Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Sorry, Mr Deputy President. Of course, Senator Fawcett has now left the chamber, but I did not see him standing up and defending the people of South Australia on the issue about whether or not submarines should be built in South Australia. Nor have I seen him stand up and defend the people of South Australia with regard to what is happening with job development in their state—or any of the other issues in that state. So I do not know that he is quite the right person to be questioning us about the questions we are asking. We have every right to ask questions about Commissioner Heydon. It is not disrespectful; it is asking questions and seeking answers. To be honest, I was a bit surprised that my questions got such a reaction from those on the other side, who interjected so loudly and behaved so badly. They were questions like: 'When was the Prime Minister's office first aware that Commissioner Heydon was giving the address at a Liberal Party function? Was the Prime Minister invited? Did any of the politician lawyers raise any concerns with the Prime Minister's office regarding Commissioner Heydon's lack of impartiality in addressing the New South Wales Liberal Party while the royal commission was still afoot?' The last question I asked was about the Prime Minister saying last year that he trusted Dyson Heydon's judgement and he was very happy to put us—the government—in the hands of Dyson Heydon and see where this commission went. The question after that was, 'Does the PM still have this continued trust in Commissioner Heydon based on the fact that a partisan inquiry is exactly what he wanted?'

I was amazed at the response that got—the interjections and the yelling at me. I thought it was absolutely surprising, and it makes me think they doth protest too much. We had what I would call a rather disappointing question time today and we are pretty used to it from those on that side. The Royal Commissioner—