Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to take note of answers given by Senator Brandis to questions from the opposition, although, I might say, it probably would have been a more useful use of everybody's time if we had been taking note of the answers that were given to questions that were asked by the government in relation to the thuggery and behaviour of the CFMEU. We might have actually got some more substantial comment than the fliff and fluff that we have about the issues that were raised by the questions we have proceeded to take note over—those questions that relate to the Man Monis letter and the questions that were asked in relation to the ASIO situation, particularly.

It is quite interesting when you are flicking through your Twitter feed over the last hour. Even Samantha Maiden has tweeted and referred to the pursuit of the issues raised in question time today by the opposition of the government on these two particular matters as 'a total pursuit of irrelevancy', which I thought was a very interesting comment. She referred to the Monis letter situation as clearly a muck up of some sort, which has been acknowledged as an administrative issue and not a conspiracy. We often find that we like to make things into conspiracies simply because they make for better reading, but the simple matter is that it has probably just been some sort of administrative error, an oversight or something that slipped through the cracks, which appears to be, possibly, what has happened here. In relation to the ASIO situation, she refers to the plotline as plainly silly. So here we have one of Australia's leading media commentators calling out the opposition's questions in question time today for exactly what they were.

It is really quite interesting that Senator Collins got up in taking note today and made the comment about this government having 'a serious problem with scrutiny'. I would have thought that was a little rich coming from those opposite who, in their six years in government, made an absolute art form of making sure nothing was scrutinised. Certainly, we only have to look at a number of the programs that were run by the government—your pink batts, home insulation, cash for clunkers or whateve If ever there were an example of a government that had a serious problem with scrutiny, it was the previous Rudd-Gillard-Rudd governments.

But I do not think there is any issue here with scrutiny. If we are referring to the matters that were raised by questions asked today on the Man Monis letter, it is just not a matter of scrutiny. This has been quite publicly put out there. It has been explained I do not know how many times. With the number of times that the matter has been raised in question time subsequently, I do not think I would have needed a briefing note on the matter; I could explain it off the top of my head. It was a simple situation. As far as I am aware, a piece of information was given to a estimates hearing of the Senate. It was subsequently realised sometime later that that information was not actually correct. The true and accurate information was sought in relation to this matter, to make sure that no further false information was given in this place, and that information was subsequently obtained. One would have thought that would be the end of the matter. Talk about making a mountain out of a proverbial molehill—I have never seen anything quite like it.

Senator Dastyari in his contribution a few minutes ago referred to the politicisation of issues. Please—please, please, please—Senator Dastyari. There are some opposite who probably do not attempt with quite the same fervour or excitement to politicise issues in this place, but coming from Senator Dastyari that was really a bit rich. This is the man who was quite happy in The Killing Season to have himself re-photographed so that he could get his face on television. He was, sadly, brought somewhat unstuck by a little technological issue—namely, he did not realise there were no iPhone 6s in 2010. To come in here and suggest that, in a matter of national security, this government, the government of which I am a member, would put anything apart from the greatest level of importance on national security, and to suggest that the Prime Minister or the Attorney-General or the foreign affairs minister—or whoever it may be—would politicise an issue as serious as national security for their own political gain, is an outrageous statement coming from somebody like Senator Dastyari. (Time expired)