Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate your advice, Mr Deputy President. What we are seeing here is submarines for votes. If you have not seen it yet—I am sure you circulated it to the South Australian branch members, Senator Ruston—I recommend that all senators view the interview that Senator Edwards gave on Sky News yesterday. The smile that you are seeing today on Senator Brandis's face as he skipped around the chamber was in the knowledge that there is now a worse political interview than his own on metadata. He can now say, 'I was not the worst this government has produced,' because Senator Edwards gave an interview that was excruciating. In fairness to Senator Edwards, though, we know that he was sent out last weekend by the Prime Minister's office to prop up the Prime Minister. He was sent out to do a job on behalf of Mr Abbott. All he did was tell the truth. He told the truth about his conversation with Mr Abbott. At no stage in the past, tawdry, five days has Senator Edwards contradicted what he said on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Not once in the spiel we had from him earlier today did he deny what he said. He was sent out again, yesterday, to try to clean up the mess that the Prime Minister has caused himself. Just so you can get it accurately for your letters to your members, Senator Ruston, let me quote what Senator Edwards said. Mr Speers asked him:

So I just want to be clear, that’s not happened. The PM never said the word tender to you?

Senator Edwards:

No. I’m not going to represent what the PM said to you. You ask the PM.

…   …   …

I'm telling you, I used those words.

Mr Speers:

But did the PM use that rhetoric? Did he use that word?

Senator Edwards:

I believe he did because when I asked him, 'Now can I confirm that the ASC can compete in this tender?', he said: 'Yes, you can.'

That is the Prime Minister of Australia trading away $20 billion of Defence acquisitions—just trading it off.

Today we have had more attempted damage control from this shambolic government. We see reports, which are not denied, that junior Liberal frontbencher, Mr Briggs, we are told, in an expletive filled phone call to Senator Edwards accused him of 'lying and deliberately misrepresenting the Prime Minister's position to bolster his Senate preselection chances' against you, Senator Rushton, or against Senator Fawcett. And now, just before question time, the Prime Minister finally crawls out from hiding and this is what he had to say about Senator Edwards:

The term I have used in public and in private is a competitive evaluation process.

So he has accused Senator Edwards of lying about what the Prime Minister said. There it is: we wait till after we have sent Senator Edwards out into the chamber to try and clean up the mess, and he still does not because he is not going to lie for the Prime Minister. We go out and dump and cut him up. We leave him hanging out to dry. The Prime Minister got you both last Monday—(Time expired)