SENATOR PENNY WONG, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE: The first thing I want to talk about is the reports in the papers today about the correspondence which was released before the Senate, dealing with the Man Monis letter.
What we know today from those documents, the documents that the Government fought so hard to keep out of the public eye, is that there has been a cover up, there has been a misleading of the Parliament and a cover-up about that misleading.
We know from these documents that the Prime Minister's own office knew that Julie Bishop had misled the Parliament before question time on Monday 1 June, but nothing was done about it.
We also know the Prime Minister's own Departmental Secretary, Mr Thawley, requested that the record be corrected in the evening of that day. It took a full Parliamentary week for the record to be corrected. The Parliament was misled for a full parliamentary week.
Let's remember, misleading the Parliament is a serious offence. Ministers who deliberately mislead the Parliament should resign and have resigned. The Prime Minister needs to come clean on the cover-up.
What did his office know? Why was the Parliament misled for a full Parliamentary week? What standards of accountability does he think have been met by allowing the Federal Parliament to be misled with the full knowledge of his office.
JOURNALIST: Do you think that Julie Bishop knowingly misled Parliament and if so should she resign?
WONG: All I can say is this, that ministers who deliberately mislead the Parliament should resign and have resigned in the past.
We know that the Prime Minister's Office knew on Monday 1 June, before question time, that the Parliament had been misled. Nothing was done for a full Parliamentary week.
The Prime Minister needs to come clean on the cover-up that his office appears to have been part of.
JOURNALIST: If she did know and mislead Parliament, should she resign?
WONG: As I said, ministers who deliberately mislead the Parliament should resign. That is the standard that the Westminster system requires and that is the standard that ministers of both sides of Parliament, both sides of politics, have adhered to.
JOURNALIST: What was the effect though of this delay in this letter getting to the inquiry? Did it actually materially affect the progress of the investigation?
WONG: Lets remember what occurred. The Federal Government, Mr Abbott and his colleagues used the false evidence, the false answer that this letter had been provided to the Siege Inquiry, to justify not answering Labor's questions about this letter in the House of Representatives.
That's what they used it for. They used it as cover so they didn't have to answer questions. All the while the Prime Minister's Office knew that that evidence was wrong.
JOURNALIST: Is Labor pursuing this issue designed to neutralise the Government's strength on national security?
WONG: No, Labors pursuit of this issue is because the Prime Minister's minister has misled the Parliament on an issue of national security and then the Government has gone to extraordinary lengths to cover up that misleading for as long as possible.
Let's remember, these emails which show the Prime Minister's Office knew, have only come to light because the Senate demanded they be released. And the Government fought tooth and nail not to have this inquiry and not have these emails produced.
JOURNALIST: Just on the Government's Agricultural White Paper, theyve announced five Agricultural Counsellors who will help farmers to get access to markets (inaudible)
WONG: Im going to leave my colleague Joel Fitzgibbon to respond to that. I understand he is responding to the Agricultural White Paper shortly.
JOURNALIST: Would Labor support a preamble as a way to recognise Indigenous people?
WONG: Again, that should be a matter for the relevant Shadow Minister, but I think we have made clear our view that constitutional reform needs to have a practical effect as well as being symbolic and I think thats constant with the aspirations of our Indigenous people.
JOURNALIST: Would Labor support a ban on discrimination in the Constitution?
WONG: I think that is something everybody should support. But I suspect it's more controversial in some quarters than others. But, again I will leave that for our spokespeople.
JOURNALIST: Do you think same-sex marriage is becoming a distraction for Tony Abbott? Should he be dealing with it a bit more quickly than he is?
WONG: Tony Abbott is this extraordinary roadblock when it comes to this issue, isnt he? He keeps finding excuses not to talk about it. He keeps finding excuses not to have a discussion about it.He told everybody at the last election: look, we will have a debate about this in our party room when a bill comes into the Parliament.
Bill Shorten and Tanya Plibersek then put a bill into the Parliament and he found another reason not to have a discussion in his party room, saying its because the whole Parliament should own it, it shouldnt just be Labor. Then he says look, we don't really want to talk about it when Warren Entsch, one of his own, together with Terri Butler, a Labor person, backbenchers, people who are doing this in a bipartisan manner want to put a bill in and he doesn't want to debate that either.
The reality is this: equality is a principle most Australians agree with and marriage equality is something most Australians agree with. The biggest roadblock to marriage equality in this country is Tony Abbott. It's time for him to get out of the way.
JOURNALIST: Do you think people who support the status quo though are being unfairly targeted by the media? Are you stifling debate on this legitimate social issue?
WONG: Well, I didn't notice Eric Abetz being stifled in any way, I've never noticed Cory Bernardi being stifled in any way. And what I would say is the sort of language and propositions from those who oppose marriage equality flip between illogical and outright offensive, illogical and outright offensive.
I wish that the standard of this debate could be perhaps a little better than suggesting that marriage equality will somehow lead to polygamy.
JOURNALIST: Can we get a comment on Reece Harding, the gentleman who died fighting with the Kurds and the video (inaudible)
WONG: Ive been here in a meeting and haven't seen the video. But I would say all Australians, I'm sure, can recognise and understand this family's grief, a very, very sad situation involving a young Australian.