Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, I refer to this email produced last night to the Senate inquiry into the Monis letter to the Attorney-General. That email confirms the secretary of the Prime Minister's own department made a call from the Prime Minister's personal office on the evening of Monday 1 June to ensure the Attorney-General's Department corrected false information to the parliament. Prime Minister, given this, why did it take the government until after question time on Thursday 4 June to correct the record?

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

This matter has been well and truly canvassed in this House over the last few days. But for the benefit of members opposite, who do not appear to have anything better to pursue, let me remind them that the senior official of the Attorney-General's Department gave testimony to Senate estimates early the following week. It was realised that there was a problem with that testimony. There was a thorough review undertaken by the Attorney-General's Department to ascertain what had actually happened in respect of various letters. Subsequently, the results of that review on the Thursday became known to us.

The Attorney and the foreign minister corrected the record at the first available opportunity. Let me go into some—

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, on a point of order on relevance: the question went to the call from the PMO that happened on the Monday and the difference between that and the Thursday.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister has the call.

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

Once there was a realisation that there was a possible problem with the testimony of the senior officer of the Attorney-General's Department, a thorough review was undertaken. And, as soon as that review had been completed, the record was corrected by the Attorney-General and by the foreign minister.

The relevant matters here are these. First of all, the director-general of ASIO said that the letter from the Martin Place murderer had been handled appropriately. The secretary of my department said that the access to that letter would have made no difference to the inquiry that was conducted by him and the secretary of the Premier's department. Any suggestion coming from members opposite that different treatment of that letter might have averted the Martin Place atrocity is just fanciful.

I am very surprised that members opposite are raising this question of the length of time that it has taken to correct the record because, reluctant though I am to refer to it, no less a person than the Leader of the Opposition himself took two years—two years—to correct the record with Neil Mitchell the other day. He took two years to correct the record with Neil Mitchell the other day.

There was no question of needing to be found out with this government—no question. As soon as we were aware that there had been possibly inaccurate information given to Senate estimates, we took appropriate steps to clarify the situation, and as soon as the situation was clarified the record was corrected—nothing inappropriate, nothing untoward; all in accordance with the best traditions of this parliament.

Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Speaker, I seek leave to table the email from the Prime Minister's department that says that Michael Thawley rang from the PMO.

Leave not granted.