Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, would you agree that every Australian would be appalled if you and your wife's phones were tapped and worried why Indonesia would do this? If Christianity is loving one's neighbours, how would you describe families fishing for food having their boats burnt, last week's territorial naval intrusion, sovereignties assailed, food supply cut and phones tapped? Surely an apology, a condemnation of the Gillard actions and assurances about foreign policy in the future are imperatives?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Kennedy for his question. It was a wide-ranging question and I am not certain that I entirely follow every element of it. I am certainly not going to support every aspect of the former government's foreign policy in respect of Indonesia. Obviously, I deplore the Oceanic Viking stand-off. I deplore the live cattle ban that the former government applied misguidedly to Indonesia. Nevertheless, I am certainly not going to be critical of the former government's conduct in respect of intelligence. I do not believe that Australia should be expected to apologise for reasonable intelligence gathering operations, just as I do not expect other countries or other governments to apologise for their reasonable intelligence gathering operations.