SENATOR PENNY WONG, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE: If I can start with Kate Lundy who has announced overnight she doesnt intend to nominate again for the Senate. Kate is one of the women who was in the Senate when I first came to Parliament and shes been an outstanding Senator. She is an outstanding representative for the ACT. She has been a Labor Minister, front bencher and someone it has been a pleasure to serve with. We wish her well and we certainly hope that she goes on to have a very fulfilling second career, as she described it. So best wishes Kate, and thank you for everything you have done for the cause of Labor and in service to the people of the ACT.

On to less pleasant matters, yesterday the Senate censured the Defence Minister. The last Cabinet Minister to be censured by the Senate was Amanda Vanstone in 2005.

Censures are rarely moved and rarely supported. But the Senate chose to do that, and we did so for very sound reasons. This is a Minister who quite clearly has demonstrated an attitude, a temperament and an approach which isnt consistent with a standing that Australians expect of a Cabinet Minister but most particularly the Minister for Defence. This is a very senior portfolio.

His comments about the Australian Submarine Corporation are not just a slap in the face for those workers; they compromised perceptions about Australias naval capability, which was an incredibly irresponsible thing to do. But most importantly what those comments did was compromise the integrity of the largest procurement the Commonwealth will make, that is the Future Submarine Project. What this Minister did to cover up a broken promise, a promise that the Government intends to break, was to put the boot into the principal Australian shipbuilding yard because the Government doesnt want to build the subs here in Australia. They promised it, they want to break that promise and how they want to deal with it is by putting the boot into the Australian Submarine Corporation.

It is not only dishonourable, it compromises the largest procurement project that the Commonwealth will enter into. And that is why the Senate overwhelmingly voted to censure the Defence Minister. And our message is this: if the Defence Minister doesnt resign, the Prime Minister should sack him. The Prime Minister should sack him. This is a test of the Prime Ministers leadership and he should sack the Defence Minister, neither the Senate or the Australian people have any confidence in this Minister.

JOURNALIST: The Australian Defence Association says wasting a day yesterday was disgraceful, it also suggested the Minister was expressing long held frustrations that go back to your time in Government and the Submarine Corporations handling of various contracts. Isnt that a reasonable thing?

WONG: Ministers are accountable to the Australian people through the Parliament and the Parliament should ensure the Minister is held accountable. This Defence Minister was held accountable by the Senate in the most serious of ways and I think that was a proper exercise of the Senates role and I think the fact that we had so many crossbenchers voting in support of the censure demonstrates the widespread feeling amongst Senators, which can I say I think is reflective of the community. I think if you talk to the workers, if you talk to the industry, and I invite you to look at some of the comments from the defence industry, you will see that this Minister has really undermined confidence in an important industry in Australia, an industry important not only for jobs but for confidence in our capability.

JOURNALIST: Do you have complete confidence in the Submarine Corporation?

WONG: I have confidence in the ASC. I was their shareholder Minister. We worked very hard to improve submarine availability times. And despite this Minister and this Governments attempt to sink the boot into the ASC, to justify a broken promise, to knock out an Australian business from having the opportunity to build submarines here in Australia. What we know is in fact submarine availability has exceeded Navy targets both in this financial year and in the previous financial year. Thats a bit of good news that the Defence Minister doesnt want to talk about.

JOURNALIST: You said that the comments damaged the perception of capacity. Did they have the potential to actually damage capacity itself in any way?

WONG: I hope not, and I have faith in the management and the workers at the Australian Submarine Corporation. And as Andrew Daniels said I think on Tuesday, he said we only give them the best. These are the people we trust to keep Australian submariners safe and they do a great job, and as he said they give them the best.

JOURNALIST: Senator is Labor [inaudible]

WONG: I think everybody was probably raising their eyebrows at Tony Abbott calling anybody a vandal after the way he behaved in opposition. Now were staying for whats fair. Now Id just remind everybody, in this Parliament weve supported or bills through the Senate are close to 140. What we are refusing to pass is legislation which puts in place unfairness, which is contrary to the promises Mr Abbott made before the election and which Australians dont want. I think that standing up against a GP Tax, standing up against $100,000 degrees, these are things which Australians expect Labor to do and we will do because they are not consistent with the sort of Australia we all want.

JOURNALIST: Eric Abetz is adamant that the GP co-payment remains policy. What would your reaction be to any kind of regulation of that?

WONG: I think from the chaos that has been reported in the papers about the Governments position on the GP Tax, one thing remains clear: they are absolutely determined to ensure Australian families have to pay more to take their children to the doctor. Thats one thing you can say: this Government is absolutely determined that Australians pay more to go to the doctor and theyre prepared to do that in a mean and tricky way just like they did the fuel tax, just like they did the financial advice reforms, try and bypass proper debate and sneak it through by regulation. I think Australians expect more from this Government and Australians certainly did not vote for a Government that would impose higher costs on going to a doctor.

JOURNALIST: How long do you give David Johnston if you believe his position is not tenable

WONG: As I said, if he doesnt resign the Prime Minister should sack him.

JOURNALIST: Just on Kate Lundy, do you think she has any questions to answer over her handling [inaudible]

WONG: Look no I dont, and I think what I look at and what I think the community looks at is long, dedicated and outstanding service to the people of the ACT and of course her contribution to the cause of Labor. I said last night shes a courageous Labor woman and I thank her for her service.

Thank you.

ENDS