George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I don't know why it is you choose to ask these asinine questions, Senator Gallagher. I thought you were a bit smarter than that. The fact is that there was, as Mr Albanese conceded this morning on Adelaide radio, an attempt—a conspiracy—between Senator Wong's chief of staff and a member of the New Zealand Labour Party to try to bring down Mr Joyce. There was. Mr Albanese has admitted it, although Senator Wong lied about it. How can it be that Senator Wong, knowing what she knew, could have made the speech she made in this chamber at about 3 pm yesterday afternoon? When this issue was squarely raised, Senator Wong addressed the chamber for five minutes and not once did she reveal what she well knew: that this was orchestrated from her office by her chief of staff, and now she's been caught. (Time expired)