20 June 2013
Subjects: Prime Minister’s trip to Indonesia, ‘turn back the boats’ policy, crackdown on 457 visas, Afghanistan peace talks
E&OE…
DAVID LIPSON I’m joined now by the Shadow Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop.
I know you may have to get to the Chamber soon so I want to get straight into the Prime Minister’s trip to Indonesia. Do you welcome her announcement that she will be going to meet with President Yudhoyono?
JULIE BISHOP David of course the Prime Minister should be meeting with President Yudhoyono on a regular basis, but yesterday Labor tried to create the false impression that the Prime Minister had initiated a meeting with President Yudhoyono specifically to discuss the solutions that the government should come up with in order to combat the people smuggling trade that has been reinvigorated since Labor took office and weakened the laws.
DAVID LIPSON How do you say they started that false impression?
JULIE BISHOP The way the media had been briefed that this was some sort of special meeting and we now know of course that it’s the annual leaders’ meeting that takes place in July every year. The Prime Minister had it in her diary anyway, but yesterday they tried to give this impression she was tackling the people smuggling problem and specifically commissioning a trip to Indonesia. Of course that’s not true. The visit was scheduled in July as it was last year when President Yudhoyono came to Darwin on the 3rd of July.
