House debates Questions without Notice

National Commission of Audit

Monday, 24 March 2014 House of Representatives

Melissa Parke

Melissa Parke Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health

2:05 pm

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?

Unidentified interjection - Hansard doesn't record who said this

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop Speaker

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

Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister

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.