Pyne should step aside until an investigation into his lies.

Abbott must refuse his vote, until this issue is sorted one way or the other.


Government claims cover-up in Slipper affair

The government is accusing the Coalition of a cover-up over the Peter Slipper affair, after Christopher Pyne this morning altered his account of his dealings with former Slipper staffer James Ashby.

Yesterday, the National Times revealed that Mr Pyne, a Liberal frontbencher, spent almost two hours drinking and chatting with Mr Ashby weeks before the staffer lodged court documents with his accusations.

According to emails seen by Fairfax, Mr Pyne then specifically asked for Mr Ashby's contact details.

Despite Mr Pyne saying yesterday that he could not remember asking for Mr Ashby's contact details after the meeting - which occurred a month before Mr Ashby lodged legal action against Mr Slipper claiming sexual harassment - Fairfax has been shown an email and a text message sent by Mr Pyne minutes after the session ended, requesting the details.

The request went to another staffer in Mr Slipper's office. According to a return email, Mr Pyne received Mr Ashby's email address at 11.02pm on March 19. This was one minute after he sent his request.

This morning, Mr Pyne continued to say that he did not remember whether he had requested the details but also told ABC Radio in Adelaide that he "could well have".

"Why wouldn't I?" Mr Pyne said, noting that, as manager of opposition business, it was his job to liaise with the Speaker's office.

"The more contact I have with the Speaker's office the better."

Mr Pyne has said that "on no occasion did he raise the matters canvassed in the Federal Court" and that he had never had any telephone contact - either via phone call or text - with Mr Ashby.

On March 19, Mr Pyne went to the Speaker's office to see Mr Slipper, but he was in the chamber. Mr Pyne was then invited for a drink with Mr Ashby and another staffer while he waited.

Mr Pyne said in a statement yesterday that he had met Mr Ashby three times, twice in the Speaker's office and "once when he came to my office to collect wine being given to a former Coalition staffer as a farewell gift".

Trade Minister Craig Emerson told reporters in Melbourne this morning that there was a "cover-up going on" and that Mr Pyne was "changing his story".

"This morning in the face of facts [Mr Pyne] is forced to concede that he did seek those details," Dr Emerson said.

Dr Emerson also said that it was clear the Coalition had prior knowledge of the Ashby matter because Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and Mr Pyne had used the same phraseology to describe their knowledge of the Ashby matter.

"At the outset, when these questions were first asked and this was more than a week ago, Mr Abbott and Mr Pyne said they had no 'specific knowledge' of these allegations before they appeared in the newspaper on the weekend," Dr Emerson said.

"Obviously Mr Abbott and Mr Pyne have gotten together to use the term 'specific knowledge' to cover up the fact that obviously they had some knowledge."

Mr Pyne says that the first he knew about the legal action was when he read about it in the papers.

Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan has also challenged Mr Pyne to produce records to back up his insistence that he did not telephone Mr Ashby.

Mr Swan said Mr Pyne had questions to answer. "Is he prepared to provide his phone records and make those public if he hasn't phoned Mr Ashby? I certainly think he should."

But Mr Pyne said the Labor Party was trying to create a "fanciful political conspiracy, which quite frankly is deeply offensive".

In his first public comments since the story broke, Mr Ashby said via Twitter that he had nothing to say about Mr Pyne's comments.

"No external party is paying for my legal or media relations fees," he said. "I have not, and will not, be taking money to lodge my legal claim. The court is the proper body to decide the merits of my claim and the veracity of the defence."

Mr Slipper is being formally investigated by police for misusing his travel entitlements, despite the embattled Speaker's continued insistence that he is innocent.


http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/government-claims-coverup-in-sli...

skippy. wrote on May 2^nd, 2012 at 4:42pm:


As a wise roo once said....

"But, if you insist what you say is true, post up your evidence."




Not that I give flying about any of this, Thompson/Slipper/Pyne.

All it shows is how far down the drain Australian politics is.

FriYAY wrote on May 2^nd, 2012 at 4:48pm:

You can guarantee the evidence will surface,and when it does Abbott could well be gone over it. Abbott is a lot of things, but smart isn't one of them, he doesn't cover his tracks very well, as is already evident now Pyne has been busted.
This had the stench of a set up from day one, now its being exposed.

skippy. wrote on May 2^nd, 2012 at 4:52pm:


This is idiocy from the Left at its best. Think about it - Gillard has Labor at nearly all-time lows in the polls. There is no way Labor wins the next election and no guarantee they even survive until the next election is scheduled for next year. So why on Earth would Abbott/Pyne risk something like this blowing up in their faces? They wouldn't because they don't need to resort to the sort of dirty tricks that Labor has used time and time again.

john_g wrote on May 2^nd, 2012 at 4:55pm:

What did he do?
So far I have seen no evidence he did anything, even the texts looked like lovers banter to me. Ashby was even flirting with him in some of them, IF and I mean IF this gets to court it will be laughed out. As for the cab charge stuff, that already seems to be falling apart.
So what exactly do you think Slipper could/would be charged with?

skippy. wrote on May 2^nd, 2012 at 4:58pm:


One of the texts said that Ashby couldn't go on Sydney cruises because he didn't accept Slipper's advances. Ashby's lawyer was the one who represented that woman in the sexual harassment charge against David Jones, so I doubt that he would have taken the case had he not thought that it was legit, and that he would win. I personally didn't see any flirtation on the part of Ashby, although I did see several examples from Slipper.

The cabcharges look dubious to say the very least. "Suburb to suburb", and then from the airport, to suburbs, then back to the airport again. Also the fact that the cost of several trips were double the amount that they should have been.

I just want the truth and justice to prevail. I don't care about the politics of the matter.

It is now a crime to speak to someone according to green loser.

Armchair_Politician wrote on May 2^nd, 2012 at 4:55pm:


Because they are STOO-PID that's why. At least Abbott is. And they KNOW (unlike you idiots on the conga line) that there is a long time to the next election and NOTHING is guaranteed so they're willing to push it to get the result they want.

Only morons and hacks think the election is in the bag. Which one are you?

EDIT: Whoops! Got carried away by dinner and almost forgot the most important reason why!

The most important reason is because it was Pyne's idea, not Abbott's (although Phony Tony definitely approved it). Why would Pyne do that? Because he is afraid.

He is afraid that Gillard is about to be booted out. And he knows that the only reason Lieberals are doing OK in the polls is because of her leadership. As soon as she's out then as far as the public is concerned, Abbott and the Lieberals will stink worse than yesterdays larks vomit on a hot day. They'll be history.

THEN the Lieberals will have to go through the pain of finding their own leader. Someone who can actually come up with a plan. Not to mention a policy. They'll be going through their own blood-on-the-carpet soap opera and the clock will be ticking to the next election.

I bet if you were a fly on the wall in Pyne's place, you'd find he's not sleeping much at night and stinks of fear.

That's why.