Liberals’ Keneally website ‘reasonable’: Seselja

Liberal frontbencher Zed Seselja says the Kristina Keneally website is simply holding Labor’s Bennelong candidate to account.

Liberal Senator Zed Seselja. Picture: AAP.

Liberal frontbencher Zed Seselja says there is nothing unreasonable about a Liberal Party website, kristinakeneally.com, aimed at smearing Labor’s candidate in the Bennelong by-election over her record as NSW premier.

Ms Keneally yesterday dubbed Malcolm Turnbull a “fool” over the website, and Labor has since attacked the PM for erroneously claiming that Ms Keneally appointed jailed Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid as a cabinet minister.

Senator Seselja said there was nothing wrong with holding Ms Keneally to account.

“Holding someone to account for when she was premier of NSW, and the disastrous record when she was premier, whether it was in education, whether it was in infrastructure, whether it was around the economy, what is more reasonable than saying someone’s public life, they’re putting themselves up to be a member of parliament, and you look at their public record,” Senator Seselja told Sky News.

Senator Seselja said he was “not aware” of Mr Turnbull’s mistake regarding Mr Obeid.

“I’m not aware of that particular claim, but we know that Eddie Obeid installed her as premier, that’s a fact,” he said.

“I haven’t examined every dot point in the website, but what I would say is any attempt by Kristina Keneally to try and distance herself from Eddie Obeid when Eddie Obeid installed her into the job along with Joe Tripodi I think is trying to rewrite history.

“The reality is her predecessor as premier made it very clear that whoever replaced him as premier would be a puppet of Eddie Obeid. Now in the end, she can answer for how much she dealt with Eddie Obeid once she was premier, but there’s no doubt that he helped install her.”

Senator Seselja said there was a “huge amount at stake for the nation” in Saturday’s by-election.

“I’d say to the voters of Bennelong that not only is John Alexander an outstanding candidate, but if you look at the policies he’s offering for a strong economy, and the delivery of that strong economy particularly over the last 12 months of the Coalition government, or you can look at the alternative, Kristina Keneally and Bill Shorten, who would kill jobs because their policies that would up taxes on small business, up taxes on medium-sized businesses, up taxes personally, they have no economic plan whatsoever,” he said.

Labor Bennelong candidate Kristina Keneally and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Picture: Richard Dobson.

Senator Seselja dismissed Labor claims that the government’s rhetoric over disgraced Labor senator Sam Dastyari and foreign interference may have alienated Chinese-speaking voters.

“Obviously having strong foreign interference laws is very important, and the Coalition government is absolutely committed to that,” Senator Seselja said.

“Secondly, whether you’re a Chinese Australian, an Australian of Chinese background or any other background, I don’t think you want to see foreign governments infiltrating our parliament and having the kind of activity that we saw and was alleged in relation to Sam Dastyari, so whether you’re a Chinese Australian or otherwise, I think you’d want to see Australia remain sovereign.”

Senator Seselja said Australia’s relationship with China remained strong, despite Beijing hauling our ambassador to China, Jan Adams, before China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a dressing down over the Turnbull government’s foreign interference laws.

“We have a very good relationship with China. That relationship continues,” Senator Seselja said.

“Foreign interference legislation is not aimed at any nation in particular. It is about Australian sovereignty and so foreign interference will apply equally no matter which country we’re talking about.”

‘Turnbull’s rhetoric has been needlessly inflammatory’

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, left, with John Alexander. Picture: AAP.

Labor frontbencher Jim Chalmers said Ms Adams had been hauled before the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a result of the debate over the Turnbull government’s new national security laws.

“I think it’s actually a welcome thing that we have the opportunity to update our national security laws. Every country has the right to protect their own sovereignty,” Dr Chalmers told Sky News.

“I think where it becomes unfortunate is when we have the Prime Minister with this sort of breathless hyperbole which is unnecessarily inflammatory, but on the substance of the issue we have the right to update our national security laws.

“Labor has actually led the conversation when it comes to things like a foreign interest register or banning foreign donations, and we look forward to playing a constructive role in that updating of the laws.”

Mr Chalmers denied that Labor had also been inflammatory in accusing the government of being “China-phobic”.

“I think obviously we always need to exercise care when it comes to our language about relationships with other countries, but I think the way that our campaign has conducted itself in Bennelong has been exemplary,” he said.

“I think Kristina Keneally in particular is such an extraordinarily strong candidate. She’s the underdog of course. We start that race something like ten points behind.

“It’s a very big Liberal margin that we’re confronting there, but we’re giving ourselves every chance because the people there care less about the polls and the political commentary and they care more about Malcolm Turnbull’s cuts to health and education. They care about local issues, so we’ll know on Saturday how we went.”

Dr Chalmers accused the Liberal Party of “playing dirty” with its Kristina Keneally website.

“You can tell that they’re very desperate, they’re playing dirty, they’re in the gutter as they always are because they are very worried,” he said.

“They know that any swing to Labor in Bennelong on Saturday is a big problem, because even in that ten per cent seat, a swing to Labor would represent a big problem in some of the more marginal and more vulnerable seats around the country, and I think what worries them most is that Tony Abbott has signalled that no matter what the outcome is in Bennelong on Saturday, that he intends to continue that cage match in the Liberal Party over the leadership.

“He has said that he is prepared to fire another salvo after the Bennelong by-election.

“I think what that tells the Australian people is that 2018 in the Liberal Party will be no better than 2017. It will be poisoned by that infighting, that dysfunction and that division which characterised the year just gone.”

‘The political system needs people like Sam’

Dr Chalmers said he was “very sad” to see his good friend Sam Dastyari leave parliament.

“He will continue to be a friend of mine. He did the wrong thing. He made a big misjudgment. He mishandled this really badly by his own admission. He’s done the right thing now in not returning to the Senate,” he said.

“I think that the political system needs people like Sam, to the extent that there’s a lot of unfairness and a lot of injustice in our society, and Sam did an extraordinary job shining a light on that, whether it be victims of banking scandals whether it be unfairness in our multinational tax arrangements, really right across the board Sam was a champion for fairness and for justice particularly in the economy.”