KIERAN GILBERT: Joining me now the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, the Trade spokesperson, Senator Penny Wong. Thanks for your time.
First to this breaking news this morning relating to the Solicitor General advice which found the stripping of citizenship from dual nationals has not been seen by all of Cabinet, your response to that?
SENATOR PENNY WONG, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE: I think its extraordinary. What are the heights of irresponsibility that this Prime Minister will go to? Not even providing his Cabinet with legal advice about the constitutionality of what hes proposing. It really is chaotic government and its cavalier with the issue thats before them.
Responsible government, a responsible Cabinet, would ensure it understood what the advice said.
GILBERT: The Prime Ministers spokesperson has given a statement to me this morning and says its entirely standard and an orthodox practice for the ministers with portfolio responsibility for this policy area to consider legal advice in the preparation of legislation, so that its the ministers job to look and digest that advice.
WONG: Well, I think thats scrambling to try and justify the fact. In relation to this policy area youve had leaks from Cabinet about a division, a split, in Cabinet on this issue. Youve had public statements from Cabinet ministers, Mr Turnbull last night. The constitutionality of what is proposed goes to the heart of the decision the Government is seeking to make, and the Prime Minister is hiding advice from his Cabinet? I mean thats just chaos.
GILBERT: So was Bill Shorten premature in giving in-principle support to this, which you and your party have done?
WONG: We said, and I think Tanya Plibersek and other frontbenchers associated with this policy area have said, we recognise you need to look at how you deal with people who serve with non-state actors in the same way that we deal with citizens who take arms up against Australia for other nations. We are prepared to take a responsible approach to that, but this is not a responsible approach that the Government is evincing.
GILBERT: So youre rethinking your support for this then?
WONG: The Government should put forward its legislation. The Government should also explain to the Cabinet and its party room why this advice was kept secret.
GILBERT: Finally on this before we move on, whats your instinct on this? Is it unconstitutional, because thats the advice from Justin Gleeson, the Solicitor General at this stage and from Bret Walker and others?
WONG: I havent seen the Solicitor Generals advice. We will look at this responsibly, but for the Government to be hiding advice from its own Cabinet really says something about the chaos at the heart of the Abbott Government.
GILBERT: I want to ask you about the China FTA, the details and the deal to be inked today. Do you welcome that?
WONG: We welcomed the finalisation back in November, but we said we want to see the text, Australians should see the text. Well, seven months later Australians finally get to see it. We will examine the agreement closely.
This is a very important agreement, China is critical to Australias future prosperity. We want to look at the agreement, make sure it grows the economy, grows jobs. We do have some concerns which we will look at very carefully through the Parliamentary processes.
First is the impact on the Australian labour market. We all understand temporary skilled migration is an important part of our system to fill skill shortages, but it shouldnt be used as a means to bypass local workers. And of course we have concerns about the Investor State Dispute Settlement clause.
GILBERT: Enough to try and oppose the deal?
WONG: We will go through the process of considering the terms of the deal, which we havent seen, in the Parliament. Weve got a couple of committees, a Senate Committee and a Joint Committee, and we obviously recognise, consistent with what the Rudd and Gillard Governments did, the importance of China to the Australian economy, but there has to be a good deal.
GILBERT: Ive got a few other issues, the boats issue, it was pretty embarrassing that the Labor Party this week would seek an answer from the Government on the behaviour of ASIS, the spies, and paying people smugglers, and yet Bill Shorten yesterday unable to give the same guarantee that money wasnt paid.
WONG: Bill made clear [audio break]
GILBERT: But didnt rule it out elsewhere, full stop.
WONG: Any responsible government will ensure that there are appropriate law enforcement activities in our region and no responsible government will comment on the details of that. But what is embarrassing is a Government that is confronted by photographs in the paper, stories in graphic detail about wads of money being handed over to people smugglers and then refuses to answer any questions about it. I think thats embarrassing.
GILBERT: But how can you, if it was ASIS that handed over the money, its a spy agency, how do you comment on that, confirm that?
WONG: You have the Indonesian Government, from the Vice President down, raising concerns about this. You have graphic and detailed allegations of this in the papers. I think the Australian people do deserve a response to this.
This is not what you saw under a Labor Government and I think this Government has taken the veil of secrecy on these matters well beyond the line that Australians expect.
GILBERT: Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Penny Wong, thanks for your time.
WONG: Good to be with you.