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

I can be clear that the ambassador has been spoken to by my department. I can be clear to you that we have raised the points I have raised with the Chinese directly. I understand that Senator Birmingham and Mr Dutton—we've seen his transcripts—would like to try and generate some partisanship on this. We all stand in support of the ADF—all of us. I don't think there's any doubt that China has heard the message of the Deputy Prime Minister, who publicly made these statements very soon after advice was received, because they have responded. I say to Senator Birmingham: we continue to deal with these issues consistently and in a mature way. Like all Australians, we support the ADF in these operations as in all operations.