Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

The minister considers a range of factors when determining expansion of bilateral air rights—it's in our national interest—as did Mr McCormack when he made an identical decision. I have made clear that I don't propose to go through the detail of that. Certainly, one of the things I would say about the way our government operates is that we do have discussions with colleagues and consultations with colleagues. But I have responded to the question and I have nothing further to add, other than to make this point: this is a decision that is consistent with the decision that Minister McCormack made. It's also consistent with the decision that others have made over on that side—that is, to look at what the national interest is— (Time expired)