Dump Wilson, Shorten tells Libs

The coalition and Labor are calling for each other to disendorse candidates over their past views on national security laws.

Bill Shorten has turned the tables on the coalition by calling on the Liberals to disendorse star candidate Tim Wilson for questioning national security laws last year.

Attorney-General George Brandis demanded the Labor leader disendorse Peta Murphy, the party's candidate for Victorian seat Dunkley, after it was revealed she supported a 2009 Liberty Victoria submission arguing against stronger terror laws.

Mr Shorten told reporters on the NSW north coast on Sunday, they were not the personal views of Ms Murphy.

Ms Murphy was a signatory to the submission provided to a parliamentary inquiry.

It argued the government shouldn't give domestic spy agency ASIO and police stronger powers, and criticised the listing of several terrorist organisations.

"Bill Shorten ... continues to refuse to intervene to enforce the disendorsement of a candidate whose criticism of strong national security laws is infamous," Senator Brandis told reporters in Brisbane on Sunday.

Mr Shorten hit back arguing Ms Murphy's views were similar to Mr Wilson, a former human rights commissioner, who is running in the safe Liberal seat of Goldstein.

"If (Senator Brandis) wants to start talking about disendorsing candidates, how about Tim Wilson who questioned Mr Brandis' security laws last year," he told reporters in the northern NSW town of Kingscliff.


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world