SENATOR PENNY WONG, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE: Look, Mr Turnbull had a chance today to show some leadership. He had a chance to put the national interest ahead of party interest. And he had a chance for the first time in decades to back an Australian for Secretary-General of the UN. Instead he rolled his Deputy, Julie Bishop, when she was doing the right thing and advocating for an Australian to be supported. And hes backed in the position that Eric Abetz and Cory Bernardi and other members of the conservative wing of the Liberal Party have demanded that he back in. Were really watching, I think, Mr Turnbull shrink in the job. I think this sort of hyper partisanship is not a good thing for the country.
GLEN BARTHOLOMEW: So you share the view of your colleague Tanya Plibersek that this is all about trying to appease the right wing of Mr Turnbulls party?
WONG: You dont have to take Labors word for that, just look at what theyve said publicly. Look at what Eric Abetz and Cory Bernardi and Scott Morrison have said publicly. It is quite clear that this was a decision driven by internal party politics, not by the national interest. And taking a step back, Kevin Rudds been the Prime Minister of the country, hes well regarded internationally, whatever peoples views about him personally, are they really saying that we should not support an Australian for an international position like this? I think this is a day where we see petty partisanship becoming more important than the national interest and its very disappointing that Mr Turnbull has turned out to be this sort of Prime Minister.
BARTHOLOMEW: Theres been the view expressed today on NewRadio from Ramesh Thakur at the ANU, a former Assistant Secretary-General at the United Nations, he thinks its a shame the appointment didnt go through. Mr Turnbull though points out that the Government has supported Labor politicians for senior diplomatic roles before.
WONG: He may well do that, but this was the decision he had to make today, and he fell short. And I dont think anybody looking at this could think anything other than Mr Turnbull has shown weakness. Julie Bishop wasnt weak. Julie Bishop, the Foreign Minister, did the right thing, said we put the national interest first, she pointed out that Kevin was qualified for the position. She also pointed out that Kevin Rudd would have to compete on his merits, but that as a matter of principle Australians should be supported for these sorts of international roles. Instead what weve seen is petty partisanship and it really is diminishing for the country and its diminishing for Mr Turnbull.
BARTHOLOMEW: Its not partisan is it though, if a former Labor Leader and one of the most senior high ranking diplomats as US Ambassador, Kim Beazley, doesnt think Mr Rudd was right for the job. He agrees with Mr Turnbulls decision.
WONG: I think Kim was making comment about a range of matters. I think the partisanship is out of the mouths of Cory Bernardi and Eric Abetz. Lets understand what has happened here. Malcolm Turnbull took the Liberal Party to an election where they did far less well than they had hoped they would do, far less well. He has been under attack internally as a result and because of that he now has to go out of his way to do what the right wing of the party want, whether its on climate change, or marriage equality, or now in relation to Kevin Rudd. Thats actually the dynamic thats occurring and I think it is a real pity that Julie Bishop has been rolled by her leader and Prime Minister on this matter.
BARTHOLOMEW: But you and your colleagues thought Mr Rudd was so unsuited to the leadership that you removed him from office before the end of his term as Prime Minister. How can you argue hes a suitable candidate to lead the UN?
WONG: Glen, come on. Lets get out the New Zealand election debates between John Key and Helen Clark and lets have a look at what they said about each other. Theyve been adult enough to put that behind them and the New Zealand Prime Minister and the New Zealand nation are happy to back in a former Prime Minister, despite the robustness of domestic politics. If youve been a Prime Minister of a country there is always going to have been some pretty robust things said about you, you would have been involved in the domestic political debate. But this is about more than that and its frankly about more than personalities.
BARTHOLOMEW: There were certainly some pretty robust things said about him from your own side of politics and it was about his capacity to run the office. Wouldnt the same flaws be demonstrated, that he demonstrated as Prime Minister be obvious when he leads the UN?
WONG: Glen, Id refer you to my previous answer. I dont think thered be any running for the Secretary-General position where there hadnt been robust things said about them, where they havent been part of a domestic political debate. The fundamental question is this: do we think that it would be a good thing for the country to have an Australian seriously contest for the Secretary-General position? And I think the answer is yes. And the only reason we dont have the Government nominating him, its not because of any national interest reason, its because Mr Turnbull was too weak to stand up to the right wing of the party who didnt want it to happen.
BARTHOLOMEW: Are you so sure that the universal support for Mr Rudd was all across the Labor Party, that everybody agreed?
WONG: Glen, Ive answered that question. Ive answered that question now twice and Ill do it again. There is no one who has been involved in domestic politics where there wouldnt have been some robust things said about them. Fundamentally this is a question about the national interest and whether we think a former Prime Minister of Australia should have been supported in a campaign, which he had to win, were he to have been nominated for the Secretary-General position, a very important position internationally, would that have been good for the country. Now, Mr Turnbulls failure to do that in the face of the support that Julie Bishop showed, his Foreign Minister, in the face, I would assume therefore, of advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, I think really shows that hes been diminished as Prime Minister and shows how beholden he is to the hard right.
BARTHOLOMEW: You mentioned one of the other candidates in Helen Clark, is that where Australias support should go now, to Australasia if you like?
WONG: These are matters which can be dealt with down the track. Im focused on todays decision and the weakness of the Prime Minister.