Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Scrutiny of Government Waste Committee) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the member for Hunter is trying to protect the parliamentary secretary, but that is exactly what I was doing. I was asking the parliamentary secretary to answer the legitimate questions raised by the member for Goldstein, the shadow minister for finance, which he is refusing to do. We can continue to raise questions with the parliamentary secretary. This is an important issue. We think it is very important; the Independents thought it was very important and I am sure the member for Lyne, wherever he is, thinks it is a very important issue. These issues that we are raising are legitimate amendments and deserve answers. This is what the committee stage of the parliament does. You might have been here for 15½ years, member for Hunter, but you would not have seen a parliamentary secretary in the Howard government refuse to answer questions like this guy is at the moment. It is absolutely appalling that this guy is sitting there, refusing point blank to answer legitimate questions that the member for Goldstein, the shadow finance minister, has rightly put on the record for him to answer. He has got his advisers there, who are in this place to assist parliamentary secretaries not up to their brief and have been sent in to do their job. I should not respond to interjections but I will on this point to the member for Lyons: you had 12 years in opposition and this never got raised. When you were in opposition you voted against the Charter of Budget Honesty. The Labor Party is not interested in moving bills in this regard; they are trying to stifle what is a legitimate— (Time expired)

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