Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. What were the findings and recommendations of the Bell inquiry?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Spence for his question. The Bell inquiry confirmed that the principles of responsible government were 'fundamentally undermined' because the former Prime Minister was not responsible to the parliament or the public. The inquiry described how this bizarre behaviour has had 'a corrosive impact on public trust and confidence in government'. The report states that the public didn't know 'something it was entitled to know'. My government will implement all six recommendations, and, later this week, we will introduce legislation to this House to make sure this can never happen again. I've already instructed the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to ensure that there is proper transparency should any appointments be made.

The actions of the former Prime Minister were extraordinary. They were unprecedented and they were wrong. They exposed a cult of secrecy and a culture of cover-up, which arrogantly dismissed scrutiny as an inconvenience. Members of the former government and the current opposition enabled this culture; they sat back with a cabinet committee of one and said that that was acceptable. The Leader of the Opposition has made excuses for this behaviour. He just doesn't get it.

Niki Savva's upcoming book reports the decision by the shadow cabinet: according to one frontbencher, the view was that it was best not to talk about it. Today, the Manager of Opposition Business has said that they won't vote for a censure motion on the basis that, according to him, the issue of the relationship between the former PM and his ministers is a matter for them.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Bowman is warned.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They still don't get it. It's not about you; it's about the Australian people and whether they have a right to know who the ministers are. It is about the Westminster system of our parliamentary democracy and whether it has been undermined. They just don't get it, but we'll give them the opportunity to have a say on that, and they will be held to account for it.

Together with the NACC, tighter ministerial standards and our embrace of the Jenkins review, we're working hard to restore faith in our institutions and strengthen our democracy. They should never be called conservatives, because conservatives support institutions; those opposite undermine them at every single opportunity. I thank Ms Bell and her team for their excellent work in producing an outstanding report.

On that note, Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.