JOURNALIST: Were joined by Finance Minister Penny Wong. She joins us live in our Canberra studio this afternoon. Senator, thank you very much for your time.
WONG: Good to be with you.
JOURNALIST: Have you or any other politicians that you know actually been approached for support by Kevin Rudd? Has he been calling anyone you know?
WONG: This is really an absurd set of propositions being driven by the Opposition. And thats been made quite clear today, that this is all about the Opposition trying to promote their story. Frankly it is absurd, and they ought to be more focused on some of the important matters in the Parliament, including their position on immigration.
JOURNALIST: Its interesting though because youve got Shayne Neumann coming out, and he wouldnt actually deny though if hed spoken to Kevin Rudd about the leadership. I mean could we see a leadership challenge if Julia Gillard cant lift the poll numbers?
WONG: As I said, this is an absurd set of propositions. Ive also seen reports of a Senator who was called by Kevin to talk about the football. Were really getting to a point of absurdity here.
The issue is an Opposition thats intent on trying to push this story along, rather than talk about the position theyre in. Which is opposing very sensible amendments in relation to asylum seeker management, and instead looking to vote with the Australian Greens. Now that really is absurd.
JOURNALIST: Can we quickly talk about Kevin Rudd for a moment, hes come out and pretty angrily defended his spending on travel as Foreign Minister today. Is it justified, what he spends, the amount that he actually spends on his trips?
WONG: I would make a couple of points. First, hes the Foreign Minister, so obviously foreign ministers have to travel. But if youre asking a Finance Minister, do I think every minister has got to be careful with their expenditure, of course I do. Thats my job and thats what we would expect of all ministers.
JOURNALIST: Now, Tony Abbotts called for Julia Gillard to quit over the asylum seeker issue, he says she needs to resign and do it now. When these amendments are defeated, and its highly likely, where does the Government go to next? Whats the next step forward? Everybody wants to know, because theres certainly been a lot of bickering over the last couple of days.
WONG: First, of course Tony Abbott would say that. But lets examine whats occurring here. The man who claimed he would have a boat phone, the man who claimed he would adopt a really tough hard line asylum seeker policy, is now proposing to ignore the national interest and to vote with the Australian Greens. Now, if you ever wanted an example of a politician whos prepared to play short-term politics rather than look to the national interest, then have a look at what Tony Abbott is doing right now, and what hes seeking to do.
JOURNALIST: Alright, Finance Minister Penny Wong, thank you very much for joining us this afternoon, we appreciate your time.
WONG: Good to be with you.
ENDS