PRIME Minister Tony Abbott says David Johnston has his full confidence as callsmount for the Defence Minister to be sacked for saying he would not trust South Australian shipbuilder ASC to “build a canoe”.The Labor Party, crossbench senators and even SA Liberal leader Steven Marshall united to say Senator Johnston’s position was now untenable.But Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Parliament today that Senator Johnston had his full confidence, and Senator Johnston said he was not going anywhere.Mr Abbott said he did not deserve to be sacked for a “slip of the tongue’’.“This Minister does not deserve to be undermined by members opposite,’’ Mr Abbott told Federal Parliament.“He does not deserve to be undermined by members opposite because of a slip of the tongue in the Senate yesterday.’’The Defence Minister apologised for his comments in the Senate this afternoon.“Regrettably, in rhetorical flourish, I did express my frustrations in the past performance of ASC,” he said.He was officially censured by the Senate today for his criticism, after a motion moved by Labor gained the support of the Greens and several crossbenchers.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 07:13:44 +0000