Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

() (): My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the humiliating and chaotic budget leak, which has confirmed the Prime Minister will splash taxpayers' cash for a massive advertising campaign on the budget, after already spending millions promoting his so-called ideas boom and infrastructure program. Given budget measures this year will be nothing more than election promises, will the Prime Minister today rule out using taxpayers' funds to run these ads—ads that contain 100 per cent election material? (Time expired)

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Declare who you're sponsored by.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister for immigration will cease interjecting.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The honourable member—

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

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are five seconds in, so it cannot be on relevance, but I will call the point of order.

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

No, it is certainly not. The member for Dickson should withdraw that interjection.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I did not hear the member for Dickson's interjection. I do not want him to repeat it.

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

You cannot cast aspersions upon motivation.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I did not hear the interjection. I will say to the member for Dickson if he said something that is unparliamentary and it will assist the House—I did not hear it because of the noise level, I have to say.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I thought he was proud of his CFMEU links. If he is offended by the association, I withdraw it.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister for immigration has withdrawn.

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

The member for Isaacs will not interject. The Prime Minister has the call.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question about government advertising. It recalls one of the more disgraceful exercises of the last Labor government. We all recall during the last election campaign how the then Special Minister of State, the member for Isaacs, directed the Public Service to continue the blatantly political 'By boat, no visa' advertisements during the 2013 election campaign. They ignored the advice of their own senior public servants.

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Isaacs is warned!

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

During this campaign, a direction was made to the then secretary of Finance, Mr Tune. He was asked in Senate estimates:

Are you familiar with many other instances where very senior officials or secretaries have been directed by ministers around advertising campaigns during caretaker periods?

Mr Tune said:

I cannot recall any … I have certainly not come across it myself in the past.

Senator Smith asked:

So unique and exceptional in your experience?

Mr Tune:

Indeed.

Senator Smith:

Unprecedented, even?

Mr Tune:

For me, yes.

Unprecedented, political interference—there it was. They wrote some letters about this. A letter from Mr Dreyfus QC, Special Minister of State to the Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship directing the Public Service to continue running a blatantly political ad, which was so dishonest. What it sought to do was claim that the Labor Party had won a great victory in the battle against people smuggling. In fact, there were never better friends for the people smugglers than the Labor Party. They dismantled the Howard government policies which worked. The consequences, we know, were 50,000 unauthorised arrivals and thousands of deaths at sea. It was a total catastrophe.

Then, at the eleventh hour—after Kevin Rudd returned as Prime Minister—they tried in a scramble to adopt the coalition's policy and then claimed victory with ads that were blatantly political and should never have been run during the caretaker period but were run on the express directions of the Special Minister of State—now the shadow Attorney-General—overruling the caretaker conventions. The Labor Party's record in government advertising is a disgrace.