Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Hang on—Malcolm Turnbull puts his own money in his own re-election. I did not want to mention Mr Wood's name, but the biggest single donation to a political party ever in Australian history went to the Greens political party. I happen to be on a committee where the then Greens leader sought to get an exemption from some form of Commonwealth tax for those who might want to set up an online newspaper. I am not going to join the dots together on which person it was that was trying to do that. I will just say that I wish ACLEI had been around at the time.

So we have these holier-than-thou people come here, casting aspersions by innuendo, but can I tell them I have good news for them. The government has announced a bill coming forward shortly to set up an authority to oversee parliamentary allowances. I am sure the Greens will support the amendment that I will be moving to that bill. I, not the government, will be moving the amendment to that bill to include public servants in the same authority.

I very rarely read The Canberra Times, but I saw an editorial in The Canberra Times. It was published just the other day, but it was referring to editorial from last month. It is called 'Time to expose bureaucrats' wayward spending, too?' and it has the subheading 'Transparency'. I make the point that I have found every Commonwealth bureaucrat that I have ever had dealings with—and I had some very close dealings when I was a minister, and in estimates since—to be incredibly dedicated, incredibly honest, very transparent and great servants of the Australian people. But the bureaucracy is enormous, and you only have to read this article in The Canberra Times to realise that there should be, perhaps, the same accountability and openness for the hundreds of thousands, certainly tens of thousands, of Commonwealth bureaucrats who help govern Australia. There are infinitely more than there are politicians in this chamber, most of whom have infinitely more power and spending capability than anyone in Parliament House. So I would think that it is time to widen the net—perhaps to the judiciary as well, perhaps to some of these tribunals and perhaps to institutions and statutory authorities like the Human Rights Commission. Maybe we should have the same transparency from them, but we never hear from the Greens. We never hear that too often from the Labor Party either, I might say, but what a good idea.

I am quite certain, after hearing Senator Ludlam, that he will be seconding my amendment when I bring it to this chamber. I suspect there are not going to be too many on my side to second it, but I am sure after that rousing speech by Senator Ludlam that he and his party will be supporting the extension of this parliamentarians oversight committee to the Public Service. I notice Senator Ludlam and the Greens are all of a sudden finding something very important to talk about and will not listen to this, but let me have your assurance that I will have your support in moving this amendment.

Australia has consistently been ranked by Transparency International‎ as one of the least corrupt countries in the world. That is because we have these institutions. We have accountability and openness among parliamentarians that, quite frankly, is beyond understanding. There is even this great battle, which the shadow Attorney-General seems to be fixated on, about wanting parliamentarians to indicate to the world who they see, what they see, when they see them, where they are going to be and where they have been. It is great news for a would-be criminal or someone who is intent on criminal activity against parliamentarians, under the guise of accountability. This parliament is where you call ministers to account. This parliament is where you ask them what they have been doing or where they have been doing it. The shadow Attorney-General seems fixated—dare I use that terminology—on exposing the activities of the Attorney-General. Mind you, the Attorney-General is the minister in charge of security in this nation, and the shadow Attorney-General wants his diary to be made public. I guess it will not be long before mine is asked for too—although you do not have to worry about mine; I put on Facebook where I am going to be all the time. That is no secret.

This Greens bill is again an action by a party that is falling in the polls. Those of us who have been around a long time have seen the Democrats come and go; we have seen One Nation come and go and come back, and it will go again; and we have seen the Greens come and I predicted sometime ago that they would go in Europe, and they are going, and I predicted sometime ago that they would go in Australia, and they are on the downward climb now. They used to attract a bit of a protest vote from those who did not like the government, who did not like the Labor Party, but I am sorry, guys in the Greens—through you, Mr Acting Deputy President—that protest vote is now going to One Nation and we will, fortunately, see the end of the hypocrisy in a policy sense of the Greens political party. Australia will be a better place for that.

The Greens are trying to maintain what little support they hold around Australia—around eight per cent at last call, and going southwards—by jumping on the populist bandwagon: every politician, and particularly the Liberal politicians in the Western Australian government, are all bad. Senator Ludlam, who is really the far left extension of the Labor Party—I pity the Labor Party for that; I am sorry you have to bow to their wishes—forgot to mention all the Labor politicians in jail for very serious offences. But that is the Greens way. You will never hear Senator Rhiannon attack Labor Party politicians, even though in her state there are enormous numbers she could be attacking. Your own political leaning, and your own populist approach to matters, prevents you from doing that, and it shows the dishonesty of the argument of the Greens political party.