Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

. My question is to the Prime Minister: The Australian people are sick of this constitutional crisis of eligibility.

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

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

Members on my right! The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat. Members on my right will cease interjecting, particularly the Leader of the House. I need to hear the question, if members expect me to rule on it. The Leader of the Opposition will begin his question again.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister: The Australian people are sick of this constitutional crisis. The only way to resolve this citizenship crisis is with the cooperation of all sides of parliament. So will the Prime Minister work with the entire parliament, including Labor and the crossbench, to reach agreement on who should be referred to the High Court?

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

I can tell the honourable member what the Australian people are sick of: the dishonesty, the twist and turns, of the Leader of the Opposition, the cover-up.

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

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

The member for Isaacs!

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

This is a man who said the Labor Party's vetting was supreme. He said, 'The Labor Party has got very strict vetting.'

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

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

The Prime Minister will resume his seat. The member for Isaacs will not bark instructions at me. He'll be out of this House in a second.

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

You can do it at the dispatch box.

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I apologise, Mr Speaker.

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

He said:

The Labor Party has got very strict vetting processes.

'We have a strict vetting process,' he said. 'There is no cloud over any of our people.' None! 'Let's be straight here.' I assume that included all the British citizens—no cloud over them! He said:

The Labor candidates have an extremely stringent vetting process and that's why that hasn't happened.

…   …   …

I am not going to jump every time some Liberal gets up with a complaint, because it's a matter of fact that we have a very good vetting procedure …

He said it again and again and again. But it seemed to overlook the member for Batman, didn't it? He lost his papers. Did the dog eat them? Did he leave them in the house he overlooked? If you can overlook a house, you can presumably overlook a few papers!

This is where we have the Leader of the Opposition now, twisting and turning in his own incompetence and dishonesty. He has a number of members whom, we all know, knew they were—and were—UK citizens at the time they nominated. That's a fact. He also has a senator, Senator Gallagher, in exactly the same position. She has been referred by Senator Wong, in the Senate, to the High Court. But the Leader of the Opposition doesn't want to refer the people who are in exactly the same position here. Now, where is the logic?

Mr Burke interjecting—

I'm so glad to hear from the member for Watson! See, the member for Watson, like his leader, is all politics and no principle. They've got people who are dual citizens, and so they think that if the House is going to refer them to the High Court it should also refer some of ours who are not dual citizens. Work that out. Well, I'll tell you the big difference with our colleagues the Deputy Prime Minister and the member for Bennelong. The Deputy PM referred himself to the High Court. A by-election was held, and he's back. And the member for Bennelong did the right thing when he accepted that he couldn't establish that which he believed to be true—that he was not a dual citizen. He resigned, and his by-election is going on. That's the big difference between our side and Labor. All the cover-ups are across there. (Time expired)