Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It saddens me to inform the House that we have seen in the past few days a repetition of the trashing of the Westminster traditions that have given Australia stable, reliable and predictable democratic government. Tragically, it has been replaced by a system of leadership selection which is not unlike the way an outlaw motorcycle gang chooses its sergeant-at-arms or president. In case anybody accuses me of hypocrisy, this speech's content largely reprises a speech I made to Labor's caucus after my re-election in 2010. Reports of this speech were reported in Laurie Oakes's column on 11 September, 2010 under the headline, 'It's a minister's duty to argue with the PM'. I was not the source of that story, but it is an accurate report, such was the state of the caucus at the time. The subject of that speech was a minister's duty under the Westminster tradition, and the traditions are codified on page 67 of our Practice:

Convention requires that Ministers accept collective responsibility for the policies and performance of the Government … If any Minister is unable to accept or publicly dissents from the opinion and policy of Cabinet, it has been said that it is his or her duty to resign.

Those things include misleading the Prime Minister and through him the parliament, or disagreement with the actions of the Prime Minister. That is in the principle. This is not some theory that we may debate in this House; it is a vibrant part of our democracy, one that is now sadly only being honoured in the breach. There are many historical precedents that I can point to for those opposite and indeed for those on my own side in this great parliament: Kingston's speech resigning from the Barton government, Fraser's speech resigning from the Gorton government and Peacock's speech resigning from the Fraser government. These are great speeches that were made in this parliament that comply with the Westminster tradition. And there are so many examples from the United Kingdom: Tom Watson's brave speech resigning from the Blair government, Robin Cook's speech resigning from the Blair government, Geoffrey Howe's speech resigning from the Thatcher government, Duff Cooper's very important speech resigning from the Chamberlain government at a time of war—proving that Westminster democracy could stand up to dictatorship; proving that Westminster democracy was the right form of government to fight a war. No more important speech has been made than Duff Cooper's resigning from the Chamberlain government. These speeches should be commended to the House for their courage and their commitment to the responsible minister's duties. They put duty ahead of ambition as did Kingston. Kingston, in his speech on 24 July 1903 said:

I am content to pay the penalty doing that which I believe to be my duty, and at the same time wishing good luck to those with whom I have had the honour to be associated with.

That was a very fine speech.

There are many in the community who are aghast at the actions of this government and the fact that we can have so many prime ministers in such a short period of time. On The Project the other night, Waleed Aly and Steve Price took the foreign minister to task for her actions in failing to inform the Prime Minister of the conspiracy and the cabal that was forming at the heart of his government, a very serious problem indeed. My own local paper, The Bunyip, said:

Some rejoiced at the triumph at the end of the Abbott era, but, for a large number of Australians, there was no fission of excitement at a unique political event, or even of disbelief, for this sort of political bastardry seems to have become the norm.

I am very sad that it has become the norm and I am very sad that I have had to lecture my own party. I thank Prime Minister Rudd for changing the rules of the Labor Party so it could never again happen to a Labor leader. But for the conservatives to embark on this after seeing the peril which it put my own party on, for them to change prime ministers in the din of night with not a single ministerial resignation, with a conspiracy and a cabal forming in the cabinet, to traduce the traditions of Westminster is in abomination considering their election commitments and it should not be allowed to stand. (Time expired)