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

I follow on from the contribution from the member for Holt. I think it was a worthy contribution and I congratulate him for it. One of the consistent things that I hear from my constituents is that they want us to treat the money that they work hard for, their taxpayers' money, with respect. It is our obligation to treat it with absolute and utter respect and to ensure that the very generous entitlements that we are given in this place are treated appropriately and that there is an oversight to it.

Obviously, the members of the press gallery and the broader fourth estate do have a role in ensuring that that is the case. There have been many cases in recent times exposing examples where people have not been treating taxpayers' money appropriately but we have an important role here too. That is the issue that I wanted to talk about tonight. One of the roles that I have been asked to do by the Leader of the Opposition is to head up the Scrutiny of Government Committee on our side of the House. It is an important committee in opposition obviously to hold the government to account about the way that they spend their money.

I think today there was a good example of where we can play an active role in ensuring that people know and are reminded that spending taxpayers' money has to be done prudently and within the rules and acceptably to the Australian general public. Obviously, in relation to travel, the use of travel entitlements and so forth are important for us to do our job but this also needs to be done in an appropriate manner. It was concerning when I got a freedom of information request back from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. I think some of the travel and some of the expenses that the Minister for Foreign Affairs is racking up do raise questions about whether there would be a more prudent way to spend Australian taxpayers' money to effectively do the job. No doubt the foreign minister is well versed in foreign affairs and is doing the job as he sees fit; however, I think people would, rightly, be asking whether, in his first nine months as Australia's foreign minister, travelling more than the United States Secretary of State is appropriate and whether spending over $1 million is excessive. They might also question the priorities of the foreign minister in some of the visits that he has decided to go on.

Obviously the foreign minister of Australia needs to travel. An important aspect of being the foreign minister is to engage in the world and represent Australia in the world. But, quite clearly, there are parts of the world which need, from an Australian foreign policy perspective, to be represented more than other parts of the world. I think there are reasonable questions to ask about the government's priorities when it comes to their choice of countries that the foreign minister is spending a lot of time in.

Someone commented to me today, looking at the map that was outlined in the Daily Telegraph this morning, that the foreign minister seems to be spending more time in North Africa than Rommel did. There has been a lack of visits to important countries in our region. You will remember, Mr Deputy Speaker, that this time last year the Prime Minister announced there would be a processing centre for asylum seekers on East Timor. The East Timor government did not know anything about it but they were told they would have a processing centre; that is not now going ahead. But there has not been a visit from the foreign minister to that country.

Obviously at the moment we are regularly debating a processing centre in Malaysia. I know some on the other side are very uncomfortable with the government's decision on this, and there have been some diplomatic discussions. The foreign minister has not visited Malaysia, according to the information that we have received. I would say to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, that, while it is important that the foreign minister travel and ensure that he is developing the links that are important for Australia's foreign affairs and trade arrangements, some of the trips in question do raise questions. He has made visits to Ethiopia, Switzerland, Turkey, Greece, Liechtenstein and Germany, rather than Malaysia and East Timor, or the South Pacific for that matter. Those are important countries in Australia's sphere of interest.

The cost of this travel is also of concern. The hotels and accommodation that the foreign minister uses is of concern. The area that he is visiting is of concern. I think that the Australian people are starting to wonder whether it would be cheaper for them if the Australian Labor Party decided to make him Prime Minister once again.