Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Given that the government has had the Commission of Audit report for over a month, will the Prime Minister now release the secret report to the people of Western Australia before they vote?

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We will have silence. The member for Fremantle has asked her question and the Prime Minister is answering.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We will release the Commission of Audit report once we have the final report and once we have fully considered it. There is nothing wrong with this because when the former government got the Gonski review, it considered it for at least two months. When the former government got the tax review from Ken Henry, it considered for over four months. This is some so unobjectionable that when the frontbencher, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Penny Wong, was asked about this, she said, ' I think we put it out was it three or four months later? I can't recall, I wasn't—' and David Speers says of the Henry review, Why did you sit on it that long?' And Penny Wong says, 'Probably because we were considering it.'

We will carefully consider the Commission of Audit report as an adult government would do. When we have carefully considered the report, we will publish it.