MARIUS BENSON: Senator Wong, should Senator Sinodinos go from the Ministry?
SENATOR PENNY WONG: He has two options; he can come into the Senate at 9.30 today and do what he should have done yesterday which is to give a full and frank statement about all of the matters which have been publicly reported.
There are very serious allegations, his conduct whilst a corporate officer is being subject to two inquiries to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, it also happens to be a subject of litigation in the Federal Court.
He should come in and explain fully the inconsistencies between the statement he gave to the Senate previously and the allegations which have been publicly aired and if he fails to do so the Prime Minister should act to uphold his Ministerial standards and he should ask him to stand aside.
BENSON: You were asking questions yesterday in the Senate of Senator Sinodinos and they were ruled out of order substantially because they didnt relate to his role as Minister. These questions do not relate to Senator Sinodinos term in the Senate.
WONG: There a few points Id make on that and the first is, Senator Sinodinos gave a statement to the Senate, it was before he became a Minister but it went substantially to these matters and it is notable for its omissions, it is notable for what he doesnt say. He makes assertions which do not appear to be consistent with some of the allegations in the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
I think the principle of Ministerial Accountability to the Senate means anything, he is obliged as a Minister to explain to the Senate the inconsistencies between the previous statement which he has said as a Minister he now stands by and what we have heard about publicly.
I mean this is a continuing pattern of behaviour by this Government. Senator Nash, you might recall, continued to mislead the Senate and Tony Abbott despite his own statement of Ministerial standards which says that you have to be truthful to the Parliament, that you have to act with the highest standards of personal integrity. He refused to act in relation to Minister Nash, he should not make the same mistake now.
BENSON: Is Senator Sinodinos correct when he says nothing has been proved against him, he is maintaining his innocence and he says he will appear as a witness before ICAC the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption, just as Greg Combet and Senator Doug Cameron, from the Labor side did before?
WONG: Lets have a look at the allegations against Senator Sinodinos, it has been asserted that the true purpose of his appointment as a Director of AWH was to open lines of communication to the Liberal party, it has been asserted that he was paid $200,000 for less than one hundred hours work, it has been asserted that Australian Water Holdings was using Sydney Water money to make donations to the Liberal party whilst he was a Director of both Australian Water Holdings and Treasurer of the Liberal Party.
These are serious allegations of corruption and they deserve to be answered and he refused yesterday to answer them. It was an extraordinary display by a Minister facing these allegations. He should come into the Senate if he has nothing to hide and make a full, frank, detailed statement about what has occurred and about these allegations and he should do that and if he fails to do that the Prime Minster needs to act.
BENSON: What do you say to the statement suggested by some which is Labor is no position to point the finger at Arthur Sinodinos or anyone else in this matter because Labor figures from New South Wales are up to their eye brows in the corruption allegations being investigated.
WONG: I think corruption is unacceptable wherever it occurs and by whomever it occurs. End of story.
BENSON: Penny Wong, thank you very much.
WONG: Good to speak with you.
ENDS