Senator KENEALLY (New South Wales—Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (15:15): I rise today in support of the motion to suspend standing orders. What we have seen this week is extraordinary. There have been numerous reports this week about the member for Chisholm: her political affiliations, her contacts and her fundraising. There have even been reports that ASIO was so concerned by the member for Chisholm's conduct that it warned the Prime Minister's office and others in the Liberal Party against preselecting her. Yet the Liberal Party allowed her to be preselected and ultimately elected to this parliament. In fact, according to one source, a source in the intelligence community apparently told a senior party official, 'We can't tell you what to do, but we don't think it would be a good idea.' Unbelievable! These reports occurred today in the media. The opposition does what an opposition should rightly do and questions whether those reports are true, and puts those questions to the elected government. And what do they do? They hide behind smears and accusations of racism. They hide behind statements that she was elected. Yes, she was elected, but did the people of Chisholm know what the Liberal Party is reported to have known or what the Prime Minister of the day was reported to have known—that is, that our national security agencies had serious concerns about the member for Chisholm's links to the Chinese Communist Party, concerns that they found so alarming that they felt the need to bring them to the attention of the Liberal Party and the Prime Minister? I have to say that the only thing that is more extraordinary than the alleged behaviour of the member for Chisholm is the current behaviour of this Prime Minister, the Minister for Finance and the leader of the government in this chamber, and their colleagues. It is beyond shameful to hear the Prime Minister and others claim that fair scrutiny of the member for Chisholm, much of it by hardworking members of our national intelligence community, is somehow an act of racism. What an astonishing statement from this Liberal government! Let's not forget that these are the same Liberals who voted in this chamber for the 'It's okay to be white' motion. Let's not forget these are the same Liberals who rushed to shake the hand of Fraser Anning after he cited the final solution in his first speech. Let's not forget this is the same Liberal government whose home affairs minister claims that Melburnians are too scared to go out at night due to African gang violence and that the Fraser government made mistakes bringing in people from a Lebanese Muslim background in the 1970s. For this lot to get up and hurl accusations of racism at the opposition for simply raising legitimate questions about whether or not it is true that national security agencies raised concerns about the member for Chisholm and that they were ignored by this Liberal government just goes to show that this is all about their ducking and weaving. They were given opportunities—Senator Payne was asked by Senator Kitching and Senator Cormann was asked twice, once by Senator Wong and once by Senator Farrell—to utter four simple words: that the member for Chisholm is a 'fit and proper person' to serve in this parliament. They did not do it. The foreign minister, Senator Payne, got up and pretended she had said those words. What she actually said is, 'It is offensive to raise the suggestion.' She never uttered those words. Minister Cormann never uttered those words. And that is what is most telling here: the fact that they know they cannot stand in this chamber and assert beyond a reasonable doubt, with confidence, and give assurance to the Australian people that the member for Chisholm is in fact a fit and proper person to serve in this parliament. Had they done that today in question time we wouldn't have needed to move this suspension of standing orders—we wouldn't have needed to move this motion—but they failed to do that. These are legitimate questions. Serious allegations are being raised in the nation's media. The Prime Minister of this country and Minister Cormann as his representative in this chamber owe it to this parliament and to the Australian people to explain the member for Chisholm's conduct, to answer the allegation that national security agencies have raised concerns about her connections and to assure us that she is indeed fit and proper to represent her constituents.