Senator KITCHING (Victoria) (15:04): I move: That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Cormann) to questions without notice asked by Opposition senators today relating to the Member for Chisholm. The Prime Minister has two responsibilities that sit above everything else. The first is to provide national prosperity—and we all know that he is failing miserably at this—but today we have also seen that he is failing at the second, and that second duty is his duty to provide national security. It is his duty as Prime Minister to ensure that all Australians are safe. How can you be the government of the day and ignore the advice of our national security agencies? It's irresponsible at best, dangerous at worst. Those opposite are scrambling so fast to contain this that they are now playing one of the lowest cards one can play in public life, and that is the race card. But, actually, the last refuge of the scoundrel is proving to be the Liberal-National party room, because the only person linking these specific and serious concerns about Ms Liu to the entire Chinese-Australian population is the Prime Minister, and he should stop. National security agencies do not make decisions nor do they give advice because they're racist. Let's go to a recent speech by the outgoing Director-General of ASIO, Duncan Lewis. Mr Lewis warned in that speech that foreign interference and espionage are proving to be an existential threat to our country. What he said was: It’s my view that currently, the issue of espionage and foreign interference is by far and away the most serious issue going forward. Covert attempts to influence and shape the views of the public, media, government and diaspora communities, both within Australia and overseas, is now with us every day. Unlike the immediacy of terrorism incidents, the harm from acts of espionage may not present for years, even decades, after the activity has occurred. These sorts of activities are typically quiet and insidious, with a long tail. He then went on to talk about the existential threat that they pose to the nation, noting that part of the danger was that it was more subtle and difficult to recognise than the threat of terrorism. The ABC has reported that the office of former Prime Minister Turnbull received advice from ASIO Director-General Duncan Lewis, as he then was, that Mr Turnbull should not attend a meet and greet organised by Ms Liu following vetting of the guest list by ASIO. That is from one of our security agencies. There is no racism in what ASIO and its sister agencies do or in the work and advice that they give. Under the Prime Minister's test, the question is: is Mr Lewis a racist? That is the question, and of course he is not. Need I remind this place who voted on a motion to say, 'It's okay to be white' or who lined up to congratulate former Senator Anning after he invoked the 'final solution' when talking about immigration policy. The Prime Minister loves to remind us all that the Liberal Party is the party of Menzies, but we're not buying what the Prime Minister is selling. Robert Menzies would be turning in his grave. This whole sordid affair has come about because of the Liberal Party's quite unbelievable decision to preselect Ms Liu, knowing full well the concerns that existed around her associations. As a Victorian Liberal MP said to me rather gloomily late last week, she was preselected with everyone hoping she wouldn't win because then she'd be done and would never be able to run again. Gladys Liu is not a new player on the political scene. She's been an active member of the Victorian Liberal Party for many years. She is notorious for raising enormous amounts of money but she is also notorious for being a loose cannon. She has a questionable work history, has brought vast, unexplained wealth to the Liberal Party and comes to this place with more baggage than Louis Vuitton—just ask her Victorian colleagues. She's a money machine. She's the LNP's own personal ATM from Whitehorse Road and that's why she sits in this place. That's why she was preselected. Because, let's face it, it's clearly not due to her strong media performances. Ms Liu's Victorian colleagues should be sharing what they know about Ms Liu with the Prime Minister, because the truth is: you don't know what you don't know and you should be very, very careful.