Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Brockman for his question. Senators will have seen that the Prime Minister has this afternoon made a public statement in relation to the social media post by the Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing. Let me be clear that the Australian government has called in the Chinese ambassador and sought an apology from the ambassador in relation to this tweet. It is an appalling, disgusting and outrageous piece of social media. It is a tweet which illustrates the absolute scourge of disinformation and misinformation in social media and it cannot be justified on any basis. As well as the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade conveying that message to the ambassador here, we will be conveying that message directly in Beijing through our ambassador. We have also asked Twitter to remove the tweet as an example of disinformation.

I echo the Prime Minister's expression of pride in all Australians who serve in uniform and who have served in uniform. They do not deserve to be treated in this manner. It is the most egregious example of this sort of harmful conduct that I have seen in my time in the parliament, in my time in a ministerial portfolio and, in fact, in anybody's viewing of social media in any context. We have very clearly rejected the premise upon which the disinformation in this tweet is based. This government has invited the review of the Inspector-General of the ADF. We are dealing with these issues openly, transparently and in a way which you would expect in a liberal democracy like Australia.