This has been a truly shambolic start to the year by the Gillard government. We had the Andrew Wilkie betrayal, we’ve got the continuing Craig Thomson saga, we have the Anthony Albanese plagiarism incident and now we have the Australia Day protest which the Prime Minister’s office had an involvement in.

 

This is a government of deception and dirty tricks. It’s a government which is all spin and no substance. It’s a government which is much more interested in playing politics than in getting on with the job of solving the problems of the people of Australia.

 

Now, let’s be under no illusions about what happened on Australia Day. This is the most serious security breach involving our nation’s top leaders since the 1970s. It should be unthinkable for a security breach of this nature not to be fully investigated by the Australian Federal Police and now we’ve got one of the people at the heart of it, UnionsACT’s chief Kim Sattler contradicting, at least for a time, the Prime Minister’s version of events. The only way to get to the bottom of this is to have a full investigation. Both Kim Sattler and the Prime Minister’s former staffer should give sworn statements. In the meantime, the Prime Minister really does have to tell us what she was told verbatim by her office and by her former staffer. We need to know who knew what when and exactly who said what when. We really need to get to the bottom of this. Unless we do get to the bottom of this, the conclusion the Australian people will inevitably draw is that there is a very grubby political culture in this government which goes right to the heart of the Prime Minister’s office.

 

 

Mr Abbott, you were personally affected by this issue. Will you be referring this to the Australian Federal Police and if not, why not?

 

 

Look, I just think that this is something which the government should be doing, just because of the nature of the incident.

 

 

But you’re in a position to do that. Why don’t you do it?

 

 

Well, I think if the Prime Minister has any concern to ensure that our system is running properly, she will want a full investigation of this, including what role her office played or might have played in triggering what is the most serious protest, the most serious security breach involving out nation’s top leaders in 30-odd years.

 

 

But if she doesn’t do that, surely it’s beholden to you to do that yourself if you are so keen to see this investigation proceed?

 

 

Look, it’s often been said if there’s an honourable way and a dishonourable way of doing things, the Prime Minister will always take the dishonourable one. I want to give her a chance to be honourable. I want to give her a chance to do the right thing and refer this for full investigation to the Australian Federal Police.

 

 

If she does not do that though, will you then refer it?

 

 

I want to give her a chance to do the right thing. Plainly her office has done the wrong thing, has grievously done the wrong thing. Let’s try to ensure that the Prime Minister can gain some kudos out of this by belatedly doing the right thing.

 

 

So you won’t refer it to the AFP?

 

 

I am saying I am giving the Prime Minister a chance to do the right thing.

 

 

Mr Abbott, do you take any responsibility for what happened?

 

 

Well, the interesting thing is that the Prime Minister’s office was up in the press gallery on Thursday afternoon, claiming that the whole thing was my fault. Now, for the Prime Minister’s office to be claiming that it was my fault when they had an obvious involvement in all of this, I think, is really low. It’s really low and I think at the very least the Prime Minister should be offering an apology to everyone who was in that awards ceremony.

 

 

Mr Abbott, Kim Sattler’s used Facebook to condemn you, describing you like “a bar room brawler, he starts a fight, disappears like a coward when it’s in full swing and brags about it later”. What’s your response to that sort of criticism?

 

 

Well, I think this is one of the reasons why there needs to be a full investigation of this because my understanding is that that was what she tweeted in the immediate aftermath of the protest. So we need to know exactly what the Prime Minister’s staffer said to her because I think it’s pretty obvious that I’ve been verballed. Now, I want to know who I’ve been verballed by.

 

 

Do you agree that the term “move on” can legitimately be interpreted by anyone listening that you wanted the Aboriginal embassy to end? It might not have been the interpretation you desired but it is a meaning that’s open on those words that you used.

 

 

Look, what we had on Thursday afternoon is a prime ministerial staffer making contact through an intermediary with protesters in an attempt to gain a political advantage. This was a prime ministerial staffer attempting to use a protest for political advantage. Now, I think that’s pretty grubby. I think that’s pretty grubby. I don’t think anyone who was listening fairly to what I had to say could take any exception to it. Certainly, we’ve had people like Warren Mundine saying not only was what I said ok, but he agreed with it.

 

 

Has anything at all like that, any sort of little tips to various people that might be [inaudible] political advantage, has that ever happened to your knowledge on the conservative side of politics?

 

 

Look, I just think this kind of thing is grubby and it shouldn’t happen. Unfortunately, the current Labor government has form. There was that incident during the apology when we had staffers of the then Labor government, the then Labor Prime Minister standing up and turning their backs when Brendan Nelson was speaking. So, I think that this is a government which has form when it comes to trying to manipulate people. 

 

 

How terrifying was Thursday?

 

 

Look, it was an ugly business. It should never have happened. There was an awards ceremony taking place. I think the people at that awards ceremony deserved to be treated with respect. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister’s office chose to try to exploit what was happening down the road for their own political purposes and I just think that’s low and that’s why we need a full investigation and I think it’s very, very important that the Prime Minister now ask for a full investigation because on the face of what’s happened, in the first ten days or so of the political year, this is a government of deception and dirty tricks.

 

Thanks so much.

 

[ends]