Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Corporate Governance and Responsibility) Share this | Hansard source

My question is again addressed to Senator Minchin, the Minister representing the Prime Minister. Is the minister aware of the media reports—which he referred to earlier today—that a senior official of the Australian Electoral Commission was told to ‘shut up’ about potential breaches of the law related to the use of Kirribilli House for party political purposes? Didn’t this follow the AEC official statement that ‘there could well be a disclosure issue’ about the Prime Minister’s use of Kirribilli House for party political purposes? Can the minister advise what contact there was between the Prime Minister’s office and the AEC, or the Special Minister of State’s office and the AEC, in relation to this matter? Does the minister agree that it is completely inappropriate for any member of the government to tell a senior official of an independent statutory authority to ‘shut up’ when they are simply doing their job?