question, based upon a fake email, was raised by those opposite, it was National E-Security Awareness Week.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister will resume his seat. There is now a general warning and, especially for those on my right, I emphasise it.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The minister is accusing the opposition of faking an email. I ask him to withdraw that or, if he or his leader have the guts, to move a substantive motion and present some evidence. They have accused us day in, day out—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat. The minister for infrastructure has the call. I will listen very carefully.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister will resume his seat.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The minister accused members on this side of the House of faking an email. He must withdraw that false accusation.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will listen carefully to the minister’s response. But I have to say that members on both sides, in this half-hour of question time, have made it very difficult. I will listen very carefully.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker—

Judi Moylan (Pearce, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Under 100(d) of the rules, imputations are not permitted. I have to say that I found the minister’s imputation highly offensive, as did many other people on this side of the House. I would ask that you ask him to withdraw.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the context of what is going on, I have indicated that I will listen very closely to the minister.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

National E-security Awareness Week has some key lessons. As part of the material, its lessons for all computer users include:

When dealing with email it is important to not just blindly follow attachments from unknown sources.

That was part of the lessons that were out there in the National E-security Awareness Week promotional material for the general public. It also said:

It is important to take a bit of care in trusting where the information came from.

That is what the National E-security Awareness Week material said, just two weeks ago. Indeed, we launched an education module aimed at year 3 and year 9 students. There is no doubt that in the future it can be played in some of the new classrooms that we are building. We also produced a series of postcards. I commend to members of the House the website: www.staysmartonline.gov.au. The postcards say:

What have you lost?

Maybe the leadership! They also say:

Protect yourself online.

We even have the program ‘Budd:e’. I table it for the benefit of the Leader of the Opposition, who may need one or two in coming days. Clearly, the opposition did not pay attention during National E-security Awareness Week, because what we have seen from the opposition is their reliance upon a fake email to call for the resignation of the Prime Minister and the Treasurer. The sorts of lessons that are being taught to kids in year 3 have not been learnt by those opposite, who are the alternative government of the nation.

The contradictions, when it comes to the connections with Mr Grech and this email, are quite extraordinary. At 7.55 am today, the shadow Treasurer, when asked about the correspondence with Mr Grech over the last few months, said, ‘Not to my knowledge.’ At 8.05 am the Leader of the Opposition was asked on AM:

Has anyone in the Opposition, to your knowledge, spoken to Mr Grech in the last few months apart from that conversation Joe Hockey said he had?

The answer was:

Well, I’m sure they have. I mean Mr Grech is very well known and I have certainly spoken to Mr Grech.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister will relate his material to the answer.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At 8.30 am the shadow Treasurer was out there saying, ‘Of course they have spoken to him,’ which was a remarkable turnaround. The concern that was there about this fake email that was so significant—

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I am sure you can anticipate it; it is on relevance. He has gone miles away from the subject.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister will respond to the question and relate to the matters of e-commerce and e-security.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is a very clear lesson to be learnt from National E-security Week and that is about the integrity of emails. Another lesson is that you cannot delete them from your computers. There are other lessons there as well. The members of the opposition might bear that in mind and cooperate with the AFP investigation and make available the opposition’s computers to that AFP investigation. It is very clear from the questions they have asked today that there is one other lesson they have not learnt, which is: when you are in a hole, stop digging.

Damian Hale (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Hale interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Solomon will leave the chamber for one hour under standing order 94(a).

The member for Solomon then left the chamber.