Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about the government and to give some friendly advice about a little less hubris and a little more accountability. I would say there were two examples of this we've seen recently. If the Minister for Veterans' Affairs had got up in the chamber on Monday afternoon in question time, looked those veterans who were in the gallery in the eye, said, 'I respect your service. I deeply apologise for any anxiety you have around this policy, and of course I will change my diary immediately and see you this afternoon,' and shown any humility like that, I think we would never have asked another question. But his demeanour was to attack us and to not pay them respect.

I will go back to last week. I believe this hubris and lack of accountability comes from the top. If the first time we asked a question in the chamber last week about the Japanese Prime Minister, the Prime Minister had said, 'If anyone took offence from my body language and my language towards the Japanese Prime Minister, I humbly apologise to them. I did not mean that. That was not my intention,' we would then not have had a lot of follow-up questions around this.

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) | Link to this | Hansard source

I get interjections. But what this government needs from its leader and from all ministers is a little bit less arrogance, a little bit less hubris and a little bit more accountability. Every question and statement can't go to the fact that we haven't been in government for 4½ years. We wish we had been—a bit of accountability and a little bit less arrogance.